Opening Doorz

By Martin D’Souza | Opening Doorz Editorial | October 06, 2017

Rating: 5 / 5

The essence: Chef is delicious, yummy and appetizing with a wonderful aroma of family values. It’s worth settling down to savor!

An official remake of the 2014 American film by the same name, Chef stirs up emotions, is a wholesome family entertainment and breaks the barriers on gastronomic delights. From the cuisine in America, to the rustic kitchen in Kochi, to the street side fare of Delhi’s Chandni Chowk, Raja Krishna Menon serves his film in style, with a generous garnish of delectable performances from every actor.

For me, it is Alex (Dinesh Nair), who takes the pudding and malai kulfi. However, the dynamic charm of Radha (Padmapriya Janakiraman), the agelessness of Biju (Milind Soman) and the angst of Arman (Svar Kamble) all combine well to complement the main ingredient, Chef Roshan Kalra (Saif Ali Khan).

Roshan punches himself out of a job in a restaurant in America, makes time to visit his son and ex-wife in Kochi and ends up sprucing up a dilapidated double-decker bus (thanks to Biju, Radha’s good friend, who has a keen business sense) to run a restaurant on wheels. For the father and son, it is bonding time and Menon gently delves into the father-son relationship two times over, simultaneously: with Roshan and his son and Roshan and his father!

As much as food is the center of attraction on screen, so are relationships. Without going overboard, Menon brings into focus family life and ones responsibilities.

Dinesh Nair as the bus driver brings a sense of craziness to the team which is planning to hit the road. Padmapriya is sumptuous, both in her performance as well as her looks and outfits which have been well thought out. Her subtle body language and emotions executed with her eyes are brilliant. Svar Kamble, as the confused son who misses his dad, comes up with a confident performance that brings in the balance in the script, while Milind Soman ‘dishes’ it out!

As for Saif Ali Khan, he has successfully written off his last film, Rangoon, with a good performance that merges with the other actors. And that’s the tadka of this film—the characters stay in sync, blending to form one happy story-line.

Considering it’s a remake, it’s wonderfully done. Tubelight too was a remake of the Hollywood hit film, Little Boy: look at what they did with it!

Chef is delicious, yummy and appetizing with a wonderful aroma of family values. It’s worth settling down to savor!

Bon appetite!

CREDITS
Producer: Vikram Malhotra, Bhushan Kumar
Director: Raja Krishna Menon
Star Cast: Saif Ali Khan, Padmapriya Janakiraman, Svar Kamble, Dinesh Nair, Milind Soman, Chandan Roy Sanyal