What India’s Leading Chefs Expect From the Anthony Bourdain Biopic

Internationally renowned chef Anthony Bourdain’s biopic, “Tony,” has become a talking point. The film will primarily focus on a single summer prior to his world fame. Some of the country’s leading chefs talk to Variety India about their admiration for him and what they hope to see in the biopic.

Hussain Shahzad
Executive Chef, Hunger Inc. Hospitality (Papa’s)

I would love the biopic to capture the spirit of curiosity that made him such a singular voice in food and culture. He reshaped the way the world viewed food, not simply as cuisine, but as a lens into people, places, politics, and identity. What made him remarkable was his ability to move seamlessly between worlds. One moment, he was at a street-side stall, the next at a celebrated fine-dining institution, yet he approached both with the same sense of respect and intrigue. He spoke with a kind of clarity that is increasingly rare, especially in food, where things are often softened, polished or romanticized. He understood the grind of the line, the pressures of running a restaurant, the chaos and discipline of professional kitchens, but also the complexities of life outside of them. That gave his perspective weight.

A chef whose life a movie should be made on: It would have to be my mentor, Chef Floyd Cardoz. What he did for Indian cuisine globally, particularly in the US, was extraordinary. At a time when Indian food was largely boxed into the stereotype of inexpensive takeaway, he shifted the conversation. He showed that Indian cuisine could stand shoulder to shoulder with the world’s most celebrated culinary traditions, with the same refinement, technique, depth and value. And he did this as an Indian chef, a person of color. That context is important.

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Manu Chandra

Founder & Partner, Manu Chandra Enterprises (Lupa & Single Thread Bespoke Catering)

This is a man who practically lived his life on screen in the latter half of his life. So, there was enough and more known about him. What the biopic could focus on is the comedy of it and of his personal life, potentially. I remember one evening, my friends and I were having a meal at Le Hall, his French restaurant. While there, we just kept gawking at him. He noticed us. Later, when we stepped onto the street for a smoke, he joined in and spoke to us. It was just a lovely conversation. For a lot of us, that was a very treasured memory.

A chef whose life a movie should be made on: I admire Jose Andreas tremendously. He’s a force of nature. Not only is he one of the most accomplished chefs in the world, but he also does a lot of humanitarian work. I think he definitely has an incredible backstory, which I’d love to know more about.

Rahul Akerkar  
Culinary and creative director at Aditya Birla New Age Hospitality

What I would like to see in the biopic is honesty, not a polished, romanticized version of him. Bourdain mattered because he was deeply human, contradictory, vulnerable, curious, angry, funny, and incredibly observant all at once. The best parts of him weren’t just food; they were about the way he looked at people and cultures without condescension. What resonates most with me are his early New York kitchen years in the 1980s and the rawness, irreverence, and honesty with which he spoke about that world. He wrote about cooks, dishwashers, misfits, and late-night kitchen life with a kind of authenticity that people hadn’t really seen before.

A chef whose life a movie should be made on: Marco Pierre White. Not just because of the intensity and chaos of that era, but because his story sits at the intersection of ambition, craft, ego, mentorship, and self- destruction.

Nooresha  
Chef and Owner of Izumi & Idoru

I would like the biopic to show his contribution to the industry and why so many chefs respected and loved him. The Bourdain sandwich we created is a small tribute to him and everything he brought to food and culture. I would want the film to focus on his journey, his influence, and the way he connected people through food.

A chef whose life a movie should be made on: Nobu Matsuhisa. He is my hero. He was one of the first chefs to bring and popularise Japanese cuisine outside Japan. His story feels like fiction, and yet it is completely real. His journey had so many ups, downs and remarkable comebacks. He never gave up and kept cooking and creating. Today, his dishes and recipes are used all over the world.

Pooja Dhingra
Chef and Founder of Le 15

Bourdain was someone I always wanted to sit across a table from and share a meal with. I read “Kitchen Confidential” and “MediumRaw” at the very start of my career, and they shaped how I thought about kitchens long before I had one of my own. His shows were real, unvarnished, and you went on the journey with him. The image of him eating with US President Barack Obama on those plastic stools in Hanoi has stayed with me. It captured something I deeply believe that food is the most democratic thing we have. It puts everyone at the same table.

A chef whose life a movie should be made on: Asma Khan. A woman who walked away from constitutional law to cook the food of her childhood and built an all-women kitchen at Darjeeling Express staffed largely by second daughters, and who has quietly rewritten what leadership in a restaurant looks like.

Rijul Gulati  
Executive Chef, Indian Accent

The biopic should showcase the restless traveler, the storyteller, the vulnerability, the chaos and the curiosity all of it. Tony made food feel secondary sometimes. It was always about people, culture and human connection. I’d love to see that rawness captured without polishing him into a hero. I admired how fearless and real he was. He could sit in a tiny street stall anywhere in the world and make it feel more important than the fanciest dining room. He changed the way chefs traveled, spoke, and connected with the world. For many of us, he made food storytelling emotional and personal.

A chef whose life a movie should be made on: Marco Pierre White. The intensity, rebellion, genius, pressure and the impact he had on an entire generation of chefs would be incredible on screen.

Hari Nayak
Chef, Proprietor

I hope they show him as his real self - no glamour, no drama. A guy who’d walk into a street stall at midnight and treat it like the best meal of his life. His Asia travels and that meal with Obama on plastic stools in Hanoi - cold beer no fuss- that was so perfectly him. But honestly, the humor got me every time. So dry and subtle you’d laugh and think later, ‘Did he just say that!”

A chef whose life should be made into a movie: Ustad Imtiaz Qureshi in India started cooking at seven, never went to culinary school, fed queens and prime ministers and won the Padma Shri — pure instinct, pure soul, a master in his craft and inspirational to many.

Chef Kunal Kapur
Founder, Pincode

I hope the biopic shows him as someone who always believed that food is deeply connected to culture and people. I would love for it to capture not just the chef, but the human being behind the journeys. His curiosity, honesty and ability to connect with ordinary people across the world made him truly special. He reminded people that food is not only about fine dining, but also about emotion, memory, travel and connection.

A chef whose life a movie should be made on: I would love to see stories that celebrate chefs who have preserved regional cuisines and food traditions through generations. Those quieter stories of passion, resilience and cultural preservation are equally powerful and meaningful.