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In pics: ‘Eating cinema’ — RobiBar-A Ritu explores food through the cinema of Rituparno Ghosh

Chef Dyuti Banerjee and curator Barnamala Roy paid tribute to the filmmaker with a unique dinner and screening of his Tagore adaptations

Jaismita Alexander Kolkata Published 05.11.24, 02:22 PM
RobiBar-A Ritu at TopCat CCU in Topsia rustled up a delectable fusion of cinema, music, and food inspired by filmmaker Rituparno Ghosh’s film adaptations of works by Rabindranath Tagore, on October 20
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RobiBar-A Ritu at TopCat CCU in Topsia rustled up a delectable fusion of cinema, music, and food inspired by filmmaker Rituparno Ghosh’s film adaptations of works by Rabindranath Tagore, on October 20

Photographs by Soumyajit Dey
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Chef Dyuti Banerjee and curator Barnamala Roy created a multisensorial dinner show where scenes of Ghosh’s Tagore adaptations were screened. Themes of desire, love, food and culture were highlighted through clips from ‘Noukadubi’, ‘Chokher Bali’, and ‘Chitrangada’
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Chef Dyuti Banerjee and curator Barnamala Roy created a multisensorial dinner show where scenes of Ghosh’s Tagore adaptations were screened. Themes of desire, love, food and culture were highlighted through clips from ‘Noukadubi’, ‘Chokher Bali’, and ‘Chitrangada’

 In between the screenings, a group of singers performed a few songs from the films while a seven-course meal ideated by Dyuti Banerjee was served that translated the emotions of the films into flavours
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In between the screenings, a group of singers performed a few songs from the films while a seven-course meal ideated by Dyuti Banerjee was served that translated the emotions of the films into flavours

The evening began with chief guest, multidisciplinary artiste Sujoy Prasad Chatterjee, addressing the audience and introducing the event. ‘The meeting of the culinary scape of Rabindranath Tagore’s oeuvre of work and Rituparno Ghosh’s cinema is interesting. The flavours and emotions coming together in a seven-course dinner is titillating. I am glad that the first edition of ‘Queering Tagore’ is of this stature,’ said Chatterjee
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The evening began with chief guest, multidisciplinary artiste Sujoy Prasad Chatterjee, addressing the audience and introducing the event. ‘The meeting of the culinary scape of Rabindranath Tagore’s oeuvre of work and Rituparno Ghosh’s cinema is interesting. The flavours and emotions coming together in a seven-course dinner is titillating. I am glad that the first edition of ‘Queering Tagore’ is of this stature,’ said Chatterjee

RobiBar-A Ritu was the first edition of Banerjee and Roy’s ‘Queering Tagore’ series which combines literature, performance, and culinary arts. Explaining the same, Barnamala Roy said: ‘These programmes will involve queer retellings of Tagore’s works with inputs and real-life stories from individuals of the LGBTQIA+ community from different parts of the country’
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RobiBar-A Ritu was the first edition of Banerjee and Roy’s ‘Queering Tagore’ series which combines literature, performance, and culinary arts. Explaining the same, Barnamala Roy said: ‘These programmes will involve queer retellings of Tagore’s works with inputs and real-life stories from individuals of the LGBTQIA+ community from different parts of the country’

The dinner was inaugurated with a steaming cup of Darjeeling second flush tea paired up with Lavash ‘nimki’, roe of Rohu, a local mushroom chargrilled potato spread, and a salad. Each course came with a riddle card
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The dinner was inaugurated with a steaming cup of Darjeeling second flush tea paired up with Lavash ‘nimki’, roe of Rohu, a local mushroom chargrilled potato spread, and a salad. Each course came with a riddle card

Next was a broth of ‘phyan’, a soup made by boiling rice. It was paired with crispy fried ‘mourala’ fish, pickled Indian gooseberry, ‘nadru’ (lotus stem) chips and crumb fried sponge gourd. A smoked bekti kedgeree, a mishmash of lentils, and basmati rice with chunks of bekti followed
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Next was a broth of ‘phyan’, a soup made by boiling rice. It was paired with crispy fried ‘mourala’ fish, pickled Indian gooseberry, ‘nadru’ (lotus stem) chips and crumb fried sponge gourd. A smoked bekti kedgeree, a mishmash of lentils, and basmati rice with chunks of bekti followed

The Lau Chingri Roulade finished off with Gondhoraj lemon sauce and chilli oil was a perfect representation of the forbidden desires, much like those experienced by Binodini in ‘Chokher Bali’
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The Lau Chingri Roulade finished off with Gondhoraj lemon sauce and chilli oil was a perfect representation of the forbidden desires, much like those experienced by Binodini in ‘Chokher Bali’

The drink of the evening was an iced malt tea with honey that embodied the modern south Kolkata breed of sophistication spread across ‘Chitrangada’
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The drink of the evening was an iced malt tea with honey that embodied the modern south Kolkata breed of sophistication spread across ‘Chitrangada’

The smoky and creamy dessert — Red Grapes and Bandel Cheese Ice Cream topped with Gondhoraj marmalade, was hidden in a white chocolate dome. Much like Rudra’s hidden desire to be a woman and a mother in ‘Chitrangada’. Chef Dyuti brought about her creativity and innovation to this dessert by using Bandel cheese in a sweet dish
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The smoky and creamy dessert — Red Grapes and Bandel Cheese Ice Cream topped with Gondhoraj marmalade, was hidden in a white chocolate dome. Much like Rudra’s hidden desire to be a woman and a mother in ‘Chitrangada’. Chef Dyuti brought about her creativity and innovation to this dessert by using Bandel cheese in a sweet dish

The meal was concluded with a chocolate paan where the betel leaf carefully hid a delectable Gulkand chocolate ganache, much like the desires of the characters from the films. Speaking to My Kolkata, the chef said: ‘Curating this menu made me explore this synesthetic juncture between cinema and food, queerness and desires, and unattainability and fulfilment. It was a one-of-a-kind experience and something that I would like to do more in future’
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The meal was concluded with a chocolate paan where the betel leaf carefully hid a delectable Gulkand chocolate ganache, much like the desires of the characters from the films. Speaking to My Kolkata, the chef said: ‘Curating this menu made me explore this synesthetic juncture between cinema and food, queerness and desires, and unattainability and fulfilment. It was a one-of-a-kind experience and something that I would like to do more in future’

The event was a unique experience for the diners. Shyona Mitra, a yoga instructor, said: ‘It was a one-of-a-kind event, where we were truly eating cinema and viewing it through food.’ Signing off, the curator of the programme, Roy said: ‘The next event will be in early-2025, which is a multisensory play in four acts based on a novel by Tagore’
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The event was a unique experience for the diners. Shyona Mitra, a yoga instructor, said: ‘It was a one-of-a-kind event, where we were truly eating cinema and viewing it through food.’ Signing off, the curator of the programme, Roy said: ‘The next event will be in early-2025, which is a multisensory play in four acts based on a novel by Tagore’

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