Food, Identity, and
Nation: Culinary Representation and the Politics of Dietary Culture in
Contemporary Hindi Cinema
Ismail Sarkar
State Aided College Teacher
Department of English
Murshidabad Adarsha Mahavidyalaya
West Bengal, India
Abstract: Food is not only the necessary
element for functioning our biological body. It is a strong symbol of a
culture, and by means of food a society expresses its identity, classification
and societal inclusion. The culinary culture of India has traditionally been
impacted and influenced by religion, caste, nation, region and classes. But
today food is becoming a hot topic of political debate, especially on the
matter of cow vigilance and beef eating in India. In this burning hour it is
imperative to shed scholarly light on the representation of food in Hindi
cinema as it is one of the highly influential cultural artistic expressions in
South Asia. In this article the primary aim is to show how the food acts as a
narrative and symbolic device. Taking clues from the film studies and drawing
insights from the cultural theories —especially the works of Arjun Appadurai,
Pierre Bourdieu, and Michel Foucault—this article tries to argue that the Hindi
cinema has made the culinary culture a site of emotional bondage, regional
identity and national diversity. At the same time the contemporary politics
surrounding the food culture and dietary habit of Indian people has made the
cinematic presentation a complex one. Through analysis of films such as The Lunchbox (2013), Stanley Ka Dabba (2011), Luv Shuv Tey Chicken Khurana (2012), Daawat-e-Ishq (2014), Chef (2017),
and English Vinglish (2012),
the study shows the contemporary Hindi cinema celebrates and nurture the
culinary pluralism in diverse culture and location, as we as it does not
entertain the political debate directly rather subtly avoids it. So the
interpretation of food in Hindi cinema opens broader ways for discussion
regarding the Identity of modern India, nationalism and the power of culture.
Keywords: Food Studies, Hindi Cinema, Cultural Identity, Food Politics,
Bollywood, National Culture.
Introduction
Food plays a pivotal role in
constructing the cultural identity of a society. Anthropologist
and Cultural theorists have long been arguing that dietary habits are
embedded within the complex structures of society.
In the context of India the importance
of food habits are manifolds as it intermingled with religion, nation, region
and class. As a result, culinary practice and daily basis eating reflects the
cultural discussion.
Historically in Hindi cinema food has
been presented as a crucial part of life and social relation. In cinema, scenes
of family eating, festival eating and street food eating often are shown and it
thus becomes a symbol of the intimate relationship between hospitality and
emotional bondage.
Representation of such scenes in Hindi
cinema made India a culturally diverse yet unified nation.
For example, cult classic movie Hum
Aapke Hain Koun (1994) shows how food becomes a vital part of family
rituals. In family gatherings, in marriage ceremonies, festive cooking plays a
role in social harmony and cultural continuity.
This kind of scene sketches a
nostalgic yet vivid picture of an Indian family.
However in recent times in Indian
society a new conflict arises surrounding food, food habits and identity that
means who eats the food. And here lies the question of how cultural forms like
cinema build a connection with dietary politics.
In this article, the representation of
food in Hindi cinema has been discussed in the context of greater cultural and
political dimensions.
At the same time the article
highlights the debates surrounding food that complicate these representations
by revealing underlying tensions within Indian society.
Food, Culture, and Identity:
Theoretical Framework
The scholars of food studies believe
that food habits act as a symbol of cultural identity. Arjun Appadurai argues
that cuisine operates as a symbolic system through which societies construct
collective cultural meaning (Appadurai 4).
In the context of India, cinema plays
a vital role in the presentation of cuisine diversity. Here we can fit the
concept of ‘taste’ put forward by Pierre Bourdieu as an important perspective.
According to Bourdieu the choice of
food often is determined by the social class and cultural capital (Bourdieu
186). Cooking of middle class families, food of street vendors and the food of
luxurious aristocratic restaurants reflect the multilayered social identity.
Even Michel Foucault’s theory of power
further helps to explain how food became the hot subject of political
repression, domination and regulation. When food habits are linked with moral
and religious practices food becomes a site through which power operates in
society (Foucault 135).
Thus applying all these theoretical
frameworks we can analyze the food in cinema as not only a contextual element
rather as a symbol of culture.
Food as Emotional Communication
Food items and the preparation of food
act as means of emotional communication. It communicated feeling, bondage, care
while preparing any kind of food item as cooking is made with utmost care.
The Lunchbox (2013) is an example of expressing
emotion and care. In this movie we see how the exchange of lunch boxes between
Ila and Sajan in the city of Mumbai actually establishes a strong connection
between two lonely persons. Ila’s food prepared with emotional care expresses
her aspirations, and emotions. On the other hand Sajan extremely praises her
food and thus slowly but steadily builds up their relationship.
In the same vein, the film English
Vinglish (2012) is by no means an exception to portray the importance of
food in domestic family life.
