Chef (2017) User Reviews

I am not gonna get back those 2 hours of my life, am I ?

[ElDiomedes · 5/10 · 22 December 2017]

When I saw Airlift, I saw brilliance in Raja Menon. He took a true story, added some fiction, and heart, and made the movie great. Then he got his hands on an already great screenplay of Jon Favreau, and instead of adding heart to it, he did a complete bypass surgery.

The movie was so sluggish, almost fell asleep in the middle. Songs made the movie unnecessarily lengthy. When yous see Jon Favreau as a Chef, you get the feeling of a burning premise about the love for cooking and food, and family as the accelerant. When Saif cooks, he looks like me when I'm attempting to make a decent omelette. At some point of the movie, you are actually going to forget what the movie is about. It's like Saif was forced to do the film. He had no chemistry with the cast whatsoever specially with his boy, except for with Chandan.

After seeing the real Chef, you will feel a refreshing passion about being a Chef, reconciliation premise and family bond. And the remake will come to one conclusion, Saif needs an anger management class.

5/10 for the quirky sidekick and the amusing bus driver.

a decent remake

[beevenkat · 6/10 · 9 October 2019]

#Chef is a decent remake of a hollywood film. The focus is on following ur dreams, food n the love for cooking. Thankfully, the romantic angle is underplayed n the dad-son bonding is very well established. Saif is perfectly cast as the chef, Svar is good as the son. South heroine Padmapriya is very impressive n natural, unlike most bollywood heroines. Hope to see her more often. Music is average. The locations r natural. But the running time should be reduced by 20 minutes. Rating 3/5.

Saif Gets his Mojo Back

[nandidot · 6/10 · 7 October 2017]

In my mind Raja Krishna Menon's 'Chef' will be remembered as the movie that helped Saif Ali Khan get his mojo back. Mr. Khan's acting career has been suffering for the last few years. Some bad luck and some worse decisions have led to some awful films. While his last release 'Rangoon' was decent it didn't help his prospects at the movies. With Chef he finds himself again…much like his character does.

Chef, a remake of Jon Favreau's 2014 movie by the same name, is about Roshan, a chef in New York City going through a midlife crisis. After finally achieving his dreams of running a kitchen he is now in a slump. His work doesn't excite him, he has lost his passion for cooking, and his emotions are out of control. An impulsive decision takes him to Kochi, India where he reunites with his ex-wife and son. While trying to make up for lost time and bonding with his son Roshan gets a new lease on life.

Director Raja Krishna Menon has weaved a simple tale about family, fighting for your dreams, and what it means to find contentment. The tone, throughout the movie, is mellow and soft. While this does make you restless at times it's also why the film works to a certain extent. Moments such as the North Indian father being shocked that his son had never eaten chole bhature bring a smile to your face. I also enjoyed the relationships in the movie. The father-son bond as well as the exes' dynamic was rather refreshing and stayed away from dramatic clichés.

The biggest takeaway from the movie is Saif Ali Khan. He sinks his teeth into the role and delivers a fully realized character complete with faults and dad humor. It's his most restrained and real performance in years. Padmapriya Janakiraman, who plays Roshan's estranged wife Radha, is quite good as well as is the young actor who plays their son. The music is soothing in the moment but not particularly memorable. The camera captures some beautiful shots of Kochi, a place you don't normally see in North Indian films.

This is a slow movie, no two words on that. Solutions to problems are convenient and relationships are mended too easily. But if you enjoy gentle stories about characters finding themselves chances are this will satisfy that craving.

It's not a Food movie at all

[liverenjith · 7/10 · 12 July 2020]

In my opinion this movie is not giving any priority to the food than the family bondage and all. Of course, the backdrop of the movie is 'Food' and it is the direct adaptation of the English movie 'Chef' released in 2017, but this movie disappointed in a way. The crew tried to impart Indian culture in the script and narration, which is good in an angle, but they really failed to place Food in the first place. The attempt should be appreciated, the casting is god and also the BGM and the songs too. Saif Ali Khan and Padmapriya played their role well.

Kerala is one of the rare locations for famous food. Even if they shot the movie at Kochi, they have not even tried to explore the food varieties of Kerala.

I liked the movie personally, in a sense, which portrayed the sweetness of Father-son, Husband-Wife, Chef-customer, and friends' relationships.

