Cheeni Kum
Times are indeed changing for Bollywood cinema. Thank goodness!
Film makers are coming up with interesting subjects with great regularity and some of them which could have been relegated to art house cinema or festival circuits are being made as complete mainstream cinema hence catering to a larger segment. Mushrooming multiplexes have to be thanked too since they are giving enough space for films and choices for audience to see experimental cinema at their will.
CHEENI KUM is one such film that comes this year and promises to be one exciting experience that lovers of offbeat subjects would relish.
Let's first clear a misconception amongst many about any similarities between NISHABD and CHEENI KUM. Except for the difference factor between the age of lovers of the lead protagonists, there is nothing that is common between the two films.
While NISHABD was more about studying the psyche of two people with vast age difference falling in love, CHEENI KUM is a romantic comedy that doesn't beat around the age factor and brings a philosophical/intellectual/sexual side to it. Instead, it just tells the tale of two people who find love in each other and the hilarious situations that are borne out of it.
The two protagonists here are Buddhadev Gupta [Amitabh Bachchan] and Nina Verma [Tabu].
They are 64 and 34 years of age. Interesting. Isn't it?
So while the 18 year old girl in NISHABD was still trying to explore life and find the meaning of love (and lust), the 34 yeard old Nina has seen it, done all and is now at that stage of her life where she has the brains to make a sane decision in her life and choose a partner for her whom she thinks would be her ideal soul mate for life.
And she chooses Buddhadev. But first let's take you through the situations that make them meet first!
Buddhadev Gupta was a happy man. And why not? He was working what he loved most - Run an Indian restaurant in London and be its chief chef. He loved cooking and he loved food. So much that he never fell in love with anything else in his life. Not even women. And this is what made him a bachelor throughout his life.
Until he met Nina.
And it was again food that got them closer.
Nina visits Buddhadev's restaurant and it is certainly not love at first sight, well, of food. In fact there is an argument that follows about the food and a series of meetings later, Buddhadev realizes that probably Nina was the one for him.
Nina, who was beautiful, mature, calm, charming, and ever so understanding.
The two start understanding each other better and as mature individuals decide to get married to each other. So while Buddhadev lets his 85 year old mother [Zohra Sehgal] about his feelings for Nina, Nina introduces him to her father Omprakash Verma [Paresh Rawal] in Delhi.
The only trouble? Her father was 58 years old, 6 years younger than her would-be groom.
And it doesn't require one to be an Einstein to figure how would any father in this position would react!
Would Buddhadev be able to get the hand of his lady love?
Produced by Sunil Manchanda and directed by Balakrishnan, CHEENI KUM is ready for release and should soon be on its way to theatres near this May to make you smile. Be ready to sip your coffee with.......cheeni kum!