Coldd Lassi Aur Chicken Masala (streaming on Zee5) brings together television’s popular bahu Divyanka Tripathi (in a new avatar) and small screen’s once-upon-a-time heartthrob Rajeev Khandelwal (charming as always).
The fresh pairing was what drew me to the series, apart from the fact that it is directed by renowned filmmaker Pradeep Sarkar. This one brought a change from the stupidly addictive Korean dramas I was hooked on to.
The story revolves around now-divorced chef Nitya (Divyanka) and Michelin star chef Vikram (Rajeev). Nitya and her son, Vivaan, are living a peaceful life till Vikram comes back into Nitya’s life as her new boss. Memories of a loving life they once had, marred by Vikram’s cheating, come flooding back to Nitya making it difficult for her to work with him.
Nitya is shocked to see her ex after eight years and accuses him of stalking her as he once did before their marriage. The story then goes into flashback mode and you see Vikram wooing Nitya.
The story does a lot of back and forth between the present and past and Pradeep Sarkar beautifully weaves the flashbacks into the present without breaking the flow of the narrative. In fact the writers, Doris Dey and Jaya Misra (who is also a popular author and has penned several web series) deserve credit for making the it enjoyable.
The story is ably supported by characters played by Priyanshu Chatterjee, Barkha Bisht, Manini Mishra, Mrinal Dutt, Navneet Nishan. Never do you once feel any of them being unnecessary to the plot, and over the 12 episodes, not just Nitya and Vikram, but these characters make a place in your heart too.
Also, there’s something very artistic about the way the series has been shot. And, Pradeep Sarkar makes sure you never forget the story is about two chefs by bringing in food every now and then.
It is actually food, like Vikram says to Nitya, that brings them closer and for them, food is not just food but a memory (to give an example: Nitya doesn’t eat or cook Chelo Kebab because that reminds her of Vikram’s infidelity).
It was refreshing to see Divyanka playing a different character than the one she has been playing for god-knows-how-many-years on Ekta Kapoor’s ‘Yeh Hai Mohabbatein’.
And, Rajeev in chef’s whites was definitely drool-worthy (at least for his fans like me!). Though it is a romantic comedy, with not-so-new concepts of infidelity and stalking, there’s something different about this one. It doesn’t bore in anyway. I would say it is cooked with love with a tadka of little drama.
Rating: ****