Good plot and the overall story, but the direction and poor casting almost kills the movie

[jay-techie2007 · 6/10 · 9 October 2017]

Decent effort but you wouldn't miss anything if you haven't watched it. Chef suffers a lot in terms of direction, with an otherwise strong plot. Music was perhaps the strongest point of the movie - especially "Shugal Laga Le" (not "sugar laga le") by Raghu Dixit is to be watched out.

Story (7/10): Chef is a rags-to-riches story of Chef Roshan Kalra who starts off from Chandni Chowk to make it big in NYC restaurant and 3 Michelin stars. However, as the success gets into his head, his downfall starts and soon he finds himself out of work and away from the family he ignored for so long due to his career. As he tries to make peace with his unemployed life, he, reluctantly, takes this as an opportunity to bond with his son in India and also rediscover the old Roshan Kalra by going back to his roots where it all started and get his mojo back. It was a great plot but the story/screenplay screws up things very badly. Too many things were left to audience's imagination as the writer doesn't spend much time in building the background for the protagonists' downfall or the inexplicable chemistry between him and his ex-wife. The second half of the story is much better written, however it is still not enough to compensate from the confusion the first half creates.

Acting (6/10): With no big names the department didn't have much to offer. Even after more than two decades in the industry Saif doesn't have a reputation to shoulder a movie on his own and this movie doesn't change that. However, he still does a good job - especially with respect to the character - picking up the knife skills to the least. Padmapriya was too flat faced across scenes to generate any emotions. Svar Kamble, playing Chef's son, was good to watch taking a good amount of load in terms of acting. Dhanish Karthik plays a good supporting role to Saif. Cameo of Milind Soman was good and refreshing, so was that of Raghu Dixit.

Direction (6/10): The class that Raja Menon showed in Airlift was completely missing here. In total contradiction, he spent very little time in building a background for the story. The downfall of the chef just didn't seem convincing and trying to replicate Gordon Ramsay through Saif Ali Khan was just a wishful thinking. Raja could have done a little more to build a good and convincing chef instead of just showing him making pasta all the time - the only other two things his chef made in the movie was a chutney and his invention called Rottza. His chemistry with his ex-wife is weirdly portrayed - although the good part is that the movie doesn't show divorce in a bad light conveying that two understanding adults can separate on good terms too. The dance sequence shown between the two was amazing to watch.

Overall (6/10): I loved the plot and the overall story, but the direction and poor casting almost kills the movie. If you give it a skip, won't matter.

I never normally write a review. For this I have to write. This is un-matchable with the original one i.e. Chef (2004).

[rizwan-ismail89 · 3/10 · 18 November 2017]

Poor acting, flawed story-line, and pathetic re-make. Such a waste of talent, time and money. If you really want to enjoy a movie like this. You should watch the original one Chef 2014. The Bollywood re-make is just another crap. Saif Ali Khan never was seen in that role what a passionate chef should look like. There was no sync among the characters. It lacks depth and coherence. Even it wasn't funny neither emotional. Just a hasty copy of the original.

Movie with an angry Saif Ali Khan has limited appeal to me & it stretches for far too long

[sutirthabagchi-26979 · 6/10 · 24 November 2018]

I suppose part of my rating is explained by the fact that I just don't like Saif Ali Khan. But it is even harder seeing a movie where he plays an angry not-so-young man, because it doesn't suit him and also, I suppose because no one is interested in seeing another person's temper tantrums. Be that as it may, there are some uplifting moments in the movie - especially some of the scenes between Saif Ali Khan and the son exploring various cuisines and also towards the end as it all comes together for Roshan Kalra. The actress - Padmapriya - turns in a very respectable performance, possibly better than Saif Ali Khan. And yes, some of the songs are hummable, especially Shugal Laga Le.

Disappointing!

[ridhi-rajpal · 4/10 · 12 January 2018]

Considering the film has already been made once, and all the Director had to do was do a good job setting it in the Indian context and adapting it for the local audiences, it was quite disappointing.

The film felt stretched, lengthy and extremely slow at many parts. While the Director did get away with using too many cuts in scenes where the stay on a moment was important, the overall pace of the acting itself seemed slow. The father-son jokes and banter needed a slighter higher tempo and swiftness, characteristic to the teenagers of day who speak and type at lightning speed.

Unnecessary insertion of humor and extra elements such as the "union issue" took away precious scree time. Would have also loved for a deeper connection between the father-mother in the story, on script level, as well as performance wise.

