Bollywood Movie Titles That Made Us Crave For Food
Posted On: 24 Oct 2022 | Last Updated : 09 Nov 2022 | Views : 4.4k
Filmmakers never lose any chance to show their creativity when it comes to choosing a title for their movies. There is no doubt regarding the importance the titles play in the success and fame of the movie, as it is the first thing the film is associated with. While some titles are simply based on the name of the lead characters, many times, filmmakers surprise cine-fans with enthralling titles. Clearly Bollywood is the paradise for those with creativity, and like any setting, Bollywood too is dominated with foodies in the industry. This is evident, as we often get to see Bollywood movies that had food in their title which becomes an integral and important part of the storyline. While other times, the eatables become the inspiration for the movie titles and the movie itself is the treat for the foodie Bollywood fans. So, here we present to you the list of Bollywood films with food in their title.
1. Roti (1974)
About the Movie: The 1974 film Roti, directed by Manmohan Desai, is an action drama that features Rajesh Khanna and Mumtaz in lead roles. The movie follows the story of a criminal named Mangal Singh, who is sentenced to jail for the murder of a man for the sake of a ‘roti’. He is later helped by his associate to escape the jail and seeks shelter in a small village. With the assistance of a small restaurateur Bijli, he gets the job of a school teacher and tries to stay in disguise from the police. Living with these people helps Mangal Singh to become a changed person.
Why this Title: The movie gained its name from Roti, the staple food of North Indians, as the main theme of the movie is to throw light on the struggle of people to earn bread. It further highlights to what extent a person is forced to go to merely earn bread.
2. Angoor (1982)
About the Movie: The comedy-drama Angoor, directed by Gulzar, features Sanjeev Kumar and Moushumi Chatterjee in lead roles, along with Deepti Naval, Deven Verma, and Aruna Irani. The movie follows the story of two identical pairs of twins, played by Sanjeev Kumar and Deven Verma, who were separated at birth, but their lives go haywire when they finally meet in their adulthood. The movie is filled with chaos and confusion, as people often confuse the brothers with one another.
Why this Title: The title of the movie Angoor was based on William Shakespeare’s Comedy of Errors which depicts the sour and sweet flavour of grapes that goes well with the varying personalities of the identical twins in the movie. Though no one is at fault due to two sets of twins having different personalities lead to utter confusion and chaos making each and every situation unintentionally funny and hilarious.
3. Namkeen (1982)
About the Movie: Gulzar’s 1982 social drama Namkeen features Sanjeev Kumar, Sharmila Tagore, Shabana Azmi, and Waheeda Rehman. The movie follows the story of a woman named Jugni (Waheeda Rehman), who is a folk dancer living with her three daughters in a small village in Himachal. The four women live in a small old house and have a non-social lifestyle. Their lives take a turn, when a man named Gerulal (Sanjeev Kumar), a truck driver, comes to live with them as a tenant.
Why this Title: The movie gets its title as Namkeen following the sweet, sour and part tangy personalities of the three sisters, just like the flavour of a ‘namkeen’. Despite the poverty in the house, the three sisters ensure to keep happiness intact in their own small world.
4. Chocolate (2005) / Dark Chocolate (2016)
About the Movie: The crime thriller drama Chocolate, directed by Vivek Agnihotri, is a multi-starrer movie featuring Anil Kapoor, Sunil Shetty, Irrfan Khan, Emraan Hashmi, Arshad Warsi, and Tanushree Dutta. The movie revolves around five Indians, who are stuck in London jail as the prime suspects for planning the bomb blast in the city. However, things take a turn when a lawyer comes to their rescue and bails them out.
Director Agnidev Chatterjee's 2016 film Dark Chocolate was based on the real-life murder mystery of Sheena Bora that came into the limelight and shook the whole media.
Why this Title: Even though ‘Chocolate’ and 'Dark Chocolate' did not have any relation with the actual theme of the movie, just like the chocolate, the suspense and narration keep you on the edge till the end.
5. Sandwich (2006)
About the Movie: Sandwich is a comedy thriller directed by Anees Bazmee that features Govinda, Raveena Tandon, and Mahima Choudhury in the lead roles. The movie follows the story of a young man named Sher Singh (Govinda), whose life takes a turn when the circumstances force him to marry two women. His life is filled with chaos and confusion as he has to manage to keep the truth from his both wives, which leads to various hilarious situations.
Why this Title: Out of many movie titles inspired by food, ‘sandwich’ perfectly depicts the current life situation of the lead character in the movie, Sher Singh, who finds himself sandwiched between his two wives and dual life.