The heroine of the film Shashi is
traditionally known for making traditional Indian sweets. Her cooking skill
becomes a brand of domestic identity and symbol of culture for which she feels
proud. She expresses her care to her family as well as she discovers herself
dignity and respect by means of cooking.
In both the films, food acts as the
key factor expressing the language of emotion which no word can express in such
a befitting manner.
Food, Class, and Social Inequality
As food can intensify the warmth of
bondage and strengthen emotional connection, similarly it can vividly canvas
the social discrimination in front of the spectators. For instance, the
film Stanley Ka Dabba (2011) shows that abundance and availability
of food reflect economic discrimination.
Here we see a character named Stanley
who is unable to bring his own lunch in the school. His fellow classmates share
their own lunch with him. But unfortunately the class teacher forces Stanley to
bring his one lunch compulsorily. The story of the film brought out the hard
reality of Stanley’s hardship and penury.
Here it is shown how food becomes a
symbol of social benefits and deprivation and the lunch stands out as a form of
economic status.
The film Masaan of 2015
indirectly raises the question of caste and class of the nation through the
portrayal of the daily lives of the people of Varanasi
The scenes of the food stall and tea
stall beside the road portray such a social atmosphere where different people
gather. Such scenes and places are a representation of a bigger social
structure.
Regional Cuisine and Cultural Heritage
Hindi cinema celebrates national
diversity through presentation of regional food culture of India.
Film Luv ShuvTey Chicken Khurana (2012)
presents a story of a lost chicken recipe of a family and this story actually
symbolizes the effort to revive the lost cultural memory.
The film further shows how the recipe
gets transferred from generation to generation.
In the same way the film Daawat-e-Ishq
(2014) brings out the food habits of Hyderabad and Lucknow. Most notably
dishes like biryani, kebabs, and korma reflect the age-old history of long
cultural exchange among the different communities of the subcontinent.
Another film called Chef (2017)
extended the notion of cultural exchange of regional diversity of cuisine
tradition. The hero of the file travels to diverse places and becomes
familiar with varieties of art of cuisine and renews his knowledge.
Street Food and Urban Culture
The street food in the urban area
draws our attention to different levels as the urban street food of India has a
special place and in many films this becomes a symbol of experience of food
culture in daily life.
Recent films like Gully Boy (2019) shows
that the food and tea stalls become the social rendezvous of the young
generation.
Such rendezvous rejuvenates the urban
culture and renews the energy in the urban areas.
The street food, its availability and
its cost and aura appeal to the customer and this function in contrast to
the highly luxurious atmosphere of aristocratic restaurants.
Such a cinematic presentation of
street food sketches the traditional characteristics of food in general at the
same time it functions as the social gathering of people of diversity.
Food Politics and Contemporary India
It is a matter of great concern that
although many films celebrate the food culture, dietary habits and cuisine
skills, at present India food has become a sensitive political issue of
contemporary time.
Centering Cow protection and beef
eating cultural identity and national inclusion poses a hot debate.
As cows are holy to some religions in
India there is a ban on cow slaughtering.
On the other hand, beef eating is part
of a long tradition of Muslims, Christians and Dalit-Adivasis.
Such contradiction aims at showing how
food becomes a symbol of cultural difference and animosity.
Although Hindi cinema does not portray
such issues directly yet these issues at the contemporary politics become a
subject of interpretation in a new shed.
Conclusion
In Hindi cinema food is a powerful
symbol of a descriptive element which portrays emotional bonding, social
inequality, regional identity and diversity, and national culture.
The Lunchbox, English Vinglish,
Stanley KaDabba, Luv ShuvTey Chicken Khurana, Daawat-e-Ishq, Chef, Masaan, and
Gully Boy all these
films show that cuisine culture is a powerful narrative technique and on the
other hand the emerging political debate centering the food in India reminds us
that the food habit is intrinsically related to the matrix of power and
identity. So, food studies in Hindi cinemas, in modern India, is a crucial tool
to understand imaginative culture and social reality.
While films often showcase an
idealized vision of culinary harmony, the politics of food reminds us that
dietary practices remain contested spaces where issues of culture, religion,
and nationalism continue to be negotiated and the people of letters should
always defend the mal practices of labelling food as tool to stigmatize certain
communities and should avoid the general trend of prejudices that is getting
fanned day by day.
Works
Cited
Appadurai, Arjun. “How to
Make a National Cuisine: Cookbooks in Contemporary India.” Comparative
Studies in Society and History, vol. 30, no. 1, 1988, pp. 3–24.
Bourdieu, Pierre.
Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgement of Taste. Harvard
University Press, 1984.
Dwyer, Rachel. Bollywood’s
India: Hindi Cinema as a Guide to Contemporary India. Reaktion Books, 2014.
Foucault, Michel. Discipline
and Punish: The Birth of the Prison. Vintage Books, 1995.
Ganti, Tejaswini. Bollywood:
A Guidebook to Popular Hindi Cinema. Routledge, 2013.
Ray, Krishnendu. The
Ethnic Restaurateur. Bloomsbury Academic, 2016.