And the saddest part? The food could have been made to look so much more delicious and inspiring! Even though the focus was more on the personal evolution of the chef, the food did play an important role in his life and there was no logical reason to make the food shots look so boring and mundane.

The songs, however, are great! The album is bound by a certain preference towards percussion (I felt) but still consists of a range of genres to listen to.

Boring, but it has its good moments!

[MuviFan73 · 12 October 2017]

The good thing above this movie is the love between father and son. The other good thing is the mention of, what the Gurudwara at golden temple does and how special it is for one to become associated with it.

It is being called the remake, but I would say there are many things that are replaced. The story is of a chef (divorced) living in foreign country, how he is fired from his job, later catches up with his son in India, tells him his story of how he becomes chef. They further open up a travelling food place built by refurnishing worn out double decker vehicle in India. It's also shown how he declines new job in foreign country for his family in India.

Final Verdict: It's boring but has its good moments [(2/5) (7/10)].

If you're watching this film,‌ a friendly advice, watch it with your stomach full – as it will make you hungry.

[fillerruth · 6/10 · 6 October 2017]

CHEF starts on a slow note. The Father-son relationship is the highpoint of the movie. Also, Roshan's jealousy for Biju is funny. The second half is when the road trip begins also puts a smile on your face. CHEF being in the 'food porn' zone, several scenes are sure to water your mouth though one expected to see more food visuals in this film.On the whole, CHEF is a feel good cerebral entertainer that charms you with its simplicity. At the box office, it should appeal to the target group of multiplex audience that appreciates discerning cinema. The film has the potential to grow with a good word of mouth.

Taking inspiration from Hollywood's delectable film of the same name made by Jon Favreau in 2014, director Raja Krishna Menon gives us a slice-of-life film that satiates the palette and tugs at your heartstrings.Chef works on two levels. First, it takes you on a gastronomical adventure. But most importantly, the film is an emotional journey that ties up all the loose ends between fathers and sons, whose ideologies may differ but who still share a deep bond that is impossible to shake off.

Bollywood actor Saif Ali Khan's delectable drama, Chef, is a relief on several fronts. The inglorious mid-life crisis, identity struggle, fractured marital relationship and single parents' woes are showcased with impeccable grace in director Raja Krishna Menon's slice-of-life drama. But that shouldn't stand in your way of enjoying this heart-warming drama. It's modern, funny and leaves you hungry for more.

Raja Krishna Menon binds the story very well. Choosing the tough way of avoiding cut-copy-paste, he does justice to the script and shows us how an official adaption should be treated like. Food being the backdrop, Chef is majorly a story of values, family and love. If you're watching this film,‌ a friendly advice, watch it with your stomach full – as it will make you hungry.

You love a food, read it's recipe, cook it , taste it then realize that reading (watching) and (re) making are different things

[dineshprakash · 1/10 · 6 October 2017]

I loved director's previous film "Airlift" very much that without being intrigued by trailer I had to watch it. It is official remake of Hollywood 'Chef' and everything is missing here. Original's basic ingredient was emotion and here not a single pinch of it, except in the scene where father cooks stuffed Paratha and takes it to his son, apologies for his short tempered and rude behavior, but still underlines that his words were correct but way was not. Makers have in digested original too much so they took the audience for granted. What translated on screen is, a short tempered chef, his ex wife, son and wife's male friend, I don't know why this character was kept? This male friend offers a typical junk double Decker bus to open restaurant to chef and he modified it up to modern level then you think it was better to purchase a new or at least second hand bus by chef then what was need to insert this old bus track, just to show unnecessary labor union interference and bus cleaning, modifying by chef and his son!? Or just to insert that dead rat throwing scene !? Performance wise every actor is OK but they don't gel with each other and create the chemistry of a family.

Bond of son and father

[v-39094 · 8/10 · 25 April 2020]

Its a nice movie and shows bond and love of father who is confuse so they are on way to find something good

Mediocre remake of a far Superior movie

[dhiraj-telugu · 5/10 · 16 November 2017]

Chef is a remake of Jon Favreau's Chef (2014), I had seen the movie and have loved it, For its simplicity and great coming of age story where food was one of the characters. The remake Chef of Saif Ali Khan is mediocre, The movie is not engaging its takes a lot of time to get the audience invested in the main character which to me sounded and behaved like an asshole at the beginning of the movie. The journey of the main lead of self discovery is forced and get your attention right at the last 30 minutes of the movie. The movie has been beautifully shot and some of the visuals are stunning. Milind Soman/Dhanish Karthik and Padmapriya are excellent. Svar Kamble is fine as Saif Ali Khan kid, Being portrayed as a school going kid should have much shorter hair. Over all its a Mediocre remake of a far Superior movie

Disappointment!!!!!!!

