MCI3: Food for Entertainment - Read Bold Print

MasterChef India 3: Food for entertainment

Food, he claimed, will soon emerge as the next entertainment destination.

Kapoor's optimism is understandable.

The celebrity chef who runs a food content company is also the promoter and co-owner of food channel FoodFood.

Since his debut as host of Khana Khazana in 1993, Kapoor has not only spent the longest time showing off his culinary skills on television, but is also considered the face of Indian cuisine.

However, food content has struggled to catch viewer's attention over the past two decades.

Khana Khazana and other food shows like Rasoi, Zaike Ka Safar, Shahi Dawat and a few others didn't deliver the kind of ratings other GEC shows garnered, though Khana Khazana had a run of 15 years and became a brand.

Food shows have been the most ignored non-fiction genre on GECs, though their weekend non-fiction space is full of multiple seasons of song-ndance and other reality shows.

According to industry analysts, there are three major reasons why such shows are a cause of worry for GECs.

The foremost being, the ratings which have eluded food shows.

Consumer disconnect between the content of food shows and GEC audience is another cause of worry.

Food entertainment appears niche, because of its elitist content.

The GECs have started acknowledging that India is largely a country of vegetarians, while food shows often show non-vegetarian fare.

Another important reason is the lack of pan-India food culture.

A distinctive varied fare, specific to the region makes it very culture specific.

According to senior TV professional and media analyst Ajay Kartik, cooking for most Indian women is not so much a learning experience, but a chore that is passed down through generations.

"The gurus are not chefs but mothers, grandmothers and aunts.

Their learning does not go beyond local or community food culture and that is why most Indians lack interest in buying cookery books.

They are content with a free recipe booklet to indulge in the occasional experimental cooking.

Baking a cake is the ultimate," explains Kartik.

Though food is still a less relatable and least preferred content for entertainment, things have started changing.

The attempt to make it mass-friendly has begun, and the credit goes to Star Plus and MasterChef India aired on weekend prime time.

The first season in 2010 catered to the elitist class.

The second season was no different, and though it was appreciated more, it was the first season that scored higher ratings.

The third season, has been fairly successful in making the show more relatable and palatable.

That's because Star Plus started paying attention to the masses by changing the content to suit the Indian palate.

Except for the language, MasterChef in its earlier two seasons was more Australian (read global) than Indian.

With the third season, the makers have adapted it to make it more Indian, culture and regioncentric, less non-vegetarian and a little high on entertainment.

Re-branding and localisation of content were aimed at targeting core GEC viewers, mainly women, in the age group of 15 to 45 years.

Hence MasterChef India 3 was moved from weekend to weekday early prime time slot.

"The popular perception was that MasterChef is a tough show, not meant for the common man.

People thought one needed special culinary skills and training to be a contestant on the show.

So, we made the auditions simple and accessible to everyone.

Someone who could even make good pav-bhaji was invited," says Nikhil Madhok, vice president, marketing, Star Plus.

Ashish Golwalkar, head of non-fiction, Star Plus is of the opinion that, "India's food culture is rich and diverse.

Each state and region has its own special cuisines and delicacies.

And we thought it best to capture the untold Indian food story instead of focusing on foreign food," The approach and emphasis on local food has made Master...beat competition from popular daily fiction shows.

Master...opened with 2.

1 TVR in March and has consistently averaged around 2 TVR.

"The response has been fabulous.

An average of 2 TVR for a non-fiction show against well-established fiction shows is very good," adds Golwalkar.

Getting Kapoor on board was the right decision, as he is the most identifiable and easily recognised face vis--vis food content.

However, while Master...has almost got its DNA right in Season 3, the food story is still an epic tale that may take quite a while to shed its niche tag.

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