Ultimate love for food! How foodie our Tolly legends were?

We Bengalis practically eat to live and live to eat. Food is a common thread between Bengalis all over the world. It’s the favourite topic of the quintessential adda and the one thing every Bengali thinks about most of the time. One word which defines each and every Bengali is ‘FOODIE’.

Let’s take a quick look at the favorite foods of some of Bengal’s most celebrated and iconic personalities from the film industry and some anecdotes that show their ultimate love for food.

How can we forget Uttam Kumar? Even three decades after his demise, he is still adored and remembered by millions all over the world. Best known as Mahanayak, his films, pictures can still make every Bengali girl swoon over him for his on screen persona. The matinee idol’s favourite dishes were revealed by late Supriya Devi in many of her interviews. In an interview she recalled Uttam Kumar’s most delighted culinary picks were Chingri Macher Paturi, Palang Panir Kofta, Mangsher Do Piyaza, Sager dal and not to forget the 'Kantachachhari' (made from chopped vegetables and fish bones).

The legend known for his multi-hued talents was a great lover of food as well. As confirmed by his son, Amit Kumar “…food was his favorite topic”. Kishore Kumar was a huge fish lover. Supriya Devi once said, "I remember how Kishoreda liked golden prawn malaikari and bhetki jhal and would ask for these dishes whenever we met. He would say 'khub bhalo hoyechhe' (it’s really good) whenever I cooked something for him."

A film director, a fiction writer, an illustrator, a graphic designer, a publisher, a calligrapher and a film critic are just a few things to mention about the genius Satyajit Ray. Anup Ghoshal, the popular singer in an interview about the auteur once had revealed Ray’s love for luchi, arhar dal and begun bhaja. He also mentioned about his preference of mutton over chicken. He says that Satyajit Ray loved to eat muri mixed with ghee and sugar. Quite conscious about his daily eating habits, his regular food in the studio was usually chicken sandwich and curd. In his fantasy, adventure comedy, “Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne” the virtuoso had vividly reflected his love for food as the bhooter raja bestows Goopy and Bagha with 3 boons, the first being they could get any food and cloth every time desired just by clapping their hands.

Tarun Kumar, the younger brother of the legend Uttam Kumar was an ardent food lover and was piling on pounds for obvious reasons. A worried Uttam Kumar, really concerned about his younger brother’s weight told him once, “Buro (Tarun Kumar’s pet name), you must take a walk around Victoria Memorial every day”. So, as advised by his elder brother, Tarun Kumar started off with his daily walks from next day but even a month later there was not a mere change in his weight. So an worried maestro Uttam Kumar called him again and said: “Buro, are you doing what I asked you to do?” Obedient Buro replied: “Yes, of course, Dada”. A bewildered Uttam Kumar reconfirmed, “Then why are you not reducing in weight one bit? Are you eating anything extra?” An apologetic Tarun Kumar replied “Dada, I feel so hungry after the walk that I go to a bhujiawala’s outlet nearby and have my fill of kachuri, jilipi and shingara.” After hearing this, an amused Uttam Kumar could only say “Stop the morning walk. You have done enough.”

Known for being a total foodie, Pancham da himself was a cook. Various sources claim that Mohammed Rafi used to cook Mughlai food for the Burmans and RD took cooking trainings from him too. In the opening ceremony of her restaurant called ‘Asha’s’ in Dubai, the legendary Asha Bhosle once spoke about how foodie R. D. Burman was. Burman saab’s favorite food was fried prawns. In fact, ‘Chingri Chaap’, one of R.D.Burman’s favorite dishes is named in ‘Asha’s’ as ‘R.D.Burman Chingri Chaap’ She happily added, “He was a great foodie. He loved to entertain guests. Burman saab would casually call and say that he is bringing some people over for dinner and 40 people would arrive! People like Amitabh Bachchan, Shashi Kapoor, Sanjeev Kumar used to be crazy about my Kali Dal and Goan Fish Curry. Dev saab, Yash Chopra, the entire Kapoor khandaan loved paya and Jeetendra, Zeenat Aman, Rajesh Khanna, Dilip saab would drop in every week, twice a week and Burman saab would request me to cook for them. He used to be so proud of my cooking.”

Manna Dey, a singer whose popularity had attained him the prominence of a legend, was also a great foodie and a lover of Bengali cuisine, especially fish. He was a regular customer of Chacha’s Hotel, a famous eatery in north Kolkata near his house, during his Kolkata visits. The icon’s favourite was fish kobiraji and cutlets. His daughter, Sumita confirms his love for food, “My father was a great cook and used to prepare fish and chicken delicacies for the family members. He was a foodie too. Even while he was admitted in the hospital he used to demand eating cutlet and biryani.”