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There is a grim joke often repeated on Hindi film sets: Karam kar, lunch ki chinta mat kar (do your work, and do not worry about what is for lunch).
Behind the glamour of Indian cinema lies an unwritten, rigid system that governs the basic act of eating. Following recent THR India reports exposing the exploitation of lighting crews and the Federation of Western India Cine Employees (FWICE) petitioning Maharashtra FDA Commissioner Tukaram Mundhe over hazardous working conditions, a deeper crisis remains largely unaddressed: the systemic degradation, poor hygiene, and class discrimination built directly into on-set catering.
While lead actors and top directors are provided customised, dietitian-approved meals inside air-conditioned vanity vans, the vast majority of the crew — lightmen, spot boys, assistants, and grips — are subjected to lukewarm, soda-laced food served on oily, unwashed plates.
Those on set reveal how food has been a primary instrument of class and caste division, vendor underbidding, and producer cost-cutting.
Film shoots have categorised workers into structural tiers. There are HODs (Heads of Department), "A-Crew" (key technicians), "B-Crew" (secondary assistants and junior technicians), and "C-Crew" (lightmen, grip staff, construction workers, and drivers). While production houses often cite crowd control and tight lunch breaks as the reason for separate catering areas, crew members report that the separation is primarily used to enforce stark differences in quality, hygiene, and human dignity.
"I used to get confused as to why there are different categories like A-crew and B-crew," says make-up artist Poonam Surve, who has worked both as part of key production teams and actor entourages. "The initial explanation is that it gets crowded under one tent. But the disparity otherwise is insane. On one big film, the HOD catering had 10 to 15 really good items. When I went to the B-crew catering, we received five or six of those items, prepared poorly. There would either be too much oil, too much soda, or too much water. The worst thing was the dal... you could see water with turmeric in it, but there was no actual dal."
Even on sets where production houses maintain identical menus across tiers, discrimination persists through basic infrastructure. While HOD tents feature cooling fans, ceramic mugs, and clean cutlery, lower-tier crew members are frequently left to eat in unventilated, open-air conditions.
Surve recalls how she was once on a film set during Mumbai's peak summer, where the catering area did not have a single fan. "We were sweating profusely, trying to enjoy a 30-minute break. On another shoot in Bhopal, the only fan available was directed exclusively at four HODs at their table. The rest of the crew had nothing. The sanitation was horrible —there were flies everywhere, and a day’s worth of garbage was dumped ten steps away from where we ate. I took a video and complained to production; they never cleared it."
Script supervisor and filmmaker Sakshi Bhatia notes that the class and caste divide is woven into the language of the set itself. "During lunchtime, I used to taunt the system: ‘Chalo, sab apni aukaat ka khaana kha ke aate hain’ [Let us all go eat the food we are entitled to]," Bhatia says. "On a shoot in Kolkata, they served us bhel puri. They added onions for us, but for the light boys, they didn't add onions or peanuts, there was just salt. If you're on the 'A' table, you get non-vegetarian options. The 'B' and 'C' crews get progressively less."
Bhatia argues that the issue extends beyond production budgets into deep-rooted societal biases. "This is a deeply Indian issue stemming from class and caste attitudes, the same mindset where people won't feed their labourers on the same plate or serve them Basmati rice. It’s an attitude problem. Production has the budget; it boils down to whether you respect your workers."
For technicians and performers who have spent decades on sets, the degradation is a matter of routine practice rather than isolated neglect.
"The only two things that have not changed in the Indian film industry are the script and the menu," says actor-filmmaker Anant Mahadevan. "I have been shooting for 45 years, and I have never brought myself to eat the food served from those steel vessels. You don't know where it’s cooked or how it’s transported. Serving spoons are brought in dirty plastic baskets — if one falls on the ground, they pick it up and put it right back."
