Initially underestimated, it turns out she is an expert at cooking without using fire

This woman is Annapoorani or Poorni, as what people around her call her. Since she was a kid, she had a knack for cooking and love for the culinary field, so talented she could distinguish ingredients with her eyes closed. Her talent was all thanks to her father, Rangarajan. Poorni had been accustomed to accompanying and helping her father in cooking, especially since her father’s job was the chief cook of the temple in their village. Not only skilled at cooking, Poorni also had extensive knowle

dge. She dared to criticize the mistakes in the food made by Ausuvai, a quite popular, full-fledged chef who was also her friend, Keerthi’s father. Poorni admitted that she could make the same, more tasteful, dish, and proved it. Ausuvai tried it and admitted the deliciousness of Poorni's dish. Poorni told Ausuvai that she had a dream of becoming the best chef in India, just like her idol who was known as the best chef in India, Chef Anand Sundarrajan, whom she always saw on television, but behi

nd her big ambition, Poorni realized that it was not easy. For her to achieve her dream was a tarnish to her family’s name. Her family was Brahmin, one of the forbidden groups in the Hindu religion that believes in not eating meat. Short story, Poorni had grown. As an adult, she often got scolded by his mother because she refused to marry the man her family picked for her, she even quit her job in a private company because she wanted to pursue her dream of becoming a chef. Her father was disappo

inted and swore to never give his permission, saying that if she became a chef, she would learn to cook meat and eat it, which was all forbidden and their family would be ridiculed by people. Rangarajan then told Poorni to continue her education at university majoring in Business Management, but Poorni's childhood friend, Farhaan, remained faithful in supporting her to become a chef and even invited her to enter the same major as him, namely Hotel Management. Not only bringing her the registrati

on form, Farhaan also encouraged her by saying that she had lived for her family and other people's judgment even though your future was in her own hands and that it was the right time for her to follow her heart. After thinking about it thoroughly, Poorni finally chose the hotel management major on campus that her father wanted and lies by claiming that she chose the Business Management major following her father's hopes. During her studies, Poorni had many friends who supported her dream, even

Keerthi’s father often helped by pretending to be Poorni's father when needed. One day, there was a lesson on how to prep and cook chicken. Poorni looked very afraid because she had been a vegetarian since childhood. When she hid behind her friend, unfortunately, she was called to practice cutting the meat, but because she couldn't stand it and was afraid, she immediately fainted. That incident made Poorni lose her confidence and admit to Farhaan that she couldn't continue her studies if she ha

d to cook meat, but Farhaan, who was always by her side, told her that she could cook meat without having to taste it. He told Poorni about his mother who was born a Muslim and a vegetarian who could cook delicious biryani, a delicacy that had meat in it. Little by little, Poorni's doubts disappeared, which made her realize that to be a chef, she must be able to process any ingredients, so she finally dared to prep the chicken into biryani rice, but still, it didn't taste good. It was always the

biggest difficulty for her. Out of curiosity, Poorni decided to try Farhaan’s mother’s biryani on the Muslim holiday and it turned out to be true that the taste was delicious. Several months had passed without any significant obstacles, until one day, Poorni's father suddenly came to campus. Poorni panicked and immediately changed her uniform then ran towards the Business Management department building and pretended to be a student there so that her lies wouldn't be exposed. Apparently, her fat

her only came to give her the house key because he was going to visit a sick relative. When her father left, Poorni rushed back to his class again to practice cooking chicken, but when she was about to try it, Rangarajan showed up and caught her eating meat. Poorni's father was immediately tried by the Brahmin community because his daughter was considered an insult to the religion and tarnished their beliefs, even Rangarajan, who had served the community for two decades, was immediately fired fr

om his position as a Cook. Poorni was very sorry for making her father suffer, therefore she did not dare to fight anymore and decided to leave campus, even when her father arranged her marriage to a man named Santosh, she didn’t refuse at all and kept silent. The night of the wedding, Farhaan, who had loved Poorni for a long time, suddenly sneaked into her room and invited Poorni to escape to Chennai to pursue her dream of becoming a chef. Poorni refused outright because she didn't want to hurt

