Saif Ali Khan (“Phantom”) will star in the Bollywood remake of Jon Favreau’s hit “Chef.”
Abundantia Entertainment, Eros International and Alumbra Entertainment will co-produce. A director has not yet been finalised.
“Chef,” released in 2014, grossed some $46 million worldwide. Favreau played a professional chef who quits his job at a popular Los Angeles restaurant and reinvents himself with a food truck. Khan will play the role in the Hindi-language remake.
Abundantia, headed by former Viacom 18 chief operating officer Vikram Malhotra, acquired the rights from Favreau’s Fairview Entertainment. The Hindi version will adapt “Chef” for the Indian palate while retaining the flavour of the original.
Favreau said: “I’m excited to see how this personal film translates to the Indian culture. The themes of food, music and family should resonate well.”
“Ever since I first saw “Chef” I knew that this film had to be made in India. Charming relationships, a feel-good story and a unique journey of self-discovery make ‘Chef’ the ideal film to bring alive in an Indian context. Add to that the blazing spirit of entrepreneurship and the rapidly evolving food scene in India and the context for a Hindi remake is brilliantly set,” Malhotra said.
Eros will distribute the film worldwide.
Abundantia enjoyed box office success with January 2015 release “Baby”, starring Akshay Kumar. The company’s 2016-17 slate includes the film adaption of bestseller “Karachi, You’re Killing Me”, period love story “Missing” and “Toilet – Ek Prem Katha” about Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Clean India campaign, with “Airlift”, starring Kumar and Nimrat Kaur (“The Lunchbox”) due to release on January 22, 2016.
Alumbra’s credits include “Warning” and “The Attacks of 26/11.”
