Food And Movies: 7 Bollywood Films Recommendations That Revolve Around Food

Have you ever watched a movie that depicted food so brilliantly that you ordered the same thing just because you couldn’t resist? That’s the beauty of both food and cinema; and when they come together, it works like magic. Movies make you feel love, loss, and even hungry when the characters bet on who’s going to eat the most. Similarly, food, with its aromas, flavours, and textures, has a remarkable ability to evoke memories deeply ingrained in our subconscious.

English Vinglish (2012)

Directed by Gauri Shinde, English Vinglish is a heart-numbingly warm movie that can take you through a rollercoaster of emotions. The story is about a traditional Indian housewife, Shashi Godbole, played by Sridevi, who lacks self-confidence as she cannot speak the English language. However, the only thing that makes her happy is making and selling homemade laddoos apart from cooking meals for her husband and family. 

Life takes her to an unexpected turn when she has to go to New York to attend her sister’s wedding. Shashi is shown to struggle her way in New York before she joins an English learning class, where she gets a new-found respect, being called an entrepreneur by the teacher. With her cooking skills being taken lightly by her family, she gets confidence by making and distributing laddoos at the wedding. Thus, food becomes a metaphor for self-discovery and empowerment as Shashi finds her voice through culinary creations.

The Lunchbox (2013)

The Lunchbox, directed by Ritesh Batra, is a masterpiece that touches on topics like loneliness faced by a widower and the emotions of a neglected housewife. The movie is set in the bustling streets of Mumbai, and the film beautifully captures the essence of the city's famed dabba delivery system, where homemade lunches are transported from kitchens to workplaces with precision.

However, one day, a home-made lunchbox prepared by a young housewife Ila, played by Nimrat Kaur and a lunchbox by a tiffin-delivery system of a widower, Saajan, played by Irrfan Khan, get mixed up. After realising the mixup, an unexpected friendship sparks between the characters, and they bond over food. They exchange notes describing dishes they like and finally reveal their feelings and vulnerabilities. Watch how food becomes a bridge that makes them meet and where destiny takes them.

Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi (2008)

Aditya Chopra’s Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi is a classic romantic drama starring Shah Rukh Khan as Surinder Singh and Anushka Sharma as Taani. Surinder Singh, a typical office worker, gets married to Taani as her father’s dying wish. While the newlywed couple tries to bond, food acts as their love language when Surinder’s burnt toast gets replaced by Taani’s freshly prepared meals.

The movie is a testament to how food can bring a couple closer when we see them bonding over a gol-gappa bet, a plate of biryani, an office lunchbox, and much more. There’s so much food in this movie that you’ll surely crave the drool-worthy street food.

Stanley Ka Dabba (2011)

Stanley Ka Dabba, directed by Amole Gupte, stars an orphan prodigy Stanley, played by Partho Gupte. It is a story that showcases the normalcy of students bringing a dabba (tiffin) to school. With nobody knowing the background of the all-rounder, Stanley and his friends were often surprised to see his empty tiffin every day.

However, one day, he had to disappear from school as a teacher who liked to ask his students for delicious meals, demanding to only come back when he had a tiffin of his own. The emotionally packed movie focuses on how an intelligent kid misses the warmth of a family metaphorically communicated through a missing lunchbox.

Daawat-E-Ishq (2014)

Starring Parineeti Chopra as Gulrez and Aditya Roy Kapur as Tariq, this rom-com is beautifully directed by Habib Faisal. It is a unique love story about a middle-class girl Gulrez (Gullu), whose father is struggling to get her married because of the high dowry demands. However, one prospective suitor, a master chef of Lucknow, Tariq, sweeps her off her feet.

While the couple try to figure out if they are compatible enough to get married, you can witness some utterly delicious Indian delicacies like kebabs, biryani, chicken, mutton, and much more. Just like the richness of the couple, the movie stands as a testament to the saying, “the way to a person’s heart goes through their stomach.”

Tarla (2023)

The biopic of the famous chef, Tarla Dalal, whose recipe must have saved your last-minute cooking plans, directed by Piyush Gupta, is a must-watch for foodies. Tarla, played by Huma Qureshi, discovers herself through food, and the story inspires a lot of people who are trying to build something from scratch.

Through the ups and downs of Tarla’s life, you can get glimpses of food based on both her personal and professional life. For a movie about a chef, be prepared to get inspired by the flawlessly prepared and shot Indian food delicacies that prove “cooking is not a mere hobby, but a form of art.”

Qarib Qarib Singlle (2017)

Qarib Qarib Singlle is a one-of-a-kind romantic comedy directed by Tanuja Chandra. It is a story of poles apart couple, Jaya, played by Parvathy Thiruvothu, and Yogi, played by Irrfan Khan, who meet each other via an online dating website. Jaya, an introvert who is even possessive about her water bottle, goes on a road trip with the extroverted Yogi. You can see how beautifully food is portrayed within the journey as a mark of love.

Be it while Jaya gifts Yogi his favourite mango mathri or Yogi arranges a plate of pakoras, the film takes you through different flavours of food, each dish mirroring the personalities of the protagonists. While food acts as a catalyst in their love story, you’d surely want to have a multi-regional cuisine by the end of the movie, where Jaya agrees to share her water bottle, silently expressing her feelings.