Bawarchi - A 1972 release which is considered Hrishikesh Mukherjee's best which also inspired David Dhawan's Govinda starrer,
Hero No 1.
A young man, Raghu (
Rajesh Khanna), comes as a cook to serve a
dysfunctional family. He claims he has worked for many affluent
personalities and he is hired. He cements his place with smooth talks
and his magical cooking skills. He can chop vegetables in a blink of an
eye, fry bhajias, add masalas and lemon to the colas and even stir two
pots at the same time. He often mouths "Taa-ta-raah" when he is
triumphant. Clad in a simple pair of brown shorts white shirt and the
Gandhi cap, Raghu slowly brings about a change in the family and brings
peace in the warring family.
Cheeni Kum -
One of Bollywood's finest chef movie's title is ironic as the 64 year
old uptight Budhadeb Gupta (
Amitabh Bachchan) definitely lacks
sweetness. He is the owner and head chef of Spice 6, London's top Indian
restaurants a fact which he never lets others forget. Enter Nina Verma
(Tabu), 34 years old, who walks in to his haven and changes everything.
She complains of the Zafrani pulao which does not go down well with the
pompous chef and they have an animated argument. On finding out it was
indeed his restaurant's mistake he decides to make amends. Lot of food
talk and tips are shared throughout the movie.
Luv Shuv Tey Chicken Khurana -
This is a movie about the protagonist's search for a well kept family
secret. Omi Khurana (
Kunal Kapoor) comes back to Punjab as his London
dreams didn't take off and he owes a gangster some money. The grandfather is
unwell and has forgotten the secret recipe that is the family's pride.
Omi pretends to be a lawyer but ends up discovering the secret recipe of
the popular Chicken Khurana, which is responsible for the Khurana
Dhaba's success. A love story is also weaved into the plot.
Ramji Londonwaley - A heart warming comedy,
Ramji Londonwaley is
the story of a naive Bihari cook whose dream is to own his own
restaurant, and have it inaugurated by
Amitabh Bachchan. It's a remake
of the Tamil movie
Nala Damayanti.
Ramji (
R. Madhavan) goes to London to earn money as he needs to pay his
sister's dowry. Things don't go as planned and he has to avoid getting
deported, so he marries Samira (Samita Bhangargi). Not only does Ramji
win a cooking competition, thus earning the work visa, but he also
manages to fulfill his dream.
Duplicate -
Shah Rukh Khan plays two roles effortlessly, Mannu Dada the criminal and
Raju the aspiring chef. He is given a task to prepare food for a
Japanese delegation, food is his life and Raju even bursts into a song
with references to dal, pickle, chutneys and the vegetables. He uses the
knife like a sword - cutting vegetables in mid air. He also manages to
woo the manager Sonia (Juhi Chawla) in the process.
English Vinglish -Touted
as the best comeback movie of recent times, Shashi Godbole (
Sridevi Kapoor) is
a home maker who sells
ladoos on the side to keep herself busy. She is
taken for granted by those around her and often ridiculed by her husband
and her daughter due to her poor grasp of English. She ends up going to
attend her niece's wedding in US a few weeks before her family and she
takes an English speaking course where she meets a French Chef. Shashi
breaks the stereotypical housewife image and manages to impress everyone
with her culinary skills and a perfect toast in perfect English to the
newly married couple.
Other movies which deserve a mention are
Chandni Chowk to China where Akshay Kumar plays Siddhu, a vegetable cutter with eye popping chopping skills,
Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani where
Prem (Ranbeer Kapoor) the son of a Dhaba owner takes a job as a
halwai
who makes
ladoos and
jalebis at lightning speed, and
Salaam Namaste where Nik (Saif Ali Khan) forgoes his career as an architect to become a cook who loves everything but pizza.
Usually
it's the mothers who dole out mouth watering food but in Bollywood it's
the men who have the author backed food centric roles. Hopefully you
enjoyed the food journey BollyCurry took you on and will return with
more next week.
Writer: Vibha.B
Editor: Shreya S. & Gunia M.
Graphics: Saraa K.
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