Cheeni Kum - Its a perfect word for the die hard diet concious people at work today! You know I have to watch my sugar intake. Its really fattening. gotta drop that extra sppon man. The coffee tastes like coffee when you dont put sugar in it, Iike its bitter taste better. Bitter taste better, less sugar. So does life complete a full circle when you have less sugar?
Balki suggests an alternate kind of Cheeni Kum.
He suggests;
INGRDIENTS:( I am paying homage to the way the website is built. I liked it and hence doing a take off on it. Not original but changes have been made to suit me:))
1 Ponytailed Amitabh Bachchan
Bachchan’s ingredients: Little arrogant, too full of himself as Master chef, lotsa masala and even add a tadka for taste some time. There you have cheeni kum Buddhadeb Gupta. Pun in Budha intended and exploited very nicely in the film by Balki! Read Buddha as Buddha of the historical importance and Buddha(OLD) man.
*1 Juicily marinated, tall and simply beautiful Tabu
*Tabu’s ingredients: No maska here. She has come visiting her friend in London and visits our Master Chef at SPICE 6 and from there the Chef’s umbrella sems to grow bigger to accomodate two instead of one! She is a very down to earth straight lady from Delhi who simply loves chiding the chef to get answers from a 64 year old and at times shatters his self assurance. Very juicily tongue in cheek and also tries to play with the chef’s pony.
The scene of IMPRESS is so beautifully filmed that you can actually feel the chemistry grow between the two matured actors! The buying of Versace glasses, buying flowers for a lady which will die in two hours; or buying a 25, 00, 000 jewellery item which she will cherish more than the husband or even saying that the svelte black dress will not suit her because the dres will look outta shape(indicated by action, delivered in trademark Ab style) all bring huge smiles on your faces!
It indiacates a beautiful understanding of ROMANCE between two matured adults.and consenting too!
*1 Spicy, very very well marinated Buddha’s Buddhi Maa
Lots of LOL here and three cheers for Zohra Sehgal to pull off a fabulous Cameo! She is hasseled by AB’s behaviour and watches WWE mustande, gabru men to taunt her bachelor son and indirectly insinuating she wants to get away from his company and go to Haridwar! She is tactful, spunky and full of crass humor. Old wine and an even older bottle. Enjoy!
*1 red chilli tiny and frail and in a very SEXY package
This little package packs a huge punch in her performance. Wants to watch all A(Adult) DVD’s(her time has come), guesses AB’s dilemma with his walk and voice and gives him the right advice at the right time! Emotioally marinated and mixed with the right spices, this little package has a lot to offer and exploited beautifully by Balki. Her walk with AB, eating ice cream and giving AB gyaan about why be SAD SAD when he can be HAPPY SAD is absolutely funny and emotional at the same time. The innocence of child like delight eating an ince cream and the mature talk are all very well mixed, stirred to make a very heay mix!
*1 tbs nimbu, would shrivel when put in’heated’ oil PAREH RAWAL
Give us more of this man any day. In a movie of mature romancing get this actor to deliver in a very small wok, to add that dash of tanginess and even deliver a dialogue which says " maine to Gandhi ko nahi dekha, aapne to dekha hoga nahi?" delivered with finesse and ease bringing huge guffaws from the audiences and making AB completely miserable!
There are a lot of other ingredients as well, but they are to add that extra length to the otherwise 2 hr 10 minutes drama of a fantastic dish driven out of Balki’s kitchen never to be delivered back to him but to be relished by us!
Mix all the above ingredients and you have a very mature yet bubbly romantic comedy which touches the right area of your cerebrum to give you the giggles, tear jerking intelligence and then the chutzpah of a very well made item on the menu which eaters(viewers) will demand more!
I am deliberately not giving you the comical instances, which are many, to really make you feel to get out and grab your seats in a theatre near you and get the right dose of cheeni in our stressful life.
All characters are well etched and have a fair amount of imporatance and have delivered reasonable performances.
Cant speak much about cinematography because the stars are so huge that they dwarf the landscape of London. But yet the cinematographer has maintained a high sense of back ground scenery!
Music is not much to speak about but for the title song which is inserted in situations to bring out the flavor of the film. Ilaya Raja does and amazing job of it. The title song is a good one and you appreciate more once you have heard it on screen.
This is a big screen entertainer and you can also have a DVD of this film at home to induce the right amount of Cheeni in your life when you are 64 meeting a 34!
Paresh Rawal is underused and Balki will surely rue that fact.
Please do not miss the beginning and try to understand the climax. The meaning of the title is so amply justified. Cheeni Kum, is a super film to watch!
(Below are more CHEENI KUMS as p.s.’s)
1. p.s you can watch this film with friends, family, date, wife and if you have that extra cheeni in your life watch it again with that SUGAR! as well.
- More p.s. Balki is the Advertising Honcho who got pregnant with this Cheeni Kum idea and wrote and directed it as well. More such "kums" from you Sir!
*3. More n more p.s. The title is crispier because of some advice taken from a certain pachyderm who keeps HAR HAR in every review.lol. Thanks pal!
4. More n more n more p.s I watched this film with my wife and never to know any PDA from her I was pleasantly surprised when we held hands watchiong this film. Balki** you have rekindled the romance and we are on our 2nd innings! This is dedicated to my wife and for those beautiful CHEENI KUM moments we have cherished and will!
Real p.s. Take off on my Dekh Tamasha Dekh: Watch Shootout being shot out despite a huge star cast and an issue of public interest. Watch Cheeni Kum and get that pizzaz back in your life with a fantastic star cast and a very spicy issue!