her father again. Suddenly, Poorni's grandmother went into the room, and shockingly, without the slightest fear, Farhaan immediately explained that he would take Poorni to Chennai so she could become a chef. After hearing that explanation, unexpectedly, the grandmother actually told Poorni to go with Farhaan because she didn't want Poorni's dream to be ruined by an unwanted marriage. At first, Poorni was hesitant because she didn't want to hurt her father and was also afraid of people’s respons

e, but her grandmother asked her not to pay attention to anyone because if she later succeeded in becoming a famous chef, her father and the community would turn to support her, but if she failed, then they would insult her even more. Her grandmother said that she had to take that risk. Her grandmother said that she would deal with her father and told her to leave to achieve her dream. Poorni immediately hugged her grandmother and went with Farhaan while her grandmother came out and pretended to

panic, saying that Poorni had run away secretly. A few moments later, Rangarajan got a voice message from Poorni. Poorni apologized to him, She realized that her father would be blamed by everyone so she would come back after she could make him proud. Short story, Poorni finally arrived in Chennai and stayed at Keerthi’s boarding house. Keerthi immediately accompanied Poorni to apply for a job as a chef at a hotel called The Royal Colosseum. At that time, the hotel’s HRD happened to be out, whi

ch made Poorni immediately taken straight to meet the executive chef, Ashwin. When they met, Poorni immediately asked for a job and admitted that she was good at cooking various types of food, but Ashwin, who turned out to be an arrogant figure, coldly kicked her out with an excuse that she was not fit to work in his kitchen. When Poorni was about to leave, she happened to see her idol, chef Anand Sundarrajan, who entered the hotel. Back at Keerthi’s boarding house, Poorni was scolded by the hou

se owner, saying that Poorni wasn’t allowed to stay if she did not pay the rent, and because Keerthi wasn’t there at that moment, Poorni had no other choice but to leave. Thankfully, Keerthi’s friends invited Poorni to eat for free at a wedding. When they were trying the food, Poorni criticized the shape and taste of the food there. Apparently, the wedding hired catering services from the hotel where Ashwin worked, and Ashwin happened to hear the criticism and couldn’t accept it. Chef Anand was

also there. It turned out that Chef Anand was Ashwin's direct superior and biological father. Chef Anand was amazed and took the positive side of Poorni's criticism, In contrast to Ashwin, who instead challenged Poorni to show her cooking skills, and without hesitation, Poorni immediately cooked the same food as well as making a special dessert for Chef Anand, the person who had been her inspiration since childhood. Chef Anand was amazed by the creation and taste of Poorni's cooking, and unexpec

tedly, Poorni was immediately accepted by Chef Anand to work in the kitchen of The Royal Colosseum, even though Ashwin looked annoyed by the decision. By working hard, Poorni was finally able to make money to pay the rent at Keerthi’s boarding house. One day, the hotel where Poorni worked was busy with the arrival of a special guest, the French president, who was planning to have lunch there. While the others were busy preparing dishes, Ashwin arrogantly forbade Poorni to help. Several types of

French food were served neatly on the table, however, the president didn't like it because initially, he had hoped that he would be served typical Indian food. Chef Anand was very embarrassed to hear the president's words, especially when he entered the kitchen, he was disappointed after seeing that all the Indian dishes made by Ashwin looked ordinary. At that moment, Poorni volunteered to make a special Indian cuisine, and when the dish was finished, Chef Anand immediately became enthusiastic a

nd asked the president who was about to leave to try this special dish. The president finally agreed to try it. When the president was about to eat it, Poorni politely suggested that he eat the food with his hands, of course, to be even more delicious. The president followed Poorni's suggestion. As soon as the dish was eaten, the President immediately showed a very satisfied expression. He closed his eyes to get a better taste of it and praised Chef Anand for it, but the humble Chef Anand did no

t want to accept praise for other people's hard work, therefore, he immediately introduced Poorni so that Poorni could explain to the President about the origin of this dish. It was the first Indian rice dish ever, even before the Biryani was invented. The president was amazed by that, so, as a form of gratitude, the president presented Poorni with a rare gold coin, limited prints from France, as rare as Poorni's abilities. Due to Poorni's achievements, she was immediately promoted. Not only tha

