Cheeni Kum (2007)

"The film opens in the kitchen of Spice6, a (fictitious) Indian restaurant in London. Waiters, busboys and chefs are busy at work taking orders, preparing food and serving up a storm. At the center of this restaurant is an ornery head chef, Buddhadev Gupta (Amitabh Bachchan), presiding over "London's best restaurant". He is quick to fire a sous chef on the spot for making a small mistake. And he launches into a grand speech about the rise of the restaurant to prominence, about the art of cooking and how it stirs all the senses, and about the discipline and commitment required to maintain its stature.

One of the waiters, affectionately called Colgate (reference to the toothpaste) and incessantly teased because of his protruding front teeth, brings back a Hyderabadi Zafrani Pulav. The patron sent it back because cheeni zyada hai (it has more sugar, it is sweet). The great Buddhadev is enraged. He brings it back to the table and lays out the patrons. Is this their first time in London? How is Zafrani Pulav made at their home? Would they be so kind as to teach him? The patrons quietly leave. Buddhadev returns to the kitchen muttering about low air fares bringing planeloads of bloody tourists who simply cannot appreciate his art.

The next day Colgate brings back another Zafrani Pulav. Buddhadev tastes it and rattles off its ingredients. He pronounces it, the child of his kitchen, the best Zafrani Pulav in town. Colgate meekly informs him that it was not sent back, but cooked specifically for him by the previous night's patron.

That patron is Nina Verma (Tabu).

Over the next few days Buddhadev and Nina run into each other a few times. Nina, a 34-year old software engineer, is intelligent, charming, playful, and strong willed, all under a quiet external demeanor. Buddhadev is every bit the pompous, irritable and lonely old man he portrays. The film takes us into his life. He returns, night after night, to his lodgings and to his aged mother (Zohra Sehgal in an excellent performance). The bright spot in his life is his quick-witted 9-year old neighbor Sexy (Swini Khara). She teases him, checks up on him and dispenses advice (with apparent wisdom way beyond her age) about his problems. For all her wit and wisdom, Sexy suffers from leukemia. She also laments that she is not able to watch A-rated (analogous to R-rated films in America) films. Buddhadev offers to bring her DVDs. (Later in the film, she says there is nothing in them she didn't already know. She fast-forwards through them in an attempt to finish watching them all as quickly as possible.)"

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5