Although very little, but the relationship between food and stories in Indian cinema has been very intimate and multi-coloured, sometimes it becomes a medium to connect relationships, and sometimes a medium to explain the complexities and sensitivities of life.
Among the thousands of films made in India every year, films focused on food culture are negligible. The presence of restaurants, dhabas and five-star hotels is visible in Hindi cinema, but food is used there only as a scenario and not as a carrier of culture. For example, the protagonist’s dream of opening a restaurant in October is just a part of the story, the main plot is the love story. Similarly, the film Hotel Mumbai, based on the 26/11 terrorist attacks, keeps the hotel at the center due to its subject matter, but does not establish any direct connection with the food culture. This is an indication that the tradition of making food a subject of cultural discussion has still not developed in Indian cinema. Well, there are some movies and web series that mark the food culture in Bollywood. Like the Netflix series Killer Soup, decorated with the aroma of food, is a good murder mystery, but within it the flame of the restaurateur’s dreams and struggle also keeps cooking, which has been played very well by Konkana Sen and Manoj Bajpayee. Rishi Kapoor’s last film Sharmaji gives new meaning to the life of a salty elderly father. After retirement, he finds his identity in the kitchen world. Saif Ali Khan’s character in Chef embraces the culture of cooking and food trucks to mend the broken bonds with his son and family. Reminiscing about food heritage, Love Shabnam Tey Chicken Khurana tells the story of discovering grandfather’s lost recipe with a touch of Punjabi flavour. While Stanley Ka Dabba presents the hunger of an innocent child, school and the moisture of relationships, the unique love story of Amitabh Bachchan and Tabu in Cheeni Kam bridges the gap of generations, starting with the fragrance of Hyderabadi pulao.
Irrfan Khan in a scene from the movie Lunch Box
English Vinglish is the self-esteem journey of an ordinary housewife, where along with learning English, laddus and sweets also become a part of her personality. Tumbbad creates a unique form of folklore and cultural horror by making grains and food symbols of greed. If we go back a little further, Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s cook makes food a formula to connect the scattered threads of a family. Even if very little, the relationship between food and stories in Indian cinema has been very intimate and multi-coloured. Sometimes it becomes a medium to connect relationships, and sometimes it becomes a medium to explain the complexities and sensitivities of life.
In Lunch Box, Irrfan Khan and Nawazuddin Siddiqui have brought to life that rare pause, where a simple food in a box connects two unknown souls and a series of silent letters turns into a sweet love story. In Tarla, Huma Qureshi brings to life the life of Tarla Dalal, India’s first female chef, and shows how cooking can also be a language of empowerment for a woman. In this context, we should appreciate Indian regional cinema, because really excellent work has been done here in this matter. Regional cinema has many times shown that food is not just about taste or tradition, but is deeply linked to the philosophy of life, relationships and the structure of society.
Rishi Kapoor in Sharma Ji Namkeen
The Malayalam film The Great Indian Kitchen takes a dig at the housewife’s life and kitchen routine with Kerala’s food culture and patriarchy, while Salt N Pepper brings to the fore the friendship between two strangers and the intimacy of their culinary traditions through a meal and a radio show. The Tamil thriller Onaayum Aatkuttiyum weaves its narrative into the night-time tea-stall culture of South India, while the Assamese film delves into the depths of social taboos and human nature through the unusual Amish food traditions. While Gulabjaam presents the sensibility of the guru-disciple relationship through Maharashtrian cuisine and sweets, many other regional films, including Bhojpuri cinema, have linked the feast, feast and thali culture with social customs and collective life. Whereas Ustad teaches philosophy of life through hotels, biryani, hospitality and family relationships. Angamaly Diaries authentically portrays the cultural identity of the small town through local cuisine. Bitter Wind poignantly brings to the fore the tragedy of changing food culture and farmer life due to the impact of climate change.
steel box
If we talk about world cinema, then in this context their scope becomes much wider. A deep confluence of food and culture is seen in Korean cinema. Sometimes these dishes emerge as the identity and cultural heritage of a nation, and sometimes they are reflected in the intimacy of a girl returning to her village and preparing traditional and seasonal food. Somewhere the discovery of mysterious dishes connects taste, aroma and memories, while somewhere layers of relationships are revealed through bakery and sweets. Sometimes these dishes become a symbol of competition and interaction, and sometimes they are a mirror of the simplicity and emotions of life. In this way, food is not limited to just taste, but becomes a deep metaphor of culture, memories and relationships.
In Hollywood cinema, food emerges not just as an experience of taste, but as a metaphor for the complex fabric of life and society. The New York restaurant in the film Dinner Rush is not just a place for serving dishes, but a theater of struggle for power and identity, where Italian tradition and modern trends stand face to face. The film The Menu makes food the pinnacle of art and consumption, raising the question whether the extremes of taste ultimately call for destruction, where every dish is a drama and every guest an inauguration of one’s own moral void. In contrast, the film’s restaurant Waiting is a caricature of American middle-class life, where worker insecurity and consumer snobbery turn food into a social laboratory. The film considers burnt food as a symbol of self-liberation and rebirth. The pursuit of a Michelin star here takes the form of a modern myth, turning art, labor and competition into a tragic journey. Whereas The Hundred-Foot Journey transforms the hundred feet distance between Indian spices and French cuisine into a bridge of dialogue and coexistence of cultures.
Another interesting fact is that the acting of great actor Om Puri in this film is worth watching. Some films reflect the fusion of French food culture and American lifestyle, while others highlight modern food truck culture and the importance of food in family relationships. At some places the kitchen has been portrayed as a laboratory of art and passion, at others the balance of intimacy and life has been shown through pasta, pizza and traditional dishes. Eating delicious food has always been one of the pleasant experiences.
(The author is a film scholar)
