A genre that can both inspire and entertain, movies related to food have stood out over the years encouraging the chef and foodie in us. And why not, when those sumptuous meals, stylish cooking and loaded dinner tables have looked so glamorous on the big screen. Here is a list of fiction and non-fiction films that intertwine beautiful stories with food and promise a memorable treat!

Chef is a fun story of Carl Casper who works in a restaurant and cooks the same food every day but desires to experiment more to make people happy. The movie itself is a fun ride where the chef cooks absolutely what his heart desires and travels around to please people with his dishes. Luscious food shots and apt background score make this film a treat to watch. This one will definitely want you to cook a meal for the pure joy and love for food. Chris Tilly from IGN wraps the essence of the movie in one sentence, “Don’t watch Chef on an empty stomach.” Well, you have been warned!

Words to munch on – “The kitchen is my domain.”

 

2. Today’s Special – 2009

An international movie with a desi star-cast and just the right amount of drama, this one will make you fall in love with the complexity as well as the simplicity of Indian food. A young Manhattan sous chef is forced to leave his job and take care of an Indian restaurant run by his family. How chef Samir rediscovers the art of cooking through an Indian taxi driver’s lessons, is a story to relish. The movie inspires you to listen to your heart and stomach while cooking! And with Naseeruddin Shah and Madhur Jaffrey’s brilliant acts, this is also a must watch for those who love desi khana.

Words to munch on – “With Indian cooking, the important thing is improvisation!”

 

3. Ratatouille – 2007

Remy, a rat, dreams of becoming a chef in Paris inspired by his hero – a famous French chef. His dreams are about to come true when he finds himself at the very restaurant where his hero was a chef. Working as a secret chef with a human friend, Remy cooks up a storm every day and manages to please a food critic who is so very hard to be won over. A movie that makes us realize that no dream is too small and it really doesn’t matter where you hail from.

Words to munch on – “Duniya mein anna ki kami nahi hai, magar jab aadmi hi aadmi ka dushman bankar ek-dusre ki roti kha jaye, to main kya karun?”

 

6. The 100 Foot Journey – 2014

‘The journey of a thousand miles begins with a small step’, and so begins the journey of an Indian father in making his son a famous chef in France. The catch? The Indian family sets up their not-famous-at-all restaurant 100 foot across a renowned Michelin Star restaurant where even the President of France comes to dine! The faith of a father in his son brings out the most sumptuous platters and pleases even the owner of the renowned restaurant. A beautiful watch just for the love of Indian food and later, the fusion of French and Indian cuisines.

Words to munch on – “Food is memories.”

 

7. The Lunchbox – 2013

This film is a charming story about Ila, a housewife, and Saajan, a widower on the verge of retirement. A minor glitch by the dabbawalas of Mumbai lead to an exchange of lunch boxes between Saajan and Ila’s husband. Saajan discovers amazing food all over again and suddenly finds something to look forward to every day. Eventually, Ila and Saajan start exchanging notes through this very lunchbox and fall in love with the possibilities of life through some brilliant conversations.

Words to munch on – “Kabhi kabhi galat train bhi sahi jagah pohocha deti hai.”

 

8. No Reservations – 2007

Kate, a famous chef who has carved her niche in the culinary world is faced with a sudden death and following that the responsibility of a child, Zoe. Amongst all the melodrama, she is taken aback when Zoe is least impressed with the dishes Kate puts up for her. Zoe accompanies Kate to the restaurant kitchen every day and meets Kate’s assistant Nick who is able to break the ice with Zoe. Zoe finds cooking enjoyable with Nick and helps him, having fun in the process. If you love the glamour of a restaurant kitchen and what goes inside it, this one is a must watch.

Words to munch on – “I wish there was a cookbook for life, you know? Recipes telling us exactly what to do.”

 

9. Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs – 2009

Flint is a young scientist who invents a machine that turns water into food, plugs this machine to a power plant and the machine ends up floating in the sky. To Flint and everybody’s surprise, there is a shower of cheeseburgers from the sky when Flint realises that his machine actually works! Flint then builds a device that communicates with his machine and showers custom-to-order food. Greed takes over the town of Chewandswallow and leads to the food size getting bigger by the day. Soon, the mayor of the town exploits the machine by banking upon it for tourism and eventually all this ruckus leads to a food storm. Watch it for the animation and imagination along with some witty dialogues related to food.

Words to munch on – “You may have seen a meteor shower, but I bet you’ve never seen a shower meatier than this.”

 

10. Stanley Ka Dabba – 2011

This movie is a heart-warming story about Stanley, a child dealing with the downside of life while working at a small food store part time. Since nobody in the school is aware of his circumstances, he builds up a story each day for not bringing a dabba or a tiffin box and in return, his friends always share their meals with him. On the other hand, a grumpy and strict teacher in the same school is infamous for his uninvited attack on everybody’s tiffin boxes, especially of the students. The movie will take you back to your school days when one of the most important part of the day was lunch breaks and finding out who’s dabba has what.

Words to munch on – “Ye chamkeela, chaar compartment wala steel ka dabba kiska hai bhai?”