By Murtaza Ali Khan
Featured in IMDb Critic Reviews
Directed by Raja Krishna
Menon, who previously directed the Akshay Kumar blockbuster Airlift, Chef, is a
film about an Indian chef, working abroad, named Roshan Kalra, who gets fired
for assaulting a white man after the latter complains about the quality of food
served at a food joint he was overseeing. Kalra, who has a son back in India,
travels to Kochi to spend some time with him. In Kochi he learns that his
ex-wife, a dancer by profession, is dating a rich landlord. What ensues is a
journey of self-realization for Roshan as he tries to start afresh while
desperately trying to mend the old relationships. The film costars Padmapriya
Janakiraman, Sobhita Dhulipala, Svar Kamble, Milind Soman, and Chandan Roy
Sanyal. Chef is a remake of a 2014 American film of the same name, directed by Jon
Favreau.
Although Chef is made in the
vein of modern slice-of-life films it offers much more. Without relying heavily
on flashbacks, the movie succeeds in presenting us with the back stories of the
key characters. Like, for example, we are told very clearly how a young Roshan
had run away from his house with the dream of becoming a cook. How he had
struggled day in and day out to survive until he could finally fulfill his dream.
This is achieved quite effectively through voiceovers and dialogues and without
any flashbacks. It is precisely what a film like Jab Harry Met Sejal lacked. Today, Bollywood films are trying to find
new ways of telling the stories and in doing so they are breaking free of the
old conventions while experimenting with more unconventional narrative tropes.
Chef is a cute little film
about life and what it takes to follow one's dreams. Saif Ali Khan shines in
this flawed film marred by occasional pacing issues. The acting is solid all
around. Chef features some memorable performances from the likes of Padmapriya
Janakiraman, Svar Kamble, and Milind Soman. The film features a cameo from a
promising young actor named Abhishek Kumar who is quite active on the Delhi
theatre circuit. He is certainly one exciting actor to look out for. Perhaps, the only
weakling in the acting department is actress Sobhita Dhulipala who fails to
match the intensity she exuded in Raman Raghav 2.0. The screenplay is rather
weak but the direction and cinematography more or less make up for what the
film lacks in the writing department. Chef is not your run-of-the-mill
commercial entertainer but it is certainly a film that has enough to keep one
engaged for the most part.
Rating: 7/10
Readers, please feel free to share your opinion by leaving your comments. As always your valuable thoughts are highly appreciated!
Chef (2017) - Official Trailer (YouTube)
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