The Costco Connection - December 2014

DECEMBER 2014 ;e Costco Connection 39

By Will Fifield

FOOD IS MORE than an element in The Hundred-Foot Journey, the movie based on Richard C. Morais’ best-selling debut novel of the same title. It’s a major character.

The Hundred-Foot Journey is a poignant tale of the struggles ethnic minorities face. But it’s so much more. It’s a coming-of-age story. It’s a love story. It’s a tale of loss and grief. It’s a story about second chances. It examines how we measure success. And even if you’re not a foodie, it’s hard not to appreciate the role food plays in this tale.

Viewers follow the Kadams, a large Indian family that runs a restaurant in Mumbai. After an act of political violence leads to the death of Mama (Juhi Chawla) and the destruction of the family’s restaurant, they relocate to France. The Kadams, led by Papa (Om Puri), settle in the village of Saint-Antonin-Noble-Val in the South of France to open an Indian restaurant, the Maison Mumbai. The only glitch in their plan is that just across the street is food snob Madame Mallory’s (Helen Mirren) Le Saule Pleureur, a Michelin-starred, classical French restaurant. The resulting conflict between the two eateries sets the stage for all the other themes the movie examines.

The Connection recently spoke with Morais at his home in New York to discuss the experience of seeing his novel adapted to film.

The Costco Connection: What was it like seeing your book come alive on film?

Richard Morais: My wife and I went to the set
outside of Toulouse last October. Oprah [Winfrey,
one of the film’s producers] wanted to meet me. I was
shivering. It was like I had been summoned by the
queen. But, all of a sudden, I heard this voice, and the
voice was the voice I’ve had in my head of Madame
Mallory for 15 years. There have been audiotapes of
my book and other people had tried channeling
Madame Mallory, but this
was the exact voice I’ve
had in my head for 15 or
20 years. So, I turned and
I looked, and there was a
monitor that showed
what they were filming at
that moment. It was Helen
Mirren as Madame Mallory. I got kind of emotional.

I had another surreal moment on our second day of our visit. They were doing a split shoot, where they film early in the day, then break and film again at night. So I was there for dinner, and they were all wearing their costumes. I sat next to Helen Mirren and Om Puri, and I had dinner with my characters. It was every writer’s dream. It was very moving. My little scribbles that I couldn’t get anyone to read for years had produced the incredible talent and machinery to bring their version of it to life.

CC: Were you involved in the process?

RM: Hollywood generally pays [authors] to go away, but in this case, Julia Blake, the producer, went out of her way to keep me informed. She would come to me and say things like “Who would be your favorite director?” And I said, “Lasse Hallström.” Then she asked me, “Who do you think should play Papa?” And I said, “Om Puri.” She said, “Om Puri?” So she went out and did some research and said, “You’re right; he’d be fantastic.” And so, I was able to whisper a few things that actually made it into the pot.

CC: Did they change the book in the process of adapting it to film?

RM: If you read the book and watched the movie … [you’d find] they are, in some ways, different stories, but you can’t walk away without the conclusion that they have the same DNA. As a writer, you can’t ask for more than that. C

The Costco Connection

You’ll find copies of The Hundred-Foot Journey on Blu-ray (Item #948152, available 12/2), and Richard C. Morais’ novel of the same name (Item #907432) at your local Costco warehouse. arts & entertainment