How Cinemas Are Jumping Towards Mindful Eating

The culinary swing towards mindful eating isn’t limited to cafes, bars and restaurants; cinemas are jumping on the bandwagon too — unhealthy snacks have been replaced by more diverse, wholesome and customised theatre foods. At INOX Insignia in Atria-The Millennium Mall, a thoughtfully curated and unconventional menu adds to the luxury movie-watching experience, and Zaral Shah samples the goods while chatting with the venue’s head chef, Vicky Ratnani and the COO of Inox Leisure, Daizy Lal…

- Zaral Shah

I can remember when being ‘food-conscious’ became a thing, when diet fads dominated eating habits and when everyone started reading nutrition labels with the same attention that they now watch Black Mirror episodes. I also remember a time when going for a movie almost always meant that it was going to be a cheat day — until less than a decade ago, a healthy meal at the movies was not really an option. Much like song and dance, films and food have gone hand in hand, and it would be close to impossible to not be tempted by the smells and sounds from the caramel popcorn machine or lured by the perfectly fried, golden-brown samosas calling out to you from behind the glass display case. Cinema in the entertainment capital has, for decades, been synonymous with these kinds of savoury and sweet guilty pleasures; and the advent of multiplexes in the early 2000s brought along nachos, French fries and other popup stalls. At these new venues, seeing the screenings move away from the standard 9 a.m., 12 p.m., 3 p.m., 6 p.m., 9 p.m. schedule brought audiences a whole new type of cinema viewing — parents could eat chaat while watching Mission Impossible in Screen 1, while their children munched on nachos and sang along to a Disney duet in Screen 2 next door! But, despite their nostalgic appeal or novelty factor, these foods are not satiating; they are rarely ever wholesome and often serve merely as fillers while restaurant reservations await.

Having been a cinema regular since the early 2000s, I am intrigued by how far the associated culinary scene has advanced. For anyone else who also grew up in Mumbai around the single screen theatres like Regal, New Excelsior or Metro, a trip to the movies will always stir up memories of the aforementioned A1 samosas, bubbly sodas and ice cream sticks. But times sure have changed.