Cheeni kum (2007)

चीनी कम

I am always pleased to review a film while it's playing in theaters, so I can add my small voice to the cacophony of reviews encouraging or discouraging others from seeing it.  In the case of Cheeni kum ("Less sugar"), my verdict is:  get out and see this film, if you are near a theater where Hindi films are shown.  It is a funny, quirky, and winning romance.

Buddhadev Gupta (Amitabh Bachchan) is a salty and egotistical chef who runs what he calls "finest Indian restaurant in London."  He's a perfectionist who rules his kitchen with an iron fist, not hesitating to dress down his staff for small errors, or to berate a young English waiter for failing to master the precise pronunciation of the names of the dishes.  When a visitor from Delhi, the no-nonsense Nina Verma (Tabu), sends one of his signature dishes back to the kitchen - complaining that it's too sweet, of all things - Buddha is mortally insulted, but he is also charmed.  The flirtation grows serious, and before long Buddha must navigate a minefield strewn with his own insecurities - he's a full thirty years Nina's senior - not to mention the objections of Nina's cricket-obsessed, Gandhist father (Paresh Rawal).  Supporting Buddha in this adventure are his sprightly mother (Zohra Sehgal) and a tiny little girl named Sexy (Swini Khara), Buddha's frail, leukemic next door neighbor.

Though it is an older-man, younger-woman romance, Cheeni kum thoroughly avoids any hint of the ickiness that sometimes pervades such stories like a bad odor.  The romance works because Nina is a grown-up, not a desperate and confused girl; she enters the romance with eyes open and without desperation or any sort of  daddy complex.  And Buddha treats her equally, not paternally; he has a great and easily bruised ego, but no excessive machismo, and there is no sense that he feels entitled to the attention of a beautiful young woman.  The power dynamic is clear from the character's early interactions; Nina has the upper hand, and so any inherent imbalance arising from the age differences is neutralized.

Cheeni kum isn't coy about the age difference, either; it's the main source of conflict in the film, and the film addresses it head-on, either in comic scenes (Buddha surreptitiously removing candles from his birthday cake), or slightly cliché ones (Buddha:  "Thirty-four - very old."  Nina:  "Sixty-four - very young.").  In one very funny moment, Nina fails to suppress a giggle as she reminds Buddha that he's not her father's age - he's actually six years older.  The side characters, too, emphasize the film's message that you're only as old as you feel - Buddha's elderly but irrepressible mother hounds him to work out and watches muscle-man competitions and "Sex and the City" on television, while little Sexy, who is knocking at death's door, longs to watch grown-ups' movies and spouts philosophical musings that convey wisdom far beyond her years.

In a lesser movie the cute-little-kid and cute-little-old-lady tropes would be tedious and cloying, but in the "less sweet" environment of Cheeni kum they somehow work perfectly; the charm and humor is warm and light enough that even these characters hit just the right balance, offering us glimpses of Buddha's tender side even before his salty courtship of Nina is fully off the ground.  The film waxes melodramatic in the second half, veering closer to traditional Bollywood style with a preachy speech or two and some distraught grieving.  But these are minor quibbles in a thoroughly delightful film, and are far overshadowed by the rich humor afforded by both the characterizations (such as the inconsistencies of Nina's father's semi-sincere Gandhism) and the situations (such as Buddha's mounting frustration as he waits for the right opening to break the news of the engagement to Nina's father).  Small imperfections are readily overlooked in as tasty a confection as Cheeni kum.

A word on the music:  The songs of Cheeni kum are largely abbreviated in the film, and are presented without traditional Bollywood picturizations - i.e., the characters do not sing them.  Still, it is one of the finest and most melodic new soundtracks I've heard in a long time, and I've raved about it in other fora.  It is one of the few Hindi film soundtracks by the prolific and revered South Indian movie composer Ilaiyaraja.  Some have complained that Ilaiyaraja recycled melodies from earlier compositions for Cheeni kum, but as I wasn't familiar with his work before this didn't bother me in the slightest.  I think it's a fresh and wonderful soundtrack, highly worth a listen.   

Comments

[crazyone]

Carla,

Great review, but I wanted to be a bit picky and point out that it's Gandhi not Ghandi. An Indian language-connoisseur like you should know that those two are pronounced quite differently: गांधी (सही) vs. घांदी (ग़लत)

[carla]

And I do know that, of course - just poor proofreading. I have found and fixed some other typos as well now that you mention it! Thanks for pointing it out, and though I am mortally embarrassed by it, I will not revise history by deleting your comment. :)

[Beth]

I haven't seen it so I have little to add - it sounds fantastic and I cannot wait to see it. But here's a question for you, and it's been bothering me all day, so I hope you can help: why on earth is a small child named Sexy? Is it a workable nickname from a longer name or is it a weird joke of some kind?

Hi Carla

Cheeni Kum is being shown in a theatre bang opposite my office! ie 2 mins walk

I was initially thinking of waiting for the DVD. But on second thoughts have decided to see it on the big screen today after work.

I have read the first 2 sentences of your review. I shall read the rest of it after watching the movie today.

Hi Carla

Wonderful film - good review. I saw the movie just now after work and am sending you this quick email.

One melodious song in the movie is actually a song from a tamil movie called Mouna Ragam (some time in mid 1980s) - music was composed by the same Illayaraja. I enjoyed listening to the song again!

thanks for recommending the movie! Keep the reviews coming.

cheers

Meera

[carla]

Meera, I was a little nervous when I saw that you had changed your plans on my recommendation - so I'm very glad you enjoyed the film! :)

Beth: I think "Sexy" is actually a nickname given to the girl by Amitabh's character Buddha. It's also a giant set-up, allowing for a cute exchange between Nina and Buddha that occurs in the film's penultimate scene. The nickname isn't seem inappropriate in the context of the film, but I'm not sure I can explain why.

[Amodini]

That was a good review. Haven't seen CK yet but plan to.

[Lakshmi]

Hi! You have a nice blog going. Its nice to see that you are interested in Indian culture, music etc. Now Cheeni Kum has a bizarre resemblance to a frame by frame set up of a yet to be released film (27 July 2007 tentative date)Catherine Zeta Jones no less, called "No Reservations"! (http://imdb.com/title/tt0481141/) I saw a trailer on another video I had rented. So wonder whether the films are inspired from each other or happily 'borrowed'!

[yves]

Hi Carla,
I'm going round the reviews of Cheeni Kum which I very belatedly saw yesterday! I appreciated your review, it made me reconcile with the fim a little, in fact. There are still a number of buts, but one thing I realised is that the movie must indeed be a rather good one, because I've been using my westerner's evaluation grid for it, whereas if I had used my Bollywood grid, it would probably rank much higher! I hope you see what I mean!
Er, one question (if you remember the film well enough): did you not think there was a little too much "sexyness" going around? The little girl's name (even if it is Buddha's invention), then those frequent allusions (in the other two's talk) to sex as a purely biological reason for love; it's there also in the conversations between the two girls in their London flat; I didn't quite relish this constant reference.
Bye for now
yves

[carla]

Yves, while I would probably change the little girl's nickname if I could, I can't agree otherwise that there is an overpresence of sex in this film. To the contrary, a story about a romantic relationship between a 34-year-old and a 64-year-old that *didn't* treat sex as a somewhat prominent consideration would seem facile, superficial, and thoroughly unrealistic. One of the things I liked about *Cheeni kum* is that it didn't pretend that a romance between two grown (and lonely and somewhat damaged) adults would have the same look-and-feel as the typical filmi romance of ingenuous youths.

[faser]

thanks a lot