About Aloo Poori
Story
Rooting itself in South Asian American culture unapologetically, Aloo Poori supports unheard voices with cultural vibrancy & specificity. It allows Indian culture to intersect with both mental health stigmas across generations and conflicts over culinary traditions while speaking to universal truths.
Aloo Poori roots itself unapologetically in South Asian culture. Where diversity and representation aren’t buzzwords. And staying true to your language, your traditions, and your food is simply part of who you are.
Synopsis
Aloo Poori follows the story of a mother and daughter during their last day of living together in a small town in Western Pennsylvania. 27-year-old Sejal is on the cusp of leaving her home and mother behind, unsure if she’s scared to go, or scared to stay. Her mother Madhuri is avoiding a recent mental health diagnosis and her daughter's departure by throwing her heart into her cooking.
The two have never had to function without each other, and on the eve of Sejal’s departure, they realize they might not know how to. A comfort food dinner shared by the family, and an argument over the making of 'aloo poori' test what forgiveness and farewell mean to this household.
Inspiration
Aloo poori is a dish that my Nani-Ma (grandmother) would make when bidding our family adieu after visiting her home in Aligarh, India. I have fond memories of unwrapping aluminum foil, allowing the scene of the spiced potatoes (aloo) wrapped within this fluffy, deep-fried bread (poori) to take over my senses during nostalgic rides home in cars, trains, and airplanes.
After my Nani-Ma's passing, my family continued this tradition of preparing the aloo poori as a parting gift. The dish has become a symbolic delicacy for me, and I wanted to showcase how meaningful a tradition can be through a storyline focused on generational stigmas of mental health within the South Asian community, coupled with the discomforts of leaving the people and places we've always called home behind.
- Aditi Sridhar (writer/director)
Location
Aloo Poori is set in Johnstown, Pennsylvania is a small city nestled in the southwestern corner of Pennsylvania, 57 miles east of Pittsburgh. It boasts the world’s steepest vehicular inclined plane (yes, that’s a thing) and the oldest record store in the United States. Beyond being known for the Great Johnstown Flood of 1889 (and two other floods after), it resembles many of the small towns between Pittsburgh and Philadelphia.
“I grew up in Johnstown surrounded by a very small South Asian community, with the closest family only 2,000 miles away. Spending time choreographing Bollywood dances in basements with friends, eating my parents’ amazing North & South Indian culinary delicacies, and taking part in cultural festivities between the few South Asian families in town, I’ve always desired to see South Asian families carving space for themselves on screen. Sometimes, at least for my family, this came with a deep closeness between myself and my parents, which inevitably kept a balance between my Indian and American identities. I poured this relationship and an unapologetic nod to cultural traditions into Madhuri and Sejal’s relationship and farewell.”
- Aditi Sridhar (writer/director)