My foodie friends and I have been obsessed with food content on Instagram. Mukbang videos, restaurant reviews, where to eat, the most bizarre bites and everything under the sun. But our latest fascination is animated food videos that tell a story about the process behind the video, or the history of a famous dish. Just scroll through Instagram and you’ll notice that food content feels very different now. It’s immersive, and the storytelling keeps you hooked, as animated characters explain the history of dishes like litti chokha, Mughlai paratha, or mutton nihari.
AI is changing how food content looks and feels on social media. For Shah Alam, who runs the channel ShahGPT on Instagram and YouTube, the journey begins with curiosity. “It usually starts with an everyday Indian dish—like Falooda or Jalebi—and asking, ‘Where did this actually come from?’” he explains. What follows is not a straightforward explanation, but a cinematic reconstruction of the dish’s past.
Instead of presenting history as a list of facts, Alam builds a narrative around it. A Mughal-era royal chef, a Bengali zamindar, a moment in a historic kitchen—each video is told through a specific point of view. “I create a POV character… to narrate the story,” he says, turning distant history into something immediate and human.
That storytelling involves intense research. Before anything is visualised, the facts are verified. “I rely mostly on historical articles, well-documented culinary archives, and food history books,” he says. “Verifying the core Indian historical fact is crucial before I turn it into a story.”
This balance between accuracy and narrative is what gives the content its weight. And it often leads to surprising discoveries. “One fascinating discovery was the history behind ‘Poila Baisakh’ (the Bengali New Year) and its connection to Emperor Akbar. It was originally an agricultural tax collection system based on the solar calendar (Fasli San) that eventually evolved into a massive cultural festival involving sweets and new ledger books (Halkhata),” says Alam.
But information alone isn’t what drives these videos. “A historical food video goes viral today because of nostalgia plus storytelling,” Alam explains. “People love eating these dishes, but knowing the secret royal history behind their daily food gives them a sense of pride.” That emotional connection, between what people eat and where it comes from, is what transforms content into something shareable.
Equally important is how these stories are brought to life. Using tools like Runway ML and CapCut, Alam recreates historical settings with a cinematic quality that traditional formats struggle to achieve. “AI animation bridges this gap,” he says. “It allows the audience to visually experience the Mughal kitchens or royal courts while learning about their favourite dishes.”
If Alam’s work represents the rise of narrative depth in food content, creators like Anu, who runs cinematic_ai on Instagram, represent the other half of the equation: visual immersion. She runs a channel focused on miniature content.
Her approach begins not with history, but with feeling. “I wanted to create something unique and emotionally engaging,” she says. “Miniature content felt very eye-catching and different.” In her videos, cooking is transformed into a miniature fantasy world with tiny utensils, carefully staged ingredients, and tightly framed shots that draw the viewer in. But what appears effortless on screen is the result of careful planning. “I focus a lot on details like lighting, angles, colours, and smooth transitions,” she explains. “I also plan each scene carefully so the final video looks visually pleasing and satisfying to watch.”
Creating these videos are deceptively complex. Shah reveals that creating one of his videos can take anywhere from one to three days, spanning research, scripting, AI image generation, voiceover, and editing. Anu’s process, while different in approach, is equally demanding, often taking several hours to a full day depending on the complexity of the setup.
Source: India Latest News, Breaking News Today, Top News Headlines | Times Now
