Chef: Saif cooks up a quite a fair

Saif Ali Khan as chef de cuisine is a cool dude as is this languidly laid out film more on food for thought than food itself. Despite having relationship issues, the film is a platter full of fun that a father and his estranged son have with an ex-wife as the world’s must understanding — and stunning — woman, thrown in for special effects.

Between New York and Kochi, the film takes well-crafted and becoming familial flights, helmed by a totally laidback but obsessively me-myself Saif Ali Khan. He strangely sees reason when his follies are gently pointed out to him but is volatile enough to punch a customer at his NY restaurant when told that his food has become mediocre.

The simplicity with which the film delves into existential issues like divorce, identity crisis, loneliness etc gives it a five-star status. Saif is the best choice for the role he plays — a chic, urban, witty, cosmopolitan man who has gone up the ladder of life with sheer determination steeled as a runaway child who makes it big in life.

He fits into the role as comfortably as the shorts he wears. He is a true to life, you and me kind of character and quite funnily harks on his Goan misadventure with a white woman in his film Dil Chahta Hai (DCH). In fact, his personality in this film is a somewhat grown-up version of his role in DCH.

The film is a gentle, engaging and humorous story which will make you laugh as you introspect about modern life and its post-modern mores and how cool we have become with life after a marriage ends. The kiddo is also cool. Full marks to director Raja Krishna Menon! This one has much more lift than Airlift.

Source: Sunday Pioneer, 08 October, 2017