t, she was also chosen to represent the hotel to take part in a cooking competition to win the title of India's best chef, which would be held several weeks later. Ashwin, who was not happy, intended to harm Poorni. He deliberately pretended to order a cake for a VIP customer. Of course, Poorni didn't suspect anything at that time and immediately made the order. As soon as Poorni finished making it and was about to bake it in the oven, the oven suddenly caught fire and exploded which injured Poo

rni so badly that she was rushed to the hospital. Poorni's family and friends were very worried about her condition. Even though Poorni had disappointed her father and mother, they still took care of Poorni and looked after her well. One time, when Poorni drank the juice made by her mother, she protested because the juice was not sweet even though her mother had put a lot of sugar in it. Knowing the oddity, Poorni panicked and ate what she could find. She even acted strangely by running out of t

he hospital to the cafe to eat some of the food there, including salt and chili, but strangely, she couldn't taste anything. Poorni was devastated because she, who since little could recognize food with her eyes closed, tragically could no longer taste anything. According to the doctor, the accident affected the brain nerves leading to her tongue which made her lose her sense of taste, but fortunately, her sense of smell was still functioning well. This reality was very painful for Poorni becaus

e as a chef, losing the sense of taste was the same as losing everything. Her dream of becoming India's best chef was shattered. She immediately vented her anger at her father by saying he must be happy because she had failed and that his wish to marry her to the man he picked would happen. Poorni asked her father to just bring her back home. Unexpectedly, as soon as Poorni got discharged from the hospital, her father didn't take her home but instead to meet Chef Anand. Rangarajan told Chef Anan

d about Poorni's condition. He said that since Poorni was little, Chef Anand was the person who inspired her to become the best chef. Rangarajan knew that bringing her home was his wish, but even so, if he did it, her dream would be gone. He decided to endure the blame from the people and wanted Chef Anand to help Poorni achieve her dream. Since that day Poorni was entrusted to chef Anand to be trained, but due to the trauma, her cooking was no longer as delicious as before. Poorni was increasin

gly frustrated with her situation, but Chef Anand tried to encourage her by saying that losing her taste buds wouldn’t hinder her from cooking the best dish. It was love that made the dish tasty. She didn’t lose her ability to cook but her love of cooking. Thanks to advice from Chef Anand, Poorni regained her confidence and the result was as expected. Her food was as delicious as ever. It turned out that Chef Anand already knew that Poorni’s accident was all because of Ashwin who put explosives

in the oven. He hated this action, but even so, he couldn't report Ashwin's crime because it affected his reputation and could only fire Ashwin from his position as executive chef. Chef Anand was increasingly disappointed when the hotel board of directors made a scapegoat of Poorni for protecting the Hotel's name. She was blamed for her negligence and was fired from her position. The director even hired Ashwin back and appointed him as the hotel’s representative at the cooking competition. With

the board of directors' decision, Chef Anand made the shocking decision to resign from there. News of Anand's resignation spread quickly, causing other hotel owners to flock to meet him. Tempting offers were offered to him, starting from being a director to share ownership. Some of the hotel owners were even willing to make Poorni their representative in the cooking competition. At that time, Poorni felt guilty, but Chef Anand emphasized that his resignation was a form of responsibility for his

mistakes as leader. The prestigious cooking competition finally started. It was watched by people from all over India. The winner of the competition would not only be crowned India's best chef but would also be employed as an executive chef at a 7 Star Hotel in one of the most luxurious hotels in UAE. The competition was attended by 16 contestants including Ashwin and Poorni. The challenge in the first round was to make a typical dish from a country chosen by each participant, but behind that, e

ach participant would be given a kind of challenge. Ashwin was challenged to cook without a knife, while Poorni got an unreasonable challenge, namely not being able to use the burner. Turned out that before the competition started, Ashwin had bribed one of the committee members to make Poorni lose. The other participants had prepared the ingredients to start cooking while Poorni was still confused about cooking without fire. At that time, Farhaan tried to help her by giving a hint. That was wher

e Poorni remembered that in the past, she received lessons from Ausuvai. She then took rice flakes and soaked them for 10 minutes to make soft rice. Then, she mixed raw bananas, vegetables, and several other ingredients in salt water until they cooked by themselves without fire, but the problem was that Poorni didn't know whether the food would be delicious or not because she could only feel it by smelling the aroma. After all the dishes were finished, it was time for the judges to taste. Severa