6. Cheeni Kum (2007)
About the Movie: Directed by R. Balki, Cheeni Kum is a romantic comedy-drama starring Amitabh Bachchan and Tabu. The movie follows the story of a 64-year-old man named Buddhadev Gupta (Amitabh Bachchan), who is one of the top chefs in London. Things take a turn when he falls in love with a 34-year-old software engineer, Nina (Tabu), and wishes to marry her. The two are all set to be together; however, convincing Nina’s father for the match is a task, as Buddhadev is 6 years older than him, and he doesn’t wish to get his daughter married to someone that old.
Why this Title: The title of the movie Cheeni Kum is a Hindi translation for ‘less sugar’, which goes well with the theme of the movie. No matter how well things go, people still find some or other trouble in their lives, which makes their lives appear less sweet to them. The movie is perfect for the foodies, as the movie is all about gourmet food and love.
7. Aloo Chaat (2009)
About the Movie: The 2009 romantic comedy-drama Aloo Chaat, directed by Robby Grewal, stars Aftab Shivdasani and Aamna Sharif in the lead roles. The movie revolves around two lovers named Nikhil (Aftab Shivdasani) and Aamna, who come from different religious backgrounds but are deeply in love with each other. However, the only problem is convincing Nikhil’s orthodox family about the match, which is much more difficult than the two thought it would be.
Why this Title: Despite it not having any relation with ‘aloo chaat’, the movie gets it as its title, as Nikhil’s family loves the delicacy and when everything is resolved, the family celebrates the happy ending with aloo chaat from their favourite food stall.
8. Khichdi: The Movie (2010)
About the Movie: Aatish Kapadia’s comedy-drama Khichdi: The Movie takes its inspiration from the TV franchise, Khichdi. The movie stars Supriya Pathak, Anang Desai, Rajeev Mehta, Jamnadas Majethia, and Nimisha Vakharia. It follows the story of a disorganized and dysfunctional family who unite their efforts to get Himanshu married to their neighbour Parminder, but a lot of chaos and confusion ensues in the story when the family tries to make Parminder and Himanshu’s love story an epic one. Their triumphs and tribulations while employing the efforts to make Himanshu’s the best love story lead to various hilarious situations.
Why this Title: The movie revolves around a chaotic family of people with distinct personalities, yet everyone blends together and stays united as one, just like all the ingredients of famous Indian dish ‘khichdi’.
9. Barfi (2012)
About the Movie: The 2012 romantic comedy-drama Barfi, directed by Anurag Basu, stars Ranbir Kapoor, Priyanka Chopra, and Ileana D’Cruz in the titular roles. The movie follows the story of a young deaf-mute boy named Murphy (Ranbir Kapoor), who falls in love with a beautiful girl named Shruti (Ileana D’Cruz), but she restrains herself from accepting her feelings for him due to his disability. Later, Murphy gets really close to an autistic girl named Jhilmil (Priyanka Chopra), and the two run away to live together.
Why this Title: The movie gets its name ‘barfi’ because of the lead character Murphy. Whenever Murphy tries to tell people his name it sounds like barfi, due to his unclear pronunciation he gets to be known as Barfi, instead of Murphy.
10. Luv Shuv Tey Chicken Khurana (2012)
About the Movie: Sameer Sharma’s 2012 comedy romantic drama Luv Shuv Tey Chicken Khurana stars Kunal Kapoor, Huma Qureshi, and Rajesh Sharma in the lead roles. It is one of the Bollywood movies that have food in their names. The movie follows the story of a young man named Omi who flees from London from a gangster and later saves his family’s old restaurant from the crisis by rediscovering the family’s secret chicken recipe called Chicken Khurana.
Why this Title: Chicken Khurana is the secret recipe dish rediscovered by Omi and most of the plot of the movie revolves around it; thus, it successfully makes its way to the title of the movie.
11. Pizza (2014)
About the Movie: The remake of the 2012 Tamil film of the same name Pizza is the horror thriller drama directed by Akshay Akkineni that stars Akshay Oberoi, Parvathy Omanakuttan, and Arunoday Singh in the main roles. The movie revolves around a pizza delivery boy named Kunal Malkholkar (Akshay Oberoi), who finds himself stuck in the house where he goes to deliver the pizza; however, witnesses the murder and crime, while finding it impossible to escape the place.
Why this Title: It is one of the famous Bollywood movies with food in their titles, and perfectly fits the storyline. As if it wasn’t for the delivery of the pizza, Kunal wouldn’t have found himself stuck in the life-threatening situation he is in now.
12. Wedding Pullav (2015)
About the Movie: Wedding Pullav is a romantic comedy and the directorial debut of ace cinematographer Binod Pradhan that starred Diganth Manchale, Anushka Ranjan, Sonnalli Seygall, Karan V. Grover, and Rishi Kapoor in the main cast. The film revolved around two best friends who are in love but are unaware of it as the boy is set to get married to someone else sparks fly between the two and what follows is more confusion.
