Cheeni Kum, Flavour Zyada

Saw Cheeni Kum over the weekend and liked it very much.

After a long time, I saw a film with a sparkling and witty script. It just goes to show that the premise of the film is just the starting point. How it’s taken forward and the sensibilities it showcases is more important and Cheeni Kum scores well above average.

The key characters essayed by Amitabh and Tabu are mature and even the bits which could have easily become soppy, like their courtship, are handled with élan. Their repartees are on the spot and their relationship is handled with a great sense dexterity and light-heartedness.

There have been a lot of discussions in media about a ten year old girl being called “sexy”, and the wrong signals it sends out. I personally have some sympathy for that point of view; but at the same time I’ll stop short of making a huge moral issue out of it. Though it’s no excuse, there s far worse that is happening in our media and society and we’ll be better off focusing our efforts towards those issues.

Coming back to the movie, unlike a lot of films recently, which hold their own until the last 20 minutes before falling apart, Cheeni Kum manages to pace itself right to the end. Even the part at the end where Amitabh breaks down and his conversation with Tabu is very sensitively handled.

Following best traditions, the music by Ilayaraja adds flavour and ambience to the film without seeming to be interludes. The actors are at their best, which means given their caliber, outstanding. Just as I was beginning to forget how good he is (after hamming his way through well-marketed disasters like Black), Amitabh proves again that he has the firepower. But this movie reminds us yet again that it requires a strong script and a skilled director to get that best out of him. Sanjay Leela Bhansali will have to try harder.