Guldasta

In short: If you miss seeing Cheeni Kum, you would not have missed much. I rate the movie at 2.5/5.

The more I see movies like Cheeni Kum, the more I come to respect the pivotal role the Director and Script Writer play towards the final outcome. Cheeni Kum could have been great, but ends up with little going for it inspite of honest performances by Amitabh Bachhan and Tabu. The reason is that it is overcooked. The tongue-in-cheek dialogues are one too many and after the first 30 minutes you desparately want to hear some real sentences.

The story is about an acerbic owner of an Indian restaurant in London (Amitabh) who meets his match in a software engineer from Delhi (Tabu); much like fresh lime meeting honey. One thing leads to another and soon they fall in love. But their marriage plans face the wall in Paresh Rawal who simply cannot live with the idea of his daughter marrying a person older than her father.

Most of the time, the humour is trite and repetitive; for example the repartees concerning the umbrella and the cheap references to condoms. I also found the movie to be insensitive in the humour it wishes to derive from the waiter whose teeth are protruding. I could (probably) take the joke one time but when a chef in the kitchen keeps having his fun from the same pair of gums, it starts to get on my nerves. Real fun is all about wit, not about below the belt jokes on someone’s physical appearance.

Then there is Amitabh doing this silly “lets make it out” act that is as cheap as it gets. And when he lies down in the middle of a field wanting to do it right there with Tabu, you know the ship has sunk.

And what is Paresh Rawal doing in this movie? Who wrote that role? His character is a total waste and makes you run for the exit, something I would have done had I not paid through my nose for the ticket.

I definitely felt that the script writer has struggled for all those one-liners. They just do not seem to be free flowing. And that is what kills them. A fact highlighted by the character of Zohra Sehgal. When even she cannot ignite the screen on some occassions, you know there is a problem somewhere.

If you are a die-hard AB fan, go see it. I wonder if there are many die-hard Tabu fans out there, but those who are, will be glad to know she puts in a fine performance and is my choice of best performance in the movie.

There are simply zero surprise packages in the movie. The title song is catchy and hummable. I do not recall anything other than that as far as music goes.

Cheeni Kum is a movie that has namak zyada and will leave you with a not-so-good taste in the mouth.