The kitchen of Jon Favreau’s Chef will soon get a desi remodel with an Indian version of the film already in the making.
The director says he was impressed that the makers didn’t go the traditional Bollywood way for the remake.
“I thought it was going to be a musical but instead there is a grittier, more filmmaker driven, smaller independent style of Indian filmmaking that has a tremendous amount of energy,” Favreau said.
“There is a very strong visceral filmmaking that doesn’t feel as polished and formal as the traditional Bollywood productions,” he added.
The original Chef featured Robert Downey Jr, Sofia Vergara, John Leguizamo, Scarlett Johansson and Dustin Hoffman.
The 2014 film narrates the story of a chef who sets out on a gastronomic adventure across the US with a food truck after he loses his restaurant job.
It is reported that Saif Ali Khan will star in the remake as the main protagonist.
“I was curious about how they will go about doing this and why they thought a small American film would apply to those audiences so I can’t speak with any certainty, but I am definitely excited and curious to see how it goes,” Favreau said.
Favreau, who is known for his roles in Iron Man and Cowboys and Aliens, thinks the film’s content is suited to an Indian audience.
“So you have a lot of different film industries that exist in India and so to do this film in a more independent way sounded very interesting to me. And the other thing is that the theme is food, music, family. [It] seems to translate very well and the chef culture and the food culture is really emerging in India,” he said.
For now, Favreau is looking forward to the release of his directorial, Disney’s The Jungle Book, with Indian-American Neel Sethi playing the role of Mowgli. Co-produced and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, the film is set to release in the UAE on April 14.