Mahadevan points out that heavy spice and chemical additives are routinely used to mask spoiled ingredients or extend shelf life under extreme heat. "There is oil floating on top of the dal and vegetables. It is packed with soda to preserve it from the time it’s transported, and the rice is routinely half-cooked. After lunch, leftover plates are piled into open buckets where stray dogs and crows feed. I once asked a caterer where they wash the dishes, he told me, ‘Under the pipe.'"
The lack of basic hygiene is so severe that even set workers tasked with handling the food refuse to eat it.
"Sometimes the food is so dirty that the caterers and servers bring their own home-cooked food," one actor, who has worked across several productions, disclosed off the record
"They won't touch the set food themselves. If the people serving it won't eat it, imagine what the crew is consuming day after day?"
The physical consequences are felt most by the "C-Crew" — lightmen, riggers, and set decorators — who perform heavy manual labour for 12 to 16 hours a day on minimal rest, relying entirely on set meals for sustenance.
"I once shot in Lonavala during December and saw that the worker dining area was set up in pitch darkness next to a muddy pool," recalls creative director Elroy Crasto.
"The chapatis were rock hard and the food stank. When I mentioned it to the director, he told me, ‘Why are you eating with the poor? Come eat with us.’ Inside, there was a lavish buffet set up for HODs, while the crew outside was served cold, stale food. On the second night, 16 workers refused to eat it. The assistant director told them flatly: ‘Eat it or walk off the set. When the bus comes, you can leave.'"
While production banners like Yash Raj Films, Excel Entertainment, Tiger Baby, and Chalkboard Entertainment were cited by multiple crew members while talking to THR India as rare exceptions, industry insiders reveal that cost-cutting on smaller and mid-budget productions is driven by vendor negotiations.
Contrary to the belief that studio heads actively mandate substandard food, crew members state that catering budgets are systematically squeezed by line producers and executive producers aiming to trim overheads.
"It never actually reaches the top brass. It stops at the line producer or executive producer. Their primary mandate is budget control. If they are handed a ₹100 crore budget, they bargain down vendors to save a few extra crores, actively seeking out the cheapest caterers available."
This financial pressure is worsened by the escalating costs of actor entourages. Off the record, crew members note that when lead actors require dedicated personal chefs, custom dietary setups, and specialised vans at exorbitant daily rates, line producers allegedly balance the budget by cutting costs on general crew catering.
FWICE General Secretary B.N. Tiwari confirms that severe under-bidding by production teams directly undermines food safety.
"Standard, good-quality catering costs a minimum of ₹250 to ₹300 per plate," Tiwari states. "Occasionally, a caterer might offer a discounted rate of ₹200 for a long-term contract. The crisis occurs when production houses demand food for ₹100 per plate, while middlemen within the production team extract their own cuts. Caterers are left trying to source food for barely ₹80 per plate just to survive, and their payments are still delayed for months."
Tiwari adds that despite repeated representations to producer bodies, no enforceable regulatory framework has been established. "The actors and HODs can afford to order private meals or bring food from home. But the workers leave home at 3:00 AM, work 14-hour shifts in gruelling conditions, and have no choice but to consume whatever is placed in front of them. It is a direct assault on their health."
With industry unions increasing pressure on regulatory bodies like the FDA to conduct surprise inspections on sets, film crew members argue that lasting change requires a fundamental shift in how productions operate.
"If specialised food is provided for actors working long hours, the rest of the crew — who are performing intense manual labour — deserve nutritionally sound meals," says Bhatia. "In European productions, crew members receive digital menus in advance to pre-order their meals and portion sizes, completely eliminating lunch rush chaos and food waste. If production houses wanted solutions, they exist."
For many, the benchmark remains simple: removing the physical and qualitative barriers that separate the workforce at meal times.
"The solution is that everybody, from top to bottom, eats the same food," Bhatia emphasises. "It shouldn't matter if you are the director, the DOP, or a spot boy. Ending the practice of ordering specialised coffees, cakes, and gourmet meals for four people on set while making 120 others eat substandard food in the dirt isn't a budget issue, it's a matter of basic human decency."