When FoodI s Thicker Than Blood!

Raj Kapoor’s grandson, Armaan Jain, 30, shows how the love for food runs as strong in India’s premier film family as the love for films

Pop quiz: If the illustrious Kapoor family of Bollywood wasn’t known for the films they made, what would they be famous for? Answer: Their love for food! And the disappointing reality: this passion has rarely been documented enough.

Sure, Kareena Kapoor’s references to “paya soup” on Karan Johar’s talk show may have caused a split-second pause: the dish is meant for evolved taste buds, after all. But beyond the customary mention, or the occasional family photo on Instagram at one of the elaborate get-togethers over food, the bond The First Family of Films shares over food hasn’t been discussed… certainly not enough for the set of insiders, who insist the Kapoors could well be called The First Family Of Food!

One grandson of the illustrious Raj Kapoor is now set to change this.

DAL FOR THE DIL

Meet Armaan Jain, the son of Raj Kapoor’s daughter and fourth child Rima and Manoj Jain. As the photo on the cover of this magazine shows, Armaan is every bit a Kapoor, with film star good looks and a natural ability to work the camera. A quick stalk of his social media profile indicates that his first love is cricket, but sure enough, this first cousin to Ranbir Kapoor dabbled in films: after going through the customary grind of working as an assistant director at Dharma Productions for a few years, Armaan Jain made his debut as a leading man in a movie called Lekar Hum Deewana Dil in 2014.

“But even then, my passion for food was a notch higher than my interest in films,” he surprises you by saying. “I fell in love with good food and everything to do with it when I was a little boy!”

Armaan has just taken the first step to converting his passion into a profession by launching Kitchen Tales, an all-vegetarian kitchen that aims at supplying fancy, wholesome Indian food at prices that don’t cost heaven and earth. And the star of the menu is Armaan’s own creation: the Truffle Dal Bukhara.

“Being stuck at home during lockdown gave us time to experiment, and the Truffle Dal Bukhara was a result of that,” says Armaan. “Whenever I cook something new, I’m thirsty for honest feedback. My family and I live on different floors of the same building, so I send it to all, but an important opinion comes to me from our cook, Ravi, who has been with us for years now…”

Armaan’s passion is palpable, but so is his sense of practicality. “After my film, I dabbled in ad film production, then got into investment banking as my dad is an investment banker. We looked at the tech space, education etc., but in the food space, I noticed the opportunity for a good quality all-vegetarian kitchen the moment I saw it. Besides being Jains ourselves, I have a lot of vegetarian friends who feel uncomfortable when ordering food from mixed kitchens. Another thing I want is for my food to be affordable to all. If there’s truffle in a dish, it’ll never cost less than `700; we’ve priced ours under `400!”

Armaan is also quick to clarify that no, he’s not the master chef behind the menu. “We went through the rigours of designing the menu with professionals as it should be done, but my Truffle Dal Bukhara is on it!”

ARMAAN JAIN ACTOR-ENTREPRENEUR “My mother and wife are fantastic cooks, but my dad and I cook more than them!”

“AS A FAMILY, WE [THE KAPOORS] ARGUE A LOT ABOUT FOOD... IT’S ALL OUT OF LOVE, OF COURSE” —ARMAAN JAIN