Saif Ali Khan is a versatile actor who has proved his worth in diverse roles. He’s one of the few actors who can effortlessly essay roles in romcoms, love stories, action flicks and even intense flicks in ‘Omkara’ (2006). Sadly, the box office performance of his films since 4 years has been bad. ‘Bullett Raja’ (2013) failed despite being a masala action film. ‘Humshakals’ (2014) was a torture rather than a funny film. ‘Happy Ending’ (2014) was nothing new while ‘Phantom’ (2015) was damn good but was a box office flop due to its high costs and niche appeal. Same goes for ‘Rangoon’ (2017) – it was too niche and costs were skyhigh.
Now Saif Ali Khan is back with ‘Chef’, a remake of the popular Hollywood film of the same name. It also stars Southern actress Padmapriya, child actor Svar Kamble and Chandan Roy Sanyal. It is directed by Raja Krishna Menon, who made ‘Airlift’ (2016) last year. The trailer is decent and it seems like a sweet family entertainer with a dash of food porn. Also interesting is the food bus used in the film – a revamped double decker that doubles up as the chef’s ‘chalta firta’ (moving and mobile) kitchen.
Sadly, the film looks quite niche. But unlike ‘Phantom’ and ‘Rangoon’, its costs are very limited. Even then it would be difficult for the film to get audiences despite good word of mouth. The hype is very less for the film and also, the pre-Diwali period is very dull as majority of audiences stay away from cinemas. Hence, it remains to be seen if ‘Chef’ can attract audiences simply through a good word of mouth.
