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Food for the beauty too
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Vivacious actress Urmila Matondkar believes that food represents a country's warmth, culture and people
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FOOD CRITIC Urmila Matondkar at hotel Metropolitan Nikko's Chutney restaurant in New Delhi. PHOTO: ANU PUSHKARNA
`If you reject the food, ignore the customs, fear the religion and avoid the people, you might better stay home', thus said Pulitzer Prize winning novelist James Michener. Urmila Matondakar seems a staunch believer of his statement.
Sitting pretty in a private cosy dining area at Chutney, a newly opened restaurant at Hotel Metropolitan Nikko, she says, "I love food. Since I travel a lot, I get a rare chance to try foods from different countries. I never restrain myself from trying the country's food I visit. I believe that food represents the country's warmth, its people, its culture and even beliefs." But still, Moghul khichda, Brazilian fish, American and Vietnamese food remain her favourites. "My current favourite is sushi. It is yummy," she licks her lips like a small child happy after having had his favourite ice cream. Though quite shy when it comes to having food "when lots of people are watching", this cosy restaurant with 250 varieties of sauces, is apt for her. She chooses resham ki seekh (minced chicken seasoned with aromatic spice), khas khas mutton seekh and tandoor ke phool (cauliflower marinated in yogurt with dry fruits) as starters.
No cooking
Though she admits she can't cook to save her life, she turns this incapability in her favour. "I think because I am not a good cook, I am a good eater. People like us can judge food better than others. We can give the best of suggestions too," she laughs impishly.
As she is served makhni chooza (succulent pieces of chicken cooked in tomato gravy), atishi dum (mushroom in spicy gravy) achari dum aloo, subz kali mirchwali, dal kabila (black lentil cooked in tomato puree and garlic) darbari dal and naan in the main course, she recalls how she and her sister once tried to bake a cake and "made a mess of it".
"In this cake, kabhi hum maida dalna bhool gaye, kabhi aik layer kacchi rah gayi, kabhi jal gai. It was a complete fiasco. After that I never dared to cook `fussy dishes'. But I can make tea, gol phulka, noodles, dal... " and she innocently looks for approval like a student in a class room who is more than half way through his test before the deadline.
Mention the controversy that gripped Naina and her expression changes. "Media is hungry for senseless publicity. They should rather see that a socially aware person like me would not do any film that is not well intended."
On her statement that she would like to do Rangeela Part II, she clarifies, "It means that I would like to carry that glamorous image of mine to the `next level'. After I did Rangeela, most actresses were made to imitate me. So it has become clichéd now. So I would like to bring more substance into it."
Now only the mention of her films Maine Gandhi Ko Nahi Mara, Banaras and one Anupam Kher-directed untitled "intense emotional drama" and phal ke kabab for dessert brings her smile back.
RANA SIDDIQUI
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