Satyajit Ray introduced an extensive range of food and beverages that are liked by the Bengali middle class in his movies. From ‘Lunchbox’ to ‘Ratatouille’, food has been a very important subject for films. Here is a short list of films that are based on chefs or foods or food lovers.
Ustaad Hotel (2012) – Disney+Hotstar:
‘Ustaad Hotel’ stars Dulquer Salman in the lead role and is directed by Anwar Rasheed. Actors like Thilakkan, Nithya Menen, Siddique have given wonderful performances in the film. Salman plays Faizi, a young man who wants to be a chef in a five star hotel. His billionaire father does not approve of this and Faizi comes back to India to the local food-hut of his grandfather. He learns the magical ways of cooking from his grandfather and learns a lot about life too. ‘Ustaad Hotel’ is an emotional ride and will leave you on tears by the end.
Directed by Sanjay Dayma, ‘Ramji Londonwaley’ is the story of Ramji, a small town cook who goes to London to extend his business and there he gets to know about his employer’s death. He is also stuck in immigration problems and tries to get some job to earn his bread. Ramji is a wonderful cook and his passion towards food is truly inspiring. R. Madhavan is stunning as usual in the lead role. The music is composed by Vishal Bharadwaj and it has some wonderful songs in it.
Stanley Ka Dabba (2011) – Disney+Hotstar:
Written and directed by Amol Gupte, ‘Stanley Ka Dabba’ tells the story of a student Stanley who does not carry a lunch box to school. A teacher, played by Amol Gupte himself, forces the students to share their lunch with him. He threatens Stanley that he will not let him come to the school if he does not bring lunch. Stanley gets into trouble and tries to find some way to somehow bring lunch to school.