Unarguably among the directorial talents, Balki just sweeps that age thing under the carpet. The dialogues make pointed barbed references to what it's like for two such generation-challenged people to come together and laugh at each other's foibles. It's hard to decide in which capacity Balki scores higher marks, as director or dialogue writer. Caustic and crisp, mordant and modern, pithy and passionate, the words weave a magic across this spontaneous comedyIn this funny love story, the exchanges between a surly chef in London and the polished Indian girl from Delhi. She's in London for a holiday. He is a cantankerous sarcastic chef who can't take a snub even when it's served up on a platter. She criticizes the arrogant chef's Hyderabadi biryani, in a distinctly pungent and peppery dialogue which sets the film on the track. Paresh Rawal, as Bachchan's outraged father-in-law -to-be is surprisingly bland, but Zohra Sehgal as Bachchan's spunky mother and more specially, little Swini Khara as Mr. Bachchan's next-door neighbor who in her terminal illness provides the narrative with the gift of life….grab the lapels of your heart and sweep you into a world of love's most satirical fears to that feeling which we feel but rarely can describe. Cheeni Kum makes you forget there's a difference of 30 years between the girl and, bachan, the boy. That's the magic of pure acting. Cheeni Kum is probably the sauciest, sassiest, slickest, and smoothest romantic comedy you'll see in a long time.