"While my parents were supportive of my dabbling in the kitchen from early childhood, I know of several men who have faced a bullying/teasing even from their own family for showing an interest in what they see as feminine," says Kundalkar. The film also raises several issues related to gender stereotypes and food/cooking.
He had obviously practised and was also able to get the boyish nuance of his character right." "I told him he'd have to roll out a perfect chapati for the part.
One can almost sense the joy she gets in seeing people around savour the stuff she cooks."Ĭasting Siddharth Chandekar, the second lead, was not as easy. I can't remember a time when she hasn't got something along that she has cooked herself, when she has come to meet me. "For as long as I've known her, Sonali has always expressed her fondness for people with food. Kulkarni brings to her character an organic vulnerability and strength that sets the tone for its trajectory. "The cook Radha Agarkar was the easiest to cast," says Kundalkar of Sonali Kulkarni whose power-packed performance stays with you. But one hardly expects any less from Kundalkar, who has in the past directed Nirop and written Gandha – both of which have fetched him national awards. How that meeting sets off a sequence for an entire story to unravel is to Kundalkar and Tejas Modak's (they've cooked up Gulabjaam together) credit. Food often becomes a metaphor for life and living, evokes nostalgia and even awakens feelings you didn't even know existed.Ī Londoner in Pune accidentally discovers a cook, who sends packed dabbas to people. Cooking and celebrating food is at the heart of this film. And now Marathi cinema takes the bar right up there with its first food film - Sachin Kundalkar's Gulabjaam. Hindi cinema too has done this with varying success with films like Bawarchi, Ramji Londonwaley, Cheeni Kum, Stanley ka Dabba, Lunchbox and Luv Shuv Tey Chicken Khurana. Water for Chocolate The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover Chocolat Delicatessen Julie & Julia - in all these films, food offers the perfect backdrop for the plot to unfold.