7 Best Indian Movies on Food

Since my school days, I was told off by friends for distracting them with food descriptions in the middle of class. The habit didn’t wane off in adulthood. I still spend a considerable time looking through food pictures on the internet, sighing at food videos by home cooks and dreaming about food photography. It is no surprise that I immensely enjoy watching films revolving around food. My favourite food film is Julie and Julia. I’ve watched it so many times. Others that usually end up being watched over and over again are The Lunchbox and Ustad Hotel. This list, of the best Indian movies on food seems a fitting tribute to my own love for them. You can stream these movies on Netflix or find them on other streaming platforms. Read for sumptuous biryani, Marathi cooking and dosa stories.

The Best Indian Movies on Food

Before you read further, this list has my favourite Indian movies on food, some that I desperately want to watch.

1.The Lunchbox (Hindi)

I watched The Lunchbox first at a theatre in Mumbai, and then several times later when I miss the city terribly. Here Saajan Fernandes (Irrfan Khan), a grumpy, lonely Bandra widower, is nearing his retirement. Ila (Nimrat Kaur), a young wife and mother, is trying to win her husband’s affections with food. Shaikh (Nawazzuddin Siddiqui), the new accountant to replace Saajan, tries his best to get his senior to like him. The Lunchbox directed by Ritesh Batra is a fitting tribute to the dhabawalas of Mumbai—a tiffin delivery system that is over 125 years old. When Saajan receives Ila’s husband’s tiffin box in a mix-up of delivery, a friendship (then love) blossoms between them. They exchange letters hidden in lunchboxes. Ira happily cooks, often asking for advice and cooking tips to the aunty upstairs (who is only a voice in the film).

The Lunchbox is a movie on love, food, loneliness and nostalgia. You’ll love Mumbai, crave home cooked food, and listen to the old song O mere Sajan after a watch. My favourite scene is the one where Ila makes her husband’s favourite paneer curry—grating the paneer blocks, rolling them into balls, frying in hot, sizzling oil, and then swirling in cream—for Saajan.

Streaming on Netflix

2. Ustad Hotel (Malayalam)

Ustad Hotel is one of the best Malayalam food films. You’ll be longing to have some of Karimkka’s biryani and suleimani (black tea). Directed by Anwar Rasheed and written by Anjali Menon, Ustad Hotel invites us to glorious food spreads, from saffron infused milk for a baby to palaharams while visiting a potential bride-to-be to big cauldrons of biryani.

Faizi (Dulquer Salman) is the much-awaited son in a family after his four older sisters. However, relations between him and his father are affected when he trains to be a chef instead of pursuing business studies. He escapes to his grandfather Karim’s (Karimkka to those who love him dearly, played by Thilakan) house in Kozhikode where he runs the small but famous ‘Ustad Hotel’. The camaraderie between grandson and grandfather is heartwarming and Faizi learns some life lessons, follows his passion for cooking and falls in love. Ustad Hotel is fun, entertaining and makes a commentary on small business vs big chains and how satiating hunger is a blessing in its own right. You’ll watch this more than once.

Streaming on Hotstar

Read : The Ultimate list of Malayalam films on Hotstar

Salt N’ Pepper (Malayalam)

This romantic comedy directed by Aashiq Abu is a fun watch. Its title song took Kerala by storm with the sheer variety of culinary delights. I still watch the Chembavu song when I am particularly missing Kerala food. Back to the film, this is the love story between a middle-aged couple—an archaeologist (Lal) and a dubbing artist (Shweta Menon)— who bond over their love for food. There’s also a young couple and a cook who find themselves in comic situations. This is one of the few movies wholly centred around food. It also makes a commentary on single women and sexism at workplace. Watch for thattil kutti dosa, unniyappams, rainbow cakes, and fried bananas.
Watch trailer

4. Maacher Jhol (Bengali)

A Paris based chef (Ritwick Chakraborty) comes to Kolkata after 13 years. He tries to recreate his mother’s maacher jhol, a Bengali fish curry but fails. He tries multiple times and also has to encounter the ghosts of his past. The food scenes in this film directed by Pratim D. Gupta are delicious—those close-up shots of ingredients in oil and water will leave you in awe.

