Food: A Love Language & Common Denominator In Modern Love Mumbai

The Indian adaptation of the international series Modern Love Mumbai — filmized from a selection of global essays published in the New York Times’s eponymous column— aired on Amazon Prime Video this summer for streaming. It is an anthology of six stories by filmmakers Vishal Bhardwaj, Hansal Mehta, Shonali Bose, Dhruv Sehgal, Alankrita Shrivastava, and Nupur Asthana. Each episode or ‘story’ is a video essay on love in the city of dreams. 

An important part of Asian culture as a whole is food through which love is conveyed in all its different, glorious forms. Food is our love language. Whether it’s expressing love by parents randomly bringing cut fruit for their children, friends sharing their lunch, lovers’ trying out each other’s favourite dishes, roommates trying out making different varieties of Maggi together, mothers packing boxes of food as you leave your house for the first time, apologising to someone by cooking their favourite food, food as an offering for peace; they all appear to be tokens of love. This element was a common denominator in the stories of Modern Love Mumbai ’s characters as well. 

The first episode of Modern Love Mumbai, Raat Rani, is one woman’s journey of self-love and crossing her ‘flyover’. Lali loved ice cream. During her marriage, it was her husband’s and her tradition to share one cup of ice cream between two, with two spoons. After Lali’s husband leaves her, she learns to enjoy the ice cream all by herself. It is an important moment which signifies she is ready to move on and do the things she used to do together with her husband, alone. Similarly, to make extra money for further supporting herself, she begins selling Kashmiri Kahwa, soul-warming tea popular in the North. 

There are two episodes in Modern Love Mumbai that are entirely dedicated to showing food as a love language. 

Second episode, Baai, is a love story of a chef and a singer. This is a heartwarming story that is sure to tingle your taste buds. On their first meeting, Manzu and Rajveer bond over Rajveer’s Nihari, which Manzu is sure does not taste as good as the one cooked by his ailing grandmother baai. Manzu goes to meet his Baai in their ancestral home. She is shown as someone who has lovingly cooked food for her entire family all her life, leaving them all with memories of her special Sheer Korma and Yakhni Pulao. Manzu loves her and wants to tell her about his life and his husband, but is reluctant due to her being from an older generation. In one scene, his Baai asks him if he has someone special in his life, he tells her about his ‘roommate’ who cooks very well. Baai understands the hidden implication in this admission and asks him if he knows what is the special ingredient to making good food. He wonders if it’s spices to which she tells him, it’s only love. This scene hints at the subtle acceptance of Manzu’s identity by his Baai, bringing him much relief. In another parallel scene, Rajveer tells the same thing to Manzu’s mother. The labour of food becomes the medium of making new connections, and keeping older ones in this episode. 

Mumbai Dragon is a culinary delight. A story of a mother’s love. Food in Indian culture has been central to expressing love especially for mothers. They cook food for their children for various purposes right from ensuring their good health to making up for something they did that upset their children. The plot of this short film revolves around Ming, an Indo-Chinese singer; Sui, his mother; and Megha, his vegetarian girlfriend. The very first scene gets the taste buds tempted looking at Sui’s wonderful cooking. Ming invites Megha over to his house and Sui prepares food for them. Megha exclaims she can’t eat garlic, which is a staple in Chinese cuisine. Sui then quickly tosses some eggplants for her, which later becomes the common ground of her acceptance for Megha. Later Megha’s parents also enjoy some Chinese pasta made by Ming. This is a beautiful tale of cross-cultural love and acceptance, with food as the mediator. 

Similarly in I Love My Wrinkles and I Love Thane, it is coffee and Misal-Pav that brings the characters together.

The last episode of Modern Love Mumbai, Cutting Chai, is a delightful story of Latika and her life’s decisions. For years, Latika has been unable to complete her novel due to various commitments like taking care of her kids, household chores, and other familial responsibilities, etc. She feels frustrated and reconsiders all her life decisions, including her marriage. Different ‘what-if’ scenarios run parallel in her mind as she waits for her husband at the railway station. She drinks a cup of cutting chai while waiting for him, and reminisces about her first cup of tea with him and what it was like. She realises the futility in wondering about the past, when the chai brings back all those wonderful bittersweet moments, and how despite the ups and downs she wouldn’t have done it any other way. Without waiting any further, she boards her train.