''Chef'' is a 2017 Indian
Hindi
Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...
-language
comedy-drama
Comedy drama (also known by the portmanteau dramedy) is a hybrid genre of works that combine elements of comedy and Drama (film and television), drama. In film, as well as scripted television series, serious dramatic subjects (such as death, il ...
film co-produced and directed by
Raja Krishna Menon. It is an official remake of the 2014 American film
with the same name. The film stars
Saif Ali Khan
Saif Ali Khan (; born Sajid Ali Khan Pataudi; 16 August 1970) is an Indian actor and film producer who primarily works in Hindi cinema, Hindi films. The titular head of the Pataudi family since 2011, he is the son of actress Sharmila Tagore a ...
in the title role.
The film's
principal photography
Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production.
Personnel
Besides the main film personnel, such as the ...
began in October 2016 in
Kochi
Kochi ( , ), List of renamed Indian cities and states#Kerala, formerly known as Cochin ( ), is a major port city along the Malabar Coast of India bordering the Laccadive Sea. It is part of the Ernakulam district, district of Ernakulam in the ...
. ''Chef'' was released on 6 October 2017. The film under-performed at the box office.
Plot
Roshan Kalra (Saif Ali Khan) is a chef whose passion for his career supersedes everything else in his life, including his family. He lives away from his wife Radha Menon (Padmapriya) and son Aari (Svar Kamble). He decides to visit his son in
Kochi
Kochi ( , ), List of renamed Indian cities and states#Kerala, formerly known as Cochin ( ), is a major port city along the Malabar Coast of India bordering the Laccadive Sea. It is part of the Ernakulam district, district of Ernakulam in the ...
and they have a good time together. When it is time to return to work, he reflects he has lost out on a lot of time with Aari. He decides to stay with his son and open a food truck, which serves both his purposes in life: cooking food and being with his son.
Cast
Soundtrack
The film's original songs and musical score were composed by
Raghu Dixit. The song "Tere Mere" and its reprise were composed by guest composer
Amaal Mallik. The lyrics were written by Ankur Tewari and
Rashmi Virag. The first song of the film, "Shugal Laga Le", was composed and sung by Raghu Dixit and was released on 6 September 2017. The second song, "Tere Mere", sung by Armaan Malik, was released on 11 September 2017. The third song, "Banjara", which is sung by
Vishal Dadlani
Vishal Dadlani (born 28 June 1973) is an Indian singer, songwriter, music composer and occasional actor. He is one half of the duo Vishal–Shekhar, and frontman and vocalist of one of India's leading rock bands Pentagram.
As a great singer, ...
, was released on 18 September 2017. The soundtrack was released on 31 August 2017 by
T-Series.
Critical reception
Raja Sen of
NDTV
New Delhi Television Ltd is an Indian news media company focusing on broadcast and digital news publication. It was founded in 1984 by economist Prannoy Roy and journalist Radhika Roy.
NDTV began as a production house for news segments, ...
gave the film a rating of 2 out of 5, saying that, "Saif Ali Khan and the actors try hard, but lazy writing and direction make ''Chef'' a flavourless and bland meal". Meena Iyer of ''
The Times of India
''The Times of India'' (''TOI'') is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by the Times Group. It is the List of newspapers in India by circulation, third-largest newspaper in India by circulation an ...
'' praised the performance of the lead actor
Saif Ali Khan
Saif Ali Khan (; born Sajid Ali Khan Pataudi; 16 August 1970) is an Indian actor and film producer who primarily works in Hindi cinema, Hindi films. The titular head of the Pataudi family since 2011, he is the son of actress Sharmila Tagore a ...
and gave the film a rating of 3.5 out of 5, saying that, "''Chef'' is predictable in parts, the journey is an enjoyable one." Sweta Kaushal of the ''
Hindustan Times
''Hindustan Times'' is an Indian English language, English-language daily newspaper based in Delhi. It is the flagship publication of HT Media Limited, an entity controlled by the Birla family, and is owned by Shobhana Bhartia, the daughter o ...
'' rated the film 1.5 out of 5 and said that, "Saif Ali Khan's ''Chef'' offers moments of brilliance which, if weaved in a more organised manner, may have given us a light, affable film. But a lazy and rather uninterested narrative takes away the pleasure."
Sukanya Verma of
Rediff.com gave a rating of 2.5 out of 5 and said that, "In a premise begging for food porn, there's a shocking scarcity of sensory pleasure or vision. ''Chef'' is too dull to be delicious." Shubhra Gupta of ''
The Indian Express
''The Indian Express'' is an English-language Indian daily newspaper founded in 1932 by P. Varadarajulu Naidu. It is headquartered in Noida, owned by the ''Indian Express Group''. It was later taken over by Ramnath Goenka. In 1999, eight y ...
'' rated it 2 out of 5 and said that, "Saif Ali Khan's film has some interesting flavours. But ''Chef'' feels derivative, and is a late coming of age tale of
Peter-Pan-like adults. And that's got to do with the uneven writing. It is a good-looking film, with good-looking people only."
Rajeev Masand
Rajeev Masand (born 13 March 1976) is an Indian film critic and journalist. He has worked for Noida based English language news channel CNN-Indian Broadcasting Network (CNN-IBN). He usually reviews Bollywood films and major Hollywood films rel ...
awarded the film 2.5 out of 5, saying that, "''Chef'' isn't perfect; it lags in places, offers quick-fix solutions to characters’ problems, and feels wholly familiar. But at a little over two hours, it doesn't ask much of you, and offers some pleasure in Saif Ali Khan's return to form as an actor hard to look away from."
References
External links
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{{Raja Krishna Menon
2017 films
2010s Hindi-language films
2010s Indian films
Indian comedy-drama films
Indian remakes of American films
Films about food and drink
Films about chefs
Cooking films
Films scored by Raghu Dixit
Hindi remakes of English films
Films shot in Kochi
Films with screenplays by Ritesh Shah
T-Series (company) films
2017 comedy-drama films
Hindi-language comedy-drama films