SAIF ALI KHAN'S CHEF MISSES OUT ON SOME INGREDIENTS!

Saif Ali Khan's latest film is the story of a father who reconsider his life choices when his creativity and cooking skills are put to question. The film is an original adaptation of the Jon Favreau’s 2014 Hollywood film with the same name Chef, but thankfully Krishna Menon's directorial is not a blind copy of original one!

The story kicks off in Chandni Chowk with the visuals of mouthwatering aloo-tikki and chole bhature which set your mood for the film which deals with food and chef Roshan Kalra's (Saif Ali Khan) relationship with it. Roshan is so in love with food that at the tender age of 15, he runs away from his home in Delhi to escape his family's conservative thinking. Cut to, he's 40 and a three-star Michelin chef in a New York restaurant. But unlike the original, Roshan loses his interest and ends up losing his job and ends up returning to India to spend some time with his son Armaan and ex-wife Radha while rekindling his passion for food.

The slice-of-life drama works for the fact that it sets the mood right thanks to the brilliant locations of Kerala coupled with spot-on cinematography. The beauty of the film lies in it's simplicity which is heartwarming and extremely enjoyable and Raghu Dixit's score only compliments it perfectly.

The supporting cast does a good job in providing the laughs, especially Roshan's food truck driver Alex (Dinesh Nair) who mumbles away some really funny dialogues throughout the film. Padma Priya is cast perfectly as Roshan's ex-wife and she plays her part with honesty and gives the film a required flavour. The young Svar Kamble makes a likeable debut as Roshan's son who is craving for his father's love and attention. Saving the best for the last is Saif Ali Khan who easily delivers one of his career-best performances and the role seems written just for him. All in all, the film's cast gives an outstanding performance and Menon deserves full marks for the same.

On the other hand, one can't ignore the fact there are some loose ends in the film. Menon over-cooks the story which leads to boredom and the audience ends up getting distracted. Certain events such as Saif's failed marriage and how he gets his three Michelin stars deserved to be explored a little more.

In the end, Chef is a decent culinary comedy which works as an appetite stimulant but there are some important ingredients that are missing in Mennon's Chef.