Film: Chef

Release: 06.10.2017

Director: Raja Krishna Menon

Music: Amaal Mallik

Cast: Saif Ali Khan, Janki Raman

You discover Chef Roshan Karla/ Saif Ali Khan suffers anger management issue when he  bashes up a customer in the restaurant for criticizing his food.

After one night in the lockup Roshan is fired by his boss and decides to head home to Cochin, India to spend quality time with his son in custody of his divorced wife.

The film is an official remake of 2014 American film Chef directed by Jon Favreau where the entire focus was on the making and the presentation of food, a big seduction for food lovers.

In the adaptation, the filmmaker adds Asian spices of family drama and drastically alters the original taste of the recipe.

The first half is unusually slow and repetitive. The second half comparatively more energetic and funny in segments as well but the end is a foregone conclusion.

What works in favor of the film is Amal Mallik’s music, Kerala’s exotic locations, leisurely boat ride and the ancient cottages. The message of the film is live for the moment and the hero most certainly does!!

There are some films you watch for the story, some for performances and some for the mood. Chef falls in the last one.

A guest appearance from Milind Soman and Malyalam actress Janki Raman paired as Radha are refreshing casting. Saif Ali Khan as always gives his best and is equally convincing as a carefree father and as the chef expertly chopping and cooking in the kitchen.

Chef is certainly not Khan’s best recipe but it is edible, I mean watchable if you are a Khan fan or better still a food fan. I rate Chef with 2.5 stars.

@bhawanasomaaya

It is my privilege that Sandeep Marwah has asked me to visit his academy, engage with his dynamic students and also awarded me with a trophy from ICMEI. This is their third successive Literature festival attended by poets and litterateurs from both India and abroad. It is my loss that I don’t get an opportunity to listen to other speakers as I have to rush to the airport.

Ashok Tyagi and his team have made all the arrangements so that I am not late and find my car as soon as I come out of the auditorium. I drive to the airport with fragrant memories of the festival, the vibrant atmosphere, the energetic students and the warmth of Sandeep Marwah and his dynamic team.

@bhawanasomaaya

 The debate is on Cinema – how much it has changed over the decades and how much is for the betterment of the audience. The discussion also includes the media, its role in communicating with the cine-goer. Marwah is the moderator of the session. He has a unique style of introducing the subject and his panel members which is a combination of sher-o- shairis and dossier of the speakers.

The best thing about Marwah is that while he keeps the discussion restricted to the topic, he allows his speakers a free hand to address the audience on a subject close to heart.  I am asked to share my experiences as a columnist and critic and engaging the students on the mantra of surviving show business.

I can see they are interested because when the session is over a lot of them have curious questions which cannot be answered in such a short time.

The studio is packed with enthusiastic students and other guests and their energy is infectious. Sandeep Marwah is clearly very popular with his students and it shows in the manner he is greeted by the academy.

He has a lot to share with his students but before that some formalities need to be out of the way. He invites all members on the dais to come down and join him in the lighting of the lamp. There are ambassadors for different countries and all of them in some way or the other connected to the academy.

Post the lamp lighting combined with Ganesh vandana and some music everybody is ready for serious discussions.

@bhawanasomaaya

ICME International Chamber of Media & Enertainment Industry combined with Asian Academy of Arts is hosting its third Global Literary Festival in the capital and I am invited as a chief guest. It is a long drive from the airport to Marwah Studio in Noida.

Marwah Studios most efficient director Ashok Tyagi is waiting for me outside the venue and as soon as the car drives into the compound I am led into the auditorium for the event, which I am surprised begins on time.

@bhawanasomaaya

Bapu please look at the image below and see how we have lost ourselves in your absence. Please come back and show us the way once again…

Day nine is called Navmi and is associated with Devi Siddhattrii or the goddess of salvation which is why even the deities worship Devi Siddhatrri. According to the puranas Lord Mahadev worshipped the goddess to claim more powers and she obliged him apparently his Ardhanareshwar avatar is a result of a boon from Goddess Siddhatrii. The puja followed on this day is called Maha Navmi Puja and is also recognized as Kanya puja popular all over India.

Dussera is the final day of the festival and celebrated differently in different states. In Gujrat the emphasis is on goddess Amba and Bahuchara, in Punjab it is Devi Shakti or Devi Sherawali. In Kerala it is Devi Saraswati and In Kashmir it is Devi Bhawani.

Dashami or Vijayadashmi is associated with the victory of Lord Rama when he vanquished Ravana in Ashok Vatika and left for Ayodhya after 14 years of exile. It is the happiest and most auspicious day in Hindu mythology and believed that anything started on the Dashami will  become vijay/ successful for sure.