[drronaldchacko · 3/10 · 19 January 2019]

It is scary when someone cannot even copy a movie properly. As a movie named Chef,it has to focus on food. The only dishes a head chef from a New York restaurant cooked are a single pasta dish and a tortilla pizza.

Considering the movie shows the journey of a food truck from the South to the North of India, the movie could have displayed the culinary diversity of the nation along the way.

In my opinion the movie was a lazy effort from te makers.

Full of Rubbish and total BS

[hassan-ali-shaheen · 1/10 · 19 December 2017]

Bey inteha fuzul tareen cheiz one can ever watch. Too unreal, too lame, too artificial, too fuzul, too idealistic, too much waste of time. Saif Ali Khan's films are just like him; a wanna be guy who is fuzul and farigh enough to not being able to achieve any thing worthy. What a rubbish piece of cinema. Is Saif Ali Khan really that free from life, world, and people that he is being able to make such riddiculous.

It is a very slow movie

[manvijha-49632 · 4/10 · 27 March 2022]

It is a very slow movie, kept waiting for the plot till the end of movie. However, the child actor did a good job. Liked his haircut ;) There were some unnecessary characters in the movie like Vinnie, Raghu, Alex. Could have easily done without these characters and ended the movie in less than 2 hours.

Why was this rated so poorly?

[awersee · 8/10 · 15 April 2018]

I was pleasantly surprised with the movie - had pretty low expectations thanks to imdb's rating of 5ish.

What I liked about the movie

• Saif Ali Khan: it was such a treat to watch him. He was just so effortless!
• The picturesque beauty of Kochin: makes you actually want to visit the place.
• The subtle 'Dil Chahta Hai' reference: (Bus scene in which the group is considering taking a detour to Goa).
• The overall "feel-good" feel of the movie.

What I did not like about the movie

• The wife and son were a mis-cast: there was no chemistry whatsoever between Saif and his family (I can kind of understand why they broke up, lol!).
• Too many unnecessary songs: felt interruptive.

Another disastrous attempt by copy paste Bollywood mafia.

[mishraishan · 1/10 · 20 March 2021]

What a shameless rip-off of the original Chef. The audacity to simply copy and paste storyline with poor and absurd acting is mind boggling. Here is an idea to all these morons in Bollywood : If you want to copy the movie then keep the original video and just dubb the movie in Hindi.

Same review as my zomatos one

[sagarjamnani · 3/10 · 27 March 2020]

Not actually a film critic, but maybe my review can help a bit, watched jon favreau chef twice i guess , both times felt good , the emotions felt real-had a connection to the movie twice so thats a really big deal, chef(2014) had its ups and downs, sometime the movie went drowning but it was also floating freely so i think it was ok-ok, but coming to the chef(2017) i felt the characters were trying really hard to push their limits, maybe they had a competition from the 2014 chef but this competition this comparison i think got them, and i think the movie went awfully down, because i watched sacred games before than chef(2017) so my expectations were a little high i guess, but i guess watching chef(2014) would be better, really better!!

Rare!!

[mrankitdutta · 10/10 · 7 June 2020]

It's Sunday evening i just watched the movie and I truly enjoyed. some people started comparing I don't know dude is there any movie to compare. What you can learn is decipline, respect. Some of them don't have any interest in chef life but every Indian love food so that way you can enjoy.

Superb movie, must watch for educated grown ups of urban India

[abhat-16386 · 9/10 · 11 October 2017]

The story is about the beauty and simplicity of life made unnecessarily complicated by our own choice of joining the rat race. The story is about priorities in life. I loved watching this movie, even the second time. One of the best in the recent times. The narration is intelligent, even paced and I thought the cast was well thought through, especially the Bangladeshi and the various Mallu characters, each one playing their part to perfection. Milind Soman plays his part but I cant help objectifying him a small bit. He really is a balm to sore eyes.

The script, screenplay, the direction and the actors have come together in a rare synergy to bring out the various issues in modern day life in a realistic way. The characterisation is brilliant. The underlying or should I say the overlying quirky humour throughout deserves its own mention. But it is also to be said that maybe being aware of the typical types of behaviour of people from Bangladesh and more specifically Malyalees prompted my bursts of laughter throughout the movie.

