So as the title to my review of "Cheeni Kum" suggests, its about being unique and finding another unique person to compliment your existence, in this case its the suave Amitabh Bachchan(excuse me for the spelling folks) cast with the unassuming yet outstanding Tabu.The story opens witha view of a plush 5_star Restaurant in London which is headed by the actor in question.
It starts of an interesting note with the veteran actor talking to his fellow employees about the essentials of employee etiquette which are a distinguishing factor between an ordinary restaurant and a "World-Class" restaurant.Knowing AB’s superb acting skills and his penchant to sound patronly I leave the rest to you imagination..The interaction between Tabu and AB starts off an argumentative note with a plate of "zaffrani pulao" being the bone of contention.A badly cooked plate of the dish finds its way to Tabu’s table and is promptly returned to the head chef(AB) much to his astonishment.(Afterall he prides on the fact that his restaurant is "The No.1 Indian Restaurant in London".So he tastes the dish, finds nothing wrong with it and takes it back to the dissenting customer’s table to ask what did she find wrong in the dish....
Tabu says -"Isme CHEENI ZYAADA HAI" which is counteracted by AB by saying that it is the correct and authentic way of cooking the dish and rebukes Tabu on her lack of knowledge of culinary skills which makes Tabu leave the restaurant in disgust.The next scene shows a plate of "zaffrani pulao" finding its way in the restaurant’s kitchen.It is tasted by AB and he approves of it commenting that only his restaurant is capable of producing such a fine dish.But Surprise !Surprise! the dish is prepared by Tabu herself and she had sent it across to AB to prove her point, dampen his egoism and show her culinary skills..
As the story progresses the two grow closer until they realize that they cant live without each other.So marriage being the next logical step AB goes to Delhi to talk to Tabu’s father....here is the clinch or should I say the substance of the story, so I leave the rest for you to see and judge on three counts:The story’s relevance to metropolitan times, Gandhi’s relevance today in terms of his doctrine of Satyagraha and finally your take on the script of this beautifully thought of, well crafted and meticulously executed direction...so long..