An interview of Vikas Khanna

Star chef stirs KKR's pot luck

Is he an actor, is he a team owner, no he's... It's a must-win match for the home team. Jacques Kallis is bowling to rival captain Adam Gilchrist. A quarter of K Block is busy star-gazing not in front but behind, turning between deliveries to catch a glimpse of a man in black in the corporate box balcony. As those out of the loop wonder who he is, youngsters in increasing numbers scramble towards the foot of the box — some to shake the hand that has fed the Obamas, others to click the clean-shaven charmer who is the face of Masterchef in India. Sensing impending chaos, a guard requests him to withdraw into the private viewing area. Here's welcoming Vikas Khanna to the Eden Gardens on Friday night.

The man known best to stir the pot brought pot luck to the Kolkata Knight Riders as he watched them trounce Kings XI Punjab. "From the moment I landed here this afternoon, I could sense the morale of the city was low," said the kitchen king who landed in the US in 2000 with little else but a dream and now hobnobs with the Gordon Ramsays and Oprah Winfreys as the executive chef of the Michelin-starred restaurant Junoon near Madison Square Park in New York.

"The driver said: 'Apna toh bura time chal raha hai', when he heard I was going for the match. I hate it when someone says that. It's most demoralising. The girl, who put a tika on my forehead when I entered the hotel, said: 'Sir, I hope you bring us luck.' I could make out that a win would give the city so much to celebrate."

The upshot of this? The Amritsar-born New Yorker reached Eden rooting not for his state team KXIP. "I wanted the underdog to win," he smiles.

But Preity Zinta's Punjab need not feel betrayed for Shah Rukh Khan's 'Kolkata'. Khanna has Calcutta connections past and present. "My mausi stayed at 18 Loudon Street. And Bishwambharji, our house help in Amritsar who was a pillar of support, has settled here." And his favourite contestant in Masterchef Kitchen ke Superstar is Calcutta girl Doel Sarangi. "If I ever have a daughter I will name her Doel," he grins.

Just as well for the KKR. Had the chef come for the Mumbai Indians match, his loyalty might just have wavered. The only cricketer he is acquainted with is Harbhajan Singh. "He came on the show last season. He knows a lot about food. He is such an energetic guy that he did not take a minute's break at the shoot and signed every ball and apron that came his way." So Bhajji's lusty blow for six that sealed the fate for KKR in Wednesday's match would possibly have delighted the master chef.

As a child, Khanna had seen a Test match or two with his father. "Dersau bandey baithe hue hain garmi mein," is how he remembers the experience of the "long" days.

And he had the Sidhus sharing a boundary wall with his mother's paternal place on Mall Road. "He (Navjot Singh Sidhu, now the local MP) is a big guy. Their cars are always blocking our doors," he smiles.

Though he has not met the turbaned motormouth who is doing expert commentary on the T20 matches, the IPL craze in India has left Khanna wide-eyed. "This is the second match I am seeing after one in Mohali (as a representative of STAR Plus, one of IPL-6's sponsors). This tournament is the closest to the NBA," he says, drawing a comparison with the world's richest and most hyped sports league that is America's obsession.

But he would rather draw an example from his own childhood to describe the passion that he has seen IPL generate. "We had gone to watch Coolie on the first Sunday of release." The film was special as Amitabh Bachchan came back from the dead after an accident on the sets that brought the nation to its knees in prayer for him. "It was an afternoon show but we reached in the morning, such was our eagerness to see for ourselves that he was well. It took a hero to bring a country together. IPL has similarly united people as a single-minded band of followers," says the star chef.

He insists that it is not IPL but the food of Calcutta that brings him back. "Calcuttans are born to wake up thinking what they are going to eat for the next meal," jokes the man whose first stop here was a spice shop to get some "pili sarson".

The clock has inched past 10pm at Eden, and the DJ has gone silent, in keeping with the noise regulations. But with Eoin Morgan and Manvinder Bisla coasting towards the target, the so-far apathetic Eden crowd (the sparsest this season after three consecutive defeats), sniffing a long-awaited victory, begins to find its famous voice. The Mexican wave that starts without any prod on the loudspeaker during the strategic time-out refuses to stop, in keeping with the resurgent mood. The roar reverberates past the glass door of Khanna's box. He is fascinated.

"When the DJ stopped I was wondering how the crowd would react without the music. But the people have become the sound. With a little bit of hope, sagging shoulders suddenly straighten. What we are seeing here is a story of human life."

Soon after, he is called down to the presentation ceremony where he hands over the Nayi Soch award to Morgan for his belligerent knock studded with innovative shots. A look at the Masterchef brooch on his lapel and the Irish Knight quips: "Chef?" Khanna breaks into that famous boyish grin.

Hope it is not posted be4😃