5 Fascinating Culinary Movies Made in India

Well.... well...well...we are back to food-centric movies and this time we are talking about my motherland- India, or specifically Indian cinema.

Rana Daggubati, a famous Indian actor, once said on a talk show, "India has two religions: Cricket and Cinema" and it is true. If you ever take a look at this country, that's all we ever talk about. It's either "Have you seen the match last night?" or "Do you wanna watch that movie this weekend?". Cinema is a huge part of our culture. I already discussed how it plays a role in our lives and how it showcases our behaviour with respect to food in my previous post on Culinary Cinema.

This time we are going to take a look at the Indian perspective on food when it comes to movies. A nation with so many different cultures, religions, topography, languages, etc. is bound to have different food habits and views. We will cover them all from Kashmir to Kanyakumari (I will try my best....) and as usual, the list is huge. However, I have picked out the ones that are popular and showcase different opinions. If there are any important movies that I might have missed, there is a comment section below this post. (you can give me abuse there....if you want...but don't)

Alrighty folks, here we go:

1. Tarla (Hindi)

Let's start with the most recent one, Tarla. A film starring Huma Qureshi as the famous, Tarla Dalal, who was a celebrity home cook who taught Indian housewives many unctuous and delectable vegetarian recipes. This movie was directed by Piyush Gupta and produced by UTV and Earthsky Pictures. This movie portrays the biography of Tarla Dala in a fun, dramatic, and wholesome manner.

The movie "Tarla" tells the story of a normal housewife who decides to find her calling in life, and later she does with the help of her supportive husband. If you have watched "Julie and Julia" before, you will find some similarities between the life of Tarla Dala and Julia Child. I enjoyed the movie Tarla wholeheartedly. For anyone who isn't familiar with Tarla Dalal's work, I would highly recommend this movie. This movie made me realize that this is why filmmaking and storytelling exist. To tell stories in such a way that no one has ever heard of. Stories that need to be told. I have never seen Tarla Dalal's cooking show before, although I have cooked a couple of recipes from her website, which is a safe haven for Indian vegetarian cooking.

After seeing this movie, I have high respect for her drive and purpose towards teaching housewives across India (Food to Freedom!) and I am excited to be talking about her more in my upcoming articles.

2. The Lunchbox (Hindi)

The Lunchbox is a dramatic movie starring Irrfan Khan, Nimrat Kaur, and Nawazuddin Siddiqui as the main leads. This story takes place in the busy city of Mumbai bustling with people and......lots of people. It narrates the story of two people who start communicating with the help of an accidentally exchanged lunchbox. This movie is directed by Ritesh Batra and produced by DAR Motion Pictures, NFDC, and Sikhaya Entertainment.

This movie showcases one of the most prized possessions of India......Mumbai's Dabbawala. "Dabbawala" translates to one who carries a Dabba (Lunchbox). There was even a Harvard study conducted on these Dabbawale, about how such an intricate and complex system of individuals never failed to misplace a single dabba to the customer even once.

Thomas Keller once shared this quote in his Masterclass, "Cooks cook to nurture people". The movie depicts this aspect of cooking and the value of family meals, and how much the protagonist longs for that. I think having someone cook for you is one of the purest forms of love that you can receive. There are a lot of discussions in the movie about change, progress, loneliness, society, and many more. The more you watch, the more you understand, and the more you find.

3. Ustad Hotel (Malayalam)

Ustad Hotel came out in 2012, starring Dulquer Salman and Nithya Menon as the main protagonists. It was directed by Anwar Rasheed and produced by Listin Stephen. The movie is about Feyzee, an aspiring chef, who comes to India from Dubai after receiving no support from his father for his profession. He stays with his grandfather, who runs the "Ustad Hotel", for some time before he can figure things out. He learns many things about life from his grandfather.

I have been recommended Ustad Hotel by many before, and this movie starts off slow in the beginning but gradually picks up the pace and in the end leaves you in a teetering emotional state. Ustad Hotel represents the philanthropic side of being a chef. If I had to describe this movie in two words, it would be "Humble Beginnings". I feel like movies that revolve around a specific main character other than just the protagonist have a special kind of emotional connection with the audience. In this case, it's Feyzee's grandfather.

I finished this movie and started "Tarla" soon after, and it was an emotional rollercoaster. This movie left me in a very sensitive emotional state, and then watching Tarla cheered me up. It was quite an experience!

4. Ulavacharu Biryani (Telugu)

Ulvachaaru Biryani is the Telugu remake of the Malayalam movie "Salt N' Pepper", which was released in 2011. This movie was simultaneously shot in 3 different languages. A wrong number leads to two foodies finding comfort in each other's company, and the problems they face tell the other half of the story. This movie was directed and produced by Prakash Raj along with K.S. Ramarao.

Although I have heard that the Malayalam version is better, I have decided to talk about this one because this is one of the first food movies I grew up watching. I still remember the iconic cake-making scene in this movie, and the song showcasing all the famous street foods in India during the opening credits. I wish the second half of the movie had more food-centric scenes and light-hearted ones.

But, all in all, it is definitely worth a watch just to see Prakash Raj's face light up every time whenever he sees food in the movie.

5. Gulabjaam (Marathi)

Gulabjaam was released in 2018, directed by Sachin Kundalkar, and starring Siddharth Chandekar and Sonali Kulkarni. It was produced by Vinod Malgewar and Vishal Chordia. The plot of the movie narrates the story of Aditya, a banker in London who quits his job and comes to Pune, to learn how to cook authentic Maharashtrian food so that he can open a restaurant in London. He meets Radha, a stubborn home cook, and asks her to teach him, and the plot develops soon after.

This was the first time I saw a Marathi movie, and I was pleasantly surprised. Although the plot takes a bit to warm up to the audience, it takes off once it does. This movie shows the simplicity of home cooking and how it creates a close bond between two people. Similar to The Lunchbox, this movie also depicts the role of food in interpersonal relationships. This movie also left me in a sensitive state at the end. I like how there are a lot of cooking shots and scenes in the movie. So, one can find and identify many typical Maharashtrian dishes such as Varan Bhaat, Aamti, Puranpoli, Kanda Bhaji, etc.

These are the five movies that I would recommend you watch this weekend, or whenever you are scrolling aimlessly through OTTs.

I think the unique thing about Indian cinema is that we make our movies for a wide variety of audiences even though it is supposed to be a specific genre. Our movies have that built-in inherently. I am talking about the "Navarasa". It's cause we grew up with all kinds of different sentiments and perspectives. The movies which I mentioned can be watched even if you are not a fan of food movies because all of them have their storylines not dependent on any particular aspect, whereas in foreign cinema, the movies I mentioned are in a way one-dimensional. But.....to each his own. I like all of them for different reasons, and movies teach us a lot, this time they taught us the philosophies behind cooking.

That's it for this week folks!

See you in the next one.