Johnny Depp recently reportedly racked up a bill of US$62,000 for Indian food, bringing to the fore the popularity of the cuisine among Hollywood A-listers. The Pirates of the Caribbean star, 59, docked at Varanasi, an Indian restaurant in Birmingham, England, with 20 other people and his friend, guitarist Jeff Beck, 77. The actor had earlier performed with Beck at Birmingham’s Symphony Hall as part of a series of surprise UK gigs. He ordered the range from chicken tikka masala to king prawn bhuna, samosas, dal makhni and naan breads to celebrate winning his defamation suit against ex-wife and Aquaman actor, Amber Heard. But the 350-seater outlet, which describes itself as a “spectacle of opulent surroundings”, is just one among several Indian restaurants worldwide that have a celebrity clientele known to spend thousands in a single receipt for piquant chaat to deep fried samosas, unctuous dal makhni, flavour-charged chole bhature, crisp naans and more. Will Smith’s relationship with globetrotting yoga guru sets India talking Sona – Bollywood actor Priyanka Chopra’s high-profile restaurant in downtown Manhattan – hosts famous faces Mindy Kaling, Tom Nichols and Lola James Kelly, who tuck into its inventive menu featuring gol gappas, kulchas, dosa, curries and bespoke non-vegetarian dishes. Celebrities who have visited India are drawn to the food. Actor Will Smith, who recently visited the country, pronounced Indian cuisine “the best thing he has ever had”, citing chicken tikka masala and naan as his favourites. Madonna raves about the “magical aroma” of fresh coriander in the curries, and while there, said she’d “learned how idlis could help you in losing weight and also take care of your carb cravings”. Richard Gere, who was in northern Rajasthan’s Udaipur, for the filming The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel 2 in 2015, was said to have enjoyed a daily serving of paya, a gelatinous soup made from trotters. The dish is traditionally left to simmer overnight and perfect for cold winter nights. Old-timers at New Delhi’s Maurya Sheraton hotel also recall actor Arnold Schwarzenegger feasting on kebabs at their restaurant Bukhara in 2012. “I loved the food. I’ve loved my first trip to India. Here I am with the biggest piece of naan in Delhi. It was fantastic!” he tweeted. ‘I despise English tea’: Bridgerton snub spotlights India’s national drink There’s fans, and there’s superfans Singer Lady Gaga curry mania, meanwhile, is supposed on a far different plane. So fond is the diva of hot Indian curries – especially chicken lababdar cooked in a creamy spicy base – that she is said to stop only when her manager intervenes. If reports are to be believed, she once ate hot curries thrice a day for about a month after the end of a period of dieting. Arguably Indian food’s biggest fan is actor Tom Cruise, who wolfed down a gargantuan meal with his team worth hundreds of dollars at Sula, an Indian eatery in Vancouver, Canada. The diner serves traditional Indian spicy aromatic curries, Indian breads, tandoori meats and vegetables carefully crafted following recipes from various Indian states, though incidentally, the 59-year-old had not the cash to settle the bill, and needed a companion to bail him out. In another outing in Birmingham, Cruise ordered chicken tikka masala at Bollywood singer Asha Bhonsle’s eatery Asha’s, which also has a Dubai outpost. He apparently enjoyed it so much that as soon as he had licked the plate clean, he ordered it again. The 60-seater restaurant launched in 2018 – that features in the UK Michelin Guide – is also a favourite with The Rolling Stones, as well as British singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran. Asha’s manager Nouman Farooqui said the eatery draws celebs for its “excellent service”, “award-winning food” and “exclusive dining rooms and booths where people can have private dinners without fuss”. Award-winning executive chef Vivek Rana of The Claridges Hotel, New Delhi, credits the rising popularity of Indian cuisine to the country’s growing presence at the geopolitical table, and increasing awareness about Indian culture. “Inventiveness from the new breed of young chefs has also played a stellar role in propelling our food to the forefront. Our food used to be very spicy in the past, which drove away the spice-phobic foreigners.” Not just chicken tikka: south India’s Tamil food gets its moment in the sun Rana, who was also executive chef at the feted Indian Accent in New York, which debuted in 2016, has served famous faces there including Halle Berry and Mick Jagger. He pointed out that modern Indian cuisine, in contrast to older standards, is not only tasty but healthful. “It’s created with a calibrated use of herbs and spices like turmeric, cumin, caraway seeds, cinnamon, nutmeg and asafoetida rustled up by chefs who’re well-educated and very well-travelled.”