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A customary spoonful of curd before exams, feasts synonymous with festivals or the jar of achaar that accompanies every student moving out of his or her home — food is intrinsic to Indian culture. Another undeniably important part of Indian culture is Bollywood. However, it isn’t often that you get to see India’s love for food translate on screen. Here are some films (in no particular order) that perfectly capture our love for food.
I. English Vinglish
The story of a demure housewife portrayed impeccably by the late Sridevi, English Vinglish is an insight into urban Indian society’s treatment of those who aren’t fluent in English. The movie shows the protagonist Shashi at the receiving end of her husband and daughter’s mockery owing to her inability to speak and understand English.
Even though the film predominantly tackles the notion of superiority attached to the English language in India, the role of food in the narrative is passive yet instrumental. The scrumptious ladoos that Shashi makes are a window into her desire to be an independent entrepreneur. Her homemade ladoo business gives her identity an aspect that is entirely independent of her identity as someone’s wife, mother or daughter-in-law.
II. The Lunchbox
From aiding a young housewife’s attempt to rekindle the romance in her marriage to being at the helm of initiating an unlikely association between that very housewife and a lonely middle-aged businessman — food plays a key role in taking The Lunchbox’s narrative forward.
This beautifully made film starring Irrfan Khan and Nimrat Kaur, has a rather simple storyline — some confusion with the otherwise efficient Mumbai dabbawalas’ system causes Ila’s (played by Nimrat) dabba meant for her husband to get delivered to Saajan Fernandes (played by Irrfan Khan). This marks the beginning of a relationship based on exchanging notes with dabbas of food prepared by Ila and a relationship based on pure appreciation for good food.
III. Stanley Ka Dabba
“A school-teacher, who forces children to share their food with him, forbids one from entering the school until he brings his own Tiffin/Lunch-box,” reads the film’s description on IMDB. However, what it does leave out is the fact that it is food that ties two otherwise contradictory characters — Khadoos, the name used by students to refer to their irritable professor and Stanley, the cheerful protagonist, who is very popular amongst his classmates.
The movie is centred around Khadoos’ attempts to prevent Stanley from eating his fellow students’ lunch boxes that the teacher has his eyes on. Food also plays a pivotal role in tying the loose ends of the film together in its climax. A must watch, Stanley Ka Dabba is a moving film that uses a young boy’s relationship with food to acquaint us with his rather unconventional life.
IV. Bawarchi
An adaptation of the Bengali movie Galpa Holeo Satyi, this Rajesh Khanna starrer is one of Bollywood’s initial attempts at depicting the central role that food plays in a typical Indian household. Khanna’s role is that of a bawarchi or cook. He works for a joint family, and the film is a depiction of how good food can solve all problems, regardless of how big or small they might be.
V. Chef
The film is about Roshan Kalra (played by Saif Ali Khan), who is a middle-age Michelin star chef. Roshan, who ran away from home to move to New York to make it big as a chef, has achieved what he wanted to, but somewhere along the way seems to have lost the passion that fuelled all of this. Post a dramatic meltdown, Roshan moves to India to reignite his love for food and subsequently his relationship with his son.
Chef, an adaptation of Jon Favreau’s 2014 film with the same title, is certainly not one of Bollywood’s finest contributions when it comes to filmmaking, but the emphasis on food is undeniable even if solely based on the film’s title. “Chef works as food porn. The film is a celebration of food, of what it means to cook a meal and to serve people you love with your own hands,” writes film critic Anupama Chopra in her review of the film.
VI. Cheeni Kum
An unconventional love story with a rather noticeable age gap of 30 years between the protagonists, Cheeni Kum is endearing and makes for the perfect feel-good weekend watch. Chef Buddhadev Gupta (played by Amitabh Bachchan) and Nina Verma’s (played by Tabu) romance is sparked by an argument over how an authentic Zafrani Hyderabadi Pulao is prepared. Food continues to play a passive yet crucial role in the latter half of the movie when Buddhadev tries to impress Nina’s father, who is, in fact, younger than him and vehemently against the relationship. Cheeni Kum is also one of the few Bollywood films that portray the inner workings and dynamics of a professional kitchen.
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