If you smell what Bangalore is cooking

Ad filmmaker Boris Kenneth combines the sights and smells of the city’s foodscape in a video. He adds a dash of dance and some ‘Happy’-ness for good measure

July 21, 2014 05:29 pm | Updated 05:29 pm IST - Bangalore

Boris Kenneth Photo: G. P. Sampath Kumar

Boris Kenneth Photo: G. P. Sampath Kumar

When the whole world was tripping on Pharrell Williams ‘Happy’ song, one young man in the city was quietly working to make a small dream come true. Meet Boris Kenneth. Born and raised in Bangalore, the freelance ad filmmaker is making waves in social media with his viral Happy Foodies of Bangalore video.

A vibrant compilation of what the city has to offer for foodies from every walk of life, the four-minute video is Boris’ tribute to the rapidly-transforming food capital of the country. With a cue from the ‘Happy’ mania taking the world by storm, the 23-year-old director put together a long-term dream of presenting the food culture of Bangalore. “This is a city with a vivid culture. People accept new things and experiment with all kinds of cuisines. When I started off with this idea, I wanted to do something with food essentially because I’m a foodie. So I put together a range of food moments compiled with dancers and the ‘Happy’ song.”

The video not only captures people eating but also the essence of the city’s foodscape. “There are a lot of food joints in the city that are landmarks in Bangalore from Fanoos in Johnson Market and Al Amanah in Kamanahalli to Albert Bakery in Frazer Town and Food Street in V.V. Puram. People here are not shy and wouldn’t mind getting their faces and hands messy with food. It was easy to capture these moments on camera.”

Boris says the video was the result of a 36-hour shooting spree. “I gave one hour slots to each of the places I had planned to go. I captured what I consider three essential components of food — eating, feeding and cooking and blended in a little classical and western dance into the song.”

Boris says the video is a reflection of himself in all his love for food and fun. “The seed to the idea is that food is a simple joy that gives us happiness. People work hard and earn money just to put food on the table. Even a shy person opens up when it comes to eating.”

What makes Bangalore special? The people, says Boris. “Everyone here accepts anything and everything. We give everything a shot and never limit ourselves. That’s the specialty of the city. Foodies like me feel at home here.” The message he’d like people to take back from the video is to “simply savour every moment you have when you’re eating.”

On what he discovered during his journey, Boris says he found Bangaloreans are really open and not hostile. “They accept and welcome anyone; cross barriers of language and origin to make people feel at home here.”

Boris started off with one of the most non-stereotypical jobs. “After standard 12, I joined Radio One and gave traffic reports on Bangalore. I now know almost every road by name as well as alternate routes during traffic jams. Later, I started putting ads in theatres and now I’ve established myself as a freelance ad filmmaker.”

His motto in life is simple: “Never hesitate. Connect with people and smile. They may not notice today but someday they may remember you for just smiling at them.”

Looking ahead, he says this is just the start. Playing his cards close to his chest, he says: “There is more to come and my focus will always be Bangalore, Bangalore and some more Bangalore.”

Boris sums up by thanking all the cooks, dancers and foodies of Bangalore with special thanks to cinematographer Sanjoe Jacob, who flew down from another city just to help him with the video and Ashok VA, an ad film editor.

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