Watch out for the detailing of characters 'Nazrul' and 'Alex'. Actually it is difficult to find any flaw or loopholes in the detailing in any frame. The director has managed to bring out the nuances of a Kerala town life well enough for even a non-mallu to enjoy it.

It is a wonderful movie and initially the movie bombing perplexed me, but now I am just disappointed. I know there is a sizable portion of intelligent audience in India, where are they? How can this movie bomb? I don't know if it was the marketing or the lack of it. Did the actors miss going to stupid chat shows and prance around to promote their movie or did they miss making multiple mini trailers? Or was it just the naming of the movie? Whatever it was, it is just sad that such a wonderful movie is not reaching the right audience, whereas a brainless crass remake of an absolute dud original is a hit. I pity the standard of our audience. I really wish it rises up one tiny notch. The whole thing feels like sabotage.

Anyway I loved 'Chef', nothing underplayed and nothing overdone, everything just perfect. Is that not what a great chef is supposed to do!

Saif shines ....

[panigrahi-sanjay · 8/10 · 13 May 2018]

This movie's sub 5 reviews in IMDB surprise me . Acting is superb , locales great , a unusual storyline , brilliant editing . Overall a good attempt , I do not care was original was better . Do we really see movies to compare ?

This is one of the Best of Saif and I an avid movie lover enjoyed the script, acting , cinematography et al. Surprised that he did not even get a nomination . Who says the movies is slow . Yes , this is " hatke" and that is what makes it special . This is no Bollywood masala stuff , cleverly packaged as it is now a days but an unconventional theme well attempted .

Saif is a natural fit for the role

[tlrg-legend · 8/10 · 12 November 2017]

Bollywood has a long history of adapting Hollywood films into its own desi versions and we have seen the results that tend to range from bad to better. This Chef remake lies somewhere in between and if I may add, is inclined more towards the better part. Adapted from the Hollywood film of the same name, Chef starred Iron Man director Jon Favreau who also wrote and directed the film. This Indian version is an official remake that stars Saif Ali Khan, Padmapriya Janakiraman and Svar Kamble in lead roles.

Saif stars as Roshan Kalra, a 3 Star Michelin chef who doesn't take criticism constructively from a customer in New York and ends up losing his job and his sense of identity. Chef is as much as the story of a man rediscovering his passion as much as he wants to reconnect with his son. His wife Radha stays in Cochin with his son Armaan. After a lecture from his friends that he needs some time off he comes back to India to reconnect with his roots.

There we see the obstacles faced by Roshan when he was struggling to follow his passion, his differences with his father and apologizing to his son for not being there for him. The film majorly focuses on father-son bonding just like the original. We also see Roshan proud of his Punjabi roots and constantly reminding everyone that he's from Chandni Chowk. The film has breezy 1st and 2nd halves and never seems to drag.

Saif is a natural fit for the role, as the middle-aged man who never gave time to his loved ones slowly comes to realize that work is not everything. Padmapriya as his ex-wife Radha plays her part to perfection. Also, newcomer Svar Kamble has an effortless chemistry with his on screen Mom & Dad. We also see fan favourite Milind Soman in a Cameo appearance, a la Robert Downey Jr. from the original. The scenes between him and Saif are fun to watch as we see Roshan trying to hide his envy from the uber cool Biju.

Though the film is not a perfect recipe, some of the scenes could have been written and directed with a firm grip. For a film named Chef, we don't see Roshan dabbling in Kitchen or discovering new dishes much, it's more of a man trying to connect with his passion and family. Though we get to see a lot of cooking and eating and the close-ups of edibles are a treat to watch.

Chef offers nothing new or groundbreaking; it just tells one story in its own tone. Made at a time when most of the parents are not able to find more time to spend with their children, it'll appeal more to families and the multiplex audiences. Though it's definitely an effort in the right direction and the film should be watched for its story, cast and food.

Soothing Delightful Treat.

[purnimachitale · 9/10 · 18 June 2019]

This is a beautiful and colourful movie. All the actors fulfilled their tasks very well. Although they had feerangi vibes somewhere but it doesn't make you forget your association with India and being Indian. The impatient people should avoid this movie because it runs slow in few parts. But people with light minded personality would like, love and accept this movie.

It is a beautiful story that shows time is more important than money for your child

[zaidjasnaik-59884 · 8/10 · 19 July 2020]

Chef is a beautifully created movie that highlights different relationships.