What’s cooking?

Some films keep in mind the pressures on a chef as well. “I recommend watching Dinner Rush (2000) which is about the mafia’s involvement in New York restaurants and how chefs manage to prepare food under pressure,” offers Nachiket Shetye of East. While films may not always have that much of an influence,people in F&B certainly appreciate it when food is involved. “It’s a lot of fun to watch such films on screen,especially with the family. Watching the kitchen even in an animated film like Ratatouille is something I can relate to,” says Joydeep Mukherjee,executive chef at Indigo Café.

While there have been some Indian films which incorporate food,this isn’t a regular occurrence and the melodrama often overshadows everything else. Kunal

Vijaykar,the actor,deconstructs why: “I think given that most of our movies use formulae to make money,something as complicated as weaving food into the story and maintaining it throughout can be quite a challenge. Drama,which is what our movies run on,hardly derives from food and it takes a really talented filmmaker to come up with a script that would do it. Cheeni Kum is the only example that comes to mind.”

Interestingly,Today’s Special,directed by an American but featuring Indian actors and based on a New York restaurant,is meant to be showcased at the upcoming Mumbai International Film Festival later this month. Till then,we suggest you catch Julie & Julia to whet your appetite.

Eat This
Ratatouille (2007) Animated film about a gastronomically gifted rat from the countryside that makes an alliance with a Parisian restaurant’s garbage boy to cook by controlling the boy.

Woman on Top (2000) Penelope Cruz suffers from motion sickness and thus spent her childhood learning to cook and becomes a TV star.

Sideways (2004) Two 40-something men taking a road trip through the Californian wine country.

Chocolat (2000) A single mother moves into a tiny French town and opens a chocolate store.

The Cook,The Thief,His Wife and Her Lover (1989) Peter Greenaway’s erotic classic about love and lust; costumes created by Jean Paul Gaultier and food props by Giorgio Locatelli.