Why this Title: Pullav is a popular Indian dish made with rice and a lot of vegetables and spices and is a complete dish in itself that can be eaten individually or along with raita. So, the atmosphere that was created at the boy’s wedding in the film is no less than a Pullav where the bride, bridegroom, guests, and relatives were like vegetables and spices.
13. Bareilly Ki Barfi (2017)
About the Movie: Director Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari’s romantic comedy-drama Bareilly Ki Barfi revolves around a small-town girl Bitti Mishra (Kriti Sanon) who feels that nobody understands her happens to read a novel titled ‘Bareilly Ki Barfi’ and soon falls in love with the author of the novel. She takes the help of her local friend Chirag (Ayushmann Khurrana) who helps her find the author of the novel.
Why this Title: Bitti Mishra falls in love with the author because after reading the novel titled ‘Bareilly Ki Barfi’ she feels that the female character in it is exactly like her and the writer knows her very well but who is he? Thus, begins her search for the man of her dreams.
14. Rajma Chawal (2018)
About the Movie: The 2018 comedy-drama Rajma Chawal directed by Leena Yadav stars Amyra Dastur, Anirudh Tanwar, and Rishi Kapoor. The movie revolves around an elderly widower named Raj Mathur (Rishi Kapoor), who tries to reconnect with his estranged son, Kabir Mathur (Anirudh Tanwar), but finds it hard to communicate with him. It is then, he takes the persona of a girl and contacts Kabir through social media, which allows Raj to find a way to reconnect with his son. The chaos and confusion ensue in hilarious situations in the movie every now and then, but this father finally gets to talk to his son after all these years.
Why this Title: Though the movie was released on OTT, the title was justified in a scene, where a kid is shown eating ‘Rajma Chawal’ with a spoon, while Rishi Kapoor comments, ‘Who eats Rajma Chawal with a spoon?’, and believes it to be evidence of generation. As the theme of the movie revolves all around the generation gap, the scene completely justifies the reason behind this title for the movie.
15. Jalebi (2018)
About the Movie: Directed by Pushpdeep Bhardwaj, Jalebi was a remake of the Bengali hit film Praktan (2016). The romantic drama featuring Rhea Chakraborty and Varun Mitra in the lead roles revolved around a young carefree girl named Aisha (Rhea Chakraborty), who falls in love with a local tour guide named Dev (Varun Mitra), and soon after the two get married. However, things take a turn in their lives, when Aisha gets pregnant, which is an unwanted pregnancy, and Aisha is unsure whether to keep her baby or not. Later, she has a miscarriage, which affects her relationship with Dev and their marriage, eventually leading to a separation. Even after the separation, the two continue to love each other, but situations force them to stay separated.
Why this Title: Just like the shape of the Indian dessert Jalebi, Aisha and Dev’s relationship is filled with twists and turns, but the only thing that stays intact is their love for each other, which assures the sweetness of the relationship.
16. Motichoor Chaknachoor (2019)
About the Movie: Motichoor Chaknachoor is a rom-com about a 36-year-old man Pushpinder (Nawazuddin Siddiqui) who returns to India from Dubai after losing his job. He does not disclose to his family that he has lost his job but has come to get married. His neighbor Annie (Athiya Shetty), is a young girl who wishes to marry a young NRI and roam the world, on not getting one she settles for Pushpinder.
Why this Title: After marrying Pushpinder against her family’s wish, Annie gets to know about Pushpinder’s reality as her world comes crumbling down which in real terms means that her marriage which is like a ‘motichoor laddoo’ that turns ‘chaknachoor’ in no time.
17. Pepper Chicken (2020)
About the Movie: Ratan Sil Sharma’s 2012 thriller drama Pepper Chicken stars Dipannita Sharma and Boloram Das in the titular roles. The movie revolves around a radio jockey named Vaidehi (Dipannita Sharma), who is forced to take shelter in an old house with her cab driver when the cab breaks. However, as time passes, she realizes that the cab driver is sinister and her life is in danger, but now it's too late to take action, as she is in serious danger.
Why this Title: Released on OTT, this engrossing thriller keeps the audiences on the edge throughout that gives the much-needed spice and flavour to the movie, which makes it a complete package to satisfy the cine-fans, just like what pepper chicken does to foodies.
18. Sheer Qorma (2021)
About the Movie: Sheer Qorma is the 2021 romantic LGBTQ film directed by Faraz Arif Ansari and Vishal Parasher, and stars Shabana Azmi, Swara Bhaskar, and Divya Dutta in lead roles. The movie follows the story of queer women who try to find themselves while dealing with societal norms and going against them to embrace themselves and find solace in the acceptance and belonging they finally get from one another.
Why this Title: The movie follows the story of two Muslim women living in Canada, and 'Sheer Qorma' is one of the famous sweet dishes consumed by Muslims. The movie showcases how the two women finally succeed to find happiness and love, which adds the missing sweetness in their lives which is as good as sheer qorma.
