Jon Favreau excited for the Indian version of ‘Chef’

Los Angeles, March 25 (IANS) The kitchen of Jon Favreau's "Chef" will soon get a 'desi' twist 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 and instead opted for a "more filmmaker driven independent style of Indian filmmaking" for the Hollywood's film 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 told IANS.

"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" boasts of a supporting cast of actors Robert Downey Jr, Sofía Vergara, John Leguizamo, Scarlett Johansson and Dustin Hoffman along with Favreau.

The 2014 film narrates story of a chef, who sets out on a gastronomic adventure across US through 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, and Favreau says he was honoured and curious when he was approached with the idea of remake.

"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, known for projects like "Iron Man" and "Cowboys & Aliens", feels mixing up of the booming chef and food culture of India with the Hollywood film will be an interesting concoction.

He said: "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 seems to translate very well and the chef culture and the food culture is really emerging in India."

For now, Favreau is looking forward to the release of Disney's "The Jungle Book" with Indian-American Neel Sethi essaying the role of Mowgli. Co-produced and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, the film is set to release in India on April 8.