l dishes received praise from the judges, including Ashwin’s dish which turned out to be so delicious and beautiful. Next was Poorni's dish which came from South India. The dish looked very simple, but even so, the taste was outstanding. After the assessment was finished, of the 16 contestants, only a few people managed to get through to the next round, and Poorni’s name was not mentioned at all. It turned out that the judges had deliberately kept a surprise. Poorni's dish was announced as the b

est dish and she had the right to advance to the next round too. Many people started to support Poorni, including Santosh her ex-fiancé. He tried to get close to her because she was popular. Poorni passed round after round very impressively, until finally, the competition was left with two people in the final round. They were Poorni and Ashwin. After Poorni made it to the final round, a big controversy started to arise because Ashwin cheated again by bribing one of the committee members named Ma

nohar to slander Poorni. Manohar spoke loudly to the media, admitting that he had been given money by Poorni to get through the rounds. The slander against Poorni immediately circulated widely on social media, giving rise to pros and cons in the community, even Poorni would be summoned by the Indian Chef Association and threatened with disqualification if the investigation proved her guilty. Even though the media did not know that Ashwin had cheated, Chef Anand was convinced that Ashwin was behi

nd the slander, He even admitted that he would defend Poorni. These words made Ashwin angry and have the heart to beat his father so hard that ended him in the hospital. While Poorni was facing an investigation from the Indian Chef Association, she firmly denied everything. She also admitted that she didn't know Manohar and that the handshake during the competition was just a congratulation. Poorni admitted that her cooking would still be delicious because she used her other senses. She then gav

e an example of a similar case outside the culinary field. One of them was Beethoven, despite his hearing disorder, he succeeded in compiling the best symphony. Then Stephen Hawking, a great wheelchair-bound physicist. After hearing Poorni's explanation, the association's eyes opened and decided that Poorni was innocent and had the right to continue the final round. The final round between Poorni and Ashwin finally began and the challenge this time was to cook according to the food that was most

chosen by the audience. Unexpectedly, the most choice fell on biryani. Of course, this was the toughest challenge for Poorni because, since childhood, biryani was the one single dish she could never deal with. That made Farhaan and Keerthi nervous because they knew that biryani was Poorni's weakness. Ashwin was getting ready to cook while Poorni was still pensive. She suddenly remembered Farhaan's mother’s words before. According to her, the biryani she made was very delicious, not because of t

he recipe, but before cooking, she always prayed to God. At that very moment, Poorni kneeled and began praying like a Muslim. She asked God for help so that her food could be delicious and special. After finishing praying, she started cooking with confidence. Once the dish was finished, for the first time, Poorni’s biryani tasted very delicious. Likewise, Ashwin's biryani was no less delicious. The judges were stunned by the cooking of the two contestants, and because it was difficult to choose,

the judges finally decided on a tie, but because there had to be a winner in each challenge, the judges held an additional round with a blind taste test. This might not be fair for Poorni, who had lost her sense of taste. Farhaan protested to the judges, however, in cooking competitions, the rules were. Every chef had to be able to distinguish the food ingredients. In this challenge, Ashwin smoothly identified the ingredients by tasting them, while Poorni had to smell the aroma and also touch i

t to feel the texture. Both Ashwin and Poorni could answer up to the fourth ingredient, but when it came to the fifth ingredient, Ashwin answered incorrectly, while Poorni, who also had difficulty, somehow managed to answer correctly, which made her get a perfect score. Poorni finally became the winner of the competition, which also indicated that her dream had been achieved to become the best chef in India. Her family and friends looked very happy, likewise, the people who used to insult her ha

d turned to praising her. When Poorni was about to be handed her victory plaque, she called her father to come forward. Rangarajan was very proud and embarrassed because the daughter who once underestimated and disappointed the family had become the family pride. He apologized for deliberately hindering Poorni's dreams in the past, and at the same time, returning Poorni's spatula that he broke. At the end of the film, Ashwin decided to leave home and refused to continue his father's company whil

e Poorni's career was increasingly brilliant by becoming an executive chef at a 7 Star Hotel in Dubai. What was even more amazing was that Poorni didn’t forget where she came from. She taught women in her village to struggle and survive through the food business.