Streaming on Netflix

Read : The BEST Malayalam Movies to stream online that deserve more attention

5. Stanley ka Dabba (Hindi)

Stanley ka Dabba directed by Amole Gupte is a heartwarming film majorly set in a school. Stanley does not bring a dabba (tiffin box) to school and his friends share theirs. This does not sit well with the Hindi teacher (nicknamed Khadoos for the spoilsport that he is) who eats (and steals) from others’ tiffin boxes. Stanley has a wonderful imagination and making stories come naturally to him. This movie will make you happy, and also sad.

Streaming on Hotstar

Indian food films to watch:

Here are two Indian movies on food that have been recommended to me several times, but I haven’t had a chance to watch them yet.

6. Aamis (Assamese)

I haven’t watched Aamis (2019) and I wish one day I could. This Assamese feature horror film is written and directed by Bhaskar Hazarika. It tiptoes on forbidden love, food, lust and eventually turns darker. Here, a PhD student (Arghadeep Baru) researching on meat eating habits of the North East and a married doctor (Lima Das) find a connection in tasting meats—mutton, rabbits—and grow attached to one another. Later the movie dives into cannibalistic tendencies.
Watch trailer

7. Gulabjaam (Marathi)

I came across this movie when I was longing for Indian food films about vegetarian cooking. An NRI banker (Siddharth Chandekar) lies about going to London and instead goes to Pune to learn vegetarian Marathi cooking under Radha. I know when I watch Gulabjaam (2018) finally, I will remember the Marathi food I ate every day for lunch from my friend’s tiffin, packed by her mother. The same friend who recommended the movie to me.

Indian movies on Food with grave problems

Axone (Hindi)

When this list was being written, I had just watched the newly released Axone and enjoyed it except for a few scenes that caused me discomfort—a Delhi boy’s obsession with getting a North Eastern girlfriend, and the way the smell of the eponymous dish was described among the apartment folks as sewer smell. I recommended it immediately on Twitter, wondering why we don’t have more Indian food films, given our culinary diversity. Good friends bonding over good food, that’s all I saw in the movie. There is a bias in the film, noticeable to me too, towards the Mainlanders. I don’t really expect anything more from a mostly-Hindi film. Stereotypes, whitewashing one region of the country have always been the forte of the Hindi film industry. But in Axone’s case I thought they simultaneously focused on the characters from North East India. However, over the week I read and heard from people hailing from North East India about how dissatisfied and furious they were at the problematic representation in the film. There were many finer points raised that I, as someone not hailing from the NE India, had failed to notice. You might’ve already watched this film—going by Netflix’s suggestion pop-ups—or you are planning to. Whether you decide to go ahead or abandon it altogether, read this Twitter thread by Dwi about her thoughts on the film, and this piece on why Axone is more about comforting racists than confronting them. They raise many points worth thinking about. Hence on further reflection, I think the film did not do justice to the North East Indian communities that it aimed to represent.

Axone is the story of a few friends from North East India and Nepal, who want to cook a pork dish with axone (pronounced akhuni, fermented soya beans) for their friend’s wedding. The film takes place over a day and occasionally goes into the past to revisit trauma, dreams and aspirations of the characters.

Streaming on Netflix

Bonus

The Hundred-Foot Journey (English)

The Hundred-Food Journey is not an Indian movie on food but a 2014 American comedy-drama directed by Lasse Hallström. Hassan Maji (Manish Dayal) is supposed to take over as the head cook in their family restaurant in India. However there’s a mob attack  (leading to the death of the mother who was the head cook) and the Kadam family flees India and finds refuge in France. Watch for Indian cooking, fusion recipes and rivalry between two restaurants. And of course, the omlette!

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Images used in this post are from promotional posters of the films.