Local people visit the Madras Cafe for authentic south Indian food and (below) sambar vada at the cafe. Pictures by Gopal Senapati

Its a far cry from the cafe by the same name in Shoojit Sircar’s eponymous film. The 62-year old Madras Cafe at Howrah’s Bataitala is dark, dank and dimly-lit though it looks perfectly innocuous for a setting of a political espionage thriller.

A wall separates the shabby kitchen from the serving area where a number of marble top wooden tables and chairs are occupied by several old clients. They don’t seem to mind the rundown surroundings with peeling paint and bare brick walls with clumps of plaster worn out. So long as they get what they came for, pure South Indian fare on their plates.

It is called Madras Cafe by some, others refer to it as Pillai’s shop, referring to A L Raghavan Pillai, who started the joint in 1947. Today his sons are running the place. For most people who live in Bataitala, Shalimar and parts of Shibpur, this is the only place to get authentic south Indian food. Youngsters in the locality sometimes choose this place for adda over coffee, dosa, idli and sambar vada. Students from Bengal Engineering and Science University (Besu), also find their way here.

Raghavan Pillai had established this eating house to cater to the south Indian officers of the South Eastern Railways. “My father had initially started doing business in Calcutta. He had small stalls in Bhowanipore, Ballygunge and Mission Row. However, at that time south Indian food was not so popular in Calcutta. My father could not run his business there, so he decided to start a shop here for the South Indian railway officers who did not get their staple food in Howrah,” said R Madhusudhan Pillai aka Mohan.

The restaurant was registered in 1951. In those days, senior Pillai had a busy time catering to the needs of the officers at Shalimar. “We used to serve pure south Indian meals including curd rice, lemon rice, rasam, chutney and vegetables. Officers would enjoy these meals and would come here for all their meals, right from breakfast to dinner,” said Mohan. At that time, there were a number of south Indian staff at the restaurant, Pillai himself looking into the daily running of the place. Not many Bengalis had developed a taste for south Indian food then. There were huge stone grinders in the kitchen for grinding spices, rice and dal and everything would be prepared fresh in the kitchen everyday. “One of my uncles would supervise the cooking and would ensure that the quality of food was good,” said Mohan.

Over the years, Bengali customers have increased at Pillai’s Madras Cafe. However, lack of sufficient helping hands has made it difficult to run the place. “It is shabby but running. It is difficult as the customers have reduced over the years. More than south Indians, we get Bengali customers these days. College students often drop by to sit and chat here. Many old-timers still like to get their evening snacks or Sunday morning breakfast from here,” said Mohan.

“I have seen Pillai’s shop since my childhood. I used to come here with my father when I was young. Now, when we have guests coming over at home, we get snacks like dosas, idli or vada from this place. Many old men of the locality often gather here in the evening for adda. One of the best things here was the typical south Indian filter coffee, served in steel glasses and bowls,” said Rathindra Mohan Banerjee, a resident of Bataitala. “We stopped serving filter coffee after my father died. Now we serve instant coffee,” said Mohan.

Labour problem has left Mohan and his elder brother to run the restaurant on their own. The large stone grinders are left unused as machines have replaced men. His brother cooks and serves guests himself. There is just one other helper. Mohan has started a tea stall at Shalimar Station platform. “We have to keep the restaurant running despite difficulty because we still have some loyal customers who come for authentic south Indian food,” said Mohan.