Movies

Ever wondered what it would be like to see your favourite celebrities on a cooking show. Well, Discovery+ last week kicked off the Star Vs Food season with Kareena Kapoor Khan which was an amazing watch. The new celebrity cooking show features weekly episodes of stars setting themselves up against the challenge of cooking a meal for their loved ones under the supervision of a professional chef.

After Kareena, Karan Johar joins the star-studded lineup who visits his favourite Japanese restaurant Mizu Izakaya where Head Chef and Co-owner of the restaurant Chef Lakhan Jethani teaches Johar how to make Katsu Curry and Sushi from scratch. And let’s just say it – if you miss Koffee With Karan and his over-the-top drama, this episode is for you.

KARAN JOHAR’S FEAR OF KITCHEN

“You’ve seen me everywhere – literally everywhere like I am omnipresent,” says Johar at the beginning of the episode. “But, there’s one room you haven’t seen me” – before he cuts off people’s imagination and adds, “You haven’t seen me in a kitchen. I haven’t seen myself in the kitchen.” He begins his journey with his special way of getting chatty with the Chef before he kicks off his cooking journey.

KARAN’S BIGGEST DILEMMA – CHOPPING ONIONS

Chef Lakhan begins the task for Katsu Curry by asking Karan to chop onions, finely. But, Karan, who has never done it, goes in instant panic mode – “I have never chopped an onion in my life.” The filmmaker eventually learns it. Well, later on, putting onions in the pan ignites another level of reaction from him.

UNSAVOURY JOKES

Well, in a way, some miss Koffee With Karan while many are content that it seems to be over for good. But, if you miss Karan’s snarky comments – it is pretty much seen throughout the episode of Star Vs Food. The unnecessary mention of ‘bed’, ‘spooning’, and everything can be avoided but then again it’s Karan we are talking about. You hear these kinds of “jokes” throughout the episode up until the guests arrive.

KARAN BAKED A CAKE FOR ROOHI AND YASH

During the episode, Karan mentions that sometime during the pandemic last year, he did try to bake a cake with the help of his people but turns out, it didn’t go as planned. While he followed the recipe, he forgot to put baking powder. One of his friends had to arrange a cake in 2 hours since his kids were looking forward to their father’s cooking.

TURMERIC? GARLIC? – KARAN’S CHAOS

Chef Lakhan sends him to the pantry to get fresh turmeric and his first reaction is ‘GARLIC?’ He just sits after strolling and searching for a while and goes through multiple levels of emotions since he couldn’t find turmeric.

KATSU CURRY

He indeed learns how to make his favourite food which he admits requires a lot of effort. Eventually, Chef Lakhan admits that as a student Karan only gets 5/10 since he gets tired easily but hopes that he inspired Johar to eventually cook at home.

ROLLING SUSHI

If you are at a Japanese restaurant and you don’t even try sushi, what’s the point? The filmmaker gives his first try in rolling sushi and well, the outcome is decent for sure.

STAR VS FOOD’S STARS – SEEMA KHAN, MRUNAL THAKUR AND SAIYAMI KHER

It all depends on whether Karan’s friends like the food he made or not. And it turns out, they indeed liked the food he made with Chef Lakhan. You see Karan and Seema’s banter right from the beginning, Saiyami and Mrunal keep it a little poised and quiet in front of them.

FOOD QUIZ? KOFFEE QUIZ?

The episode ends with Karan’s quick quiz for the women on the table which has nothing to do with food and everything to do with his brand of gossip.

While Kareena Kapoor Khan’s episode gave a lot of fun moments, Karan Johar’s episode basically seems him going through a rollercoaster of emotions just to make few dishes. All in all, Star Vs Food is a decent watch.

Globetrotter Priyanka Chopra has made her name in movies in Hindi films and internationally. She moved to America for music and found new fame with her series Quantico where she became the first South Asian actress to lead an international show. Moving on, she has been part of several Hollywood films since then. Her film The White Tiger, which co-produced, has been nominated for Oscars 2021 for Best Adapted Screenplay. But, the journey last seven to eight years has not been easy for her.

The actress recently launched Kabir Bedi’s autobiography, Stories I Must Tell: The Emotional Life Of An Actor. She also recently turned author with Unfinished book where she discussed her life in the limelight for the past 20 years. Speaking to Bollywood Hungama, the actress said that she had to be ‘ethnically ambiguous’  in America. “While I didn’t have to change my name, but I had to teach people how to say my name, if you can say Oprah, you can say, Chopra,” she said. “I had to be ethnically ambiguous to a certain extent to be able to get mainstream roles. Even Quantico, for that matter, I played a half Indian-half American. I couldn’t step out there being Indian because it was too alien for Hollywood.”

The actress further talked about how important was it for her to do important work and her roots to be recognized. “When I came here [America], I wanted to do mainstream work. I had enjoyed being a mainstream actress in India. I know what I bring to the table when I join a film and I know my job. I didn’t want to be a stereotype or a sidekick in big movies. I wanted my face on a poster and that was such a struggle when I first started looking for work in America. This is what like six-seven years ago I am talking about. People didn’t understand that concept in a really big way. Those movies always ended up becoming niche or independent movies. They were never like ‘mainstream’ film. When I started working in America, I had to, unfortunately, shed my Indian-ness so that the globe sort of understood ‘Okay, there’s this person who is an artist’, so that it wasn’t too alien,” she said.

Priyanka Chopra further said that now she uses her platform to educate the West about the Indian film industry. “But, once I got the attention then I pivoted back to educating people and that is my biggest quest. This is the very big quest of mine is to educate the world about the industry that we come from, the fact that Indians have the ability to stand shoulder to shoulder with anyone or any ethnicity within any industry. For us, to have courage, demand the change that we need instead of being invisible like we are usually taught not to create problems. I am not that person. I encourage people to come out there and show what we are capable of.  The White Tiger was a big example of that. I am continuing that with collaboration with a lot of talent, bringing and producing work in Hollywood which will be helmed and written by Indian talent. That’s just my quest now,” she said.

On the work front, Priyanka Chopra is currently shooting for the Amazon Prime Video series Citadel with Richard Madden. The show is being created by Russo Brothers. She will next star in Text For You and The Matrix 4.

Sushant Singh Rajput passed away in June 2020. His death came as a shock to the film industry, his fans and his family. Various filmmakers had announced films based on the life and death of the actor. Now, the Delhi High Court on Tuesday asked the producers of various proposed and upcoming films on the life of Rajput to respond to a plea by his father seeking to restrain anyone from using his son’’s name or likeness in movies.

Reportedly, Justice Manoj Kumar Ohri issued a notice to all concerned filmmakers and sought their stand by May 24 in response to the suit filed by Rajput’s father Krishna Kishore Singh.

In the plea, Rajput’s father mentioned names of some of the films which include- Nyay:The Justice, Suicide or Murder: A Star was lost, Shashank and one unnamed crowd funded films. As per the suit, Nyay is scheduled to be released in June while the shooting of Suicide or Murder: A star was lost and Shashank has commenced.

“The defendants (filmmakers), taking advantage of this situation, have been trying to encash this opportunity for ulterior motives,” the plea read.

The plaintiff (Singh) also sought damages over Rs 2 crores from the filmmakers for “loss of reputation, mental trauma and harassment” to Rajput’s family.

The plea also claimed that if a “movie, web-series, book or any other content of similar nature is allowed to be published or broadcasted, it would affect the right of the victim and deceased for a free and fair trial as it may cause prejudice to them”.

The Plaintiff also sought directions from the court to restrain the filmmakers mentioned in the suit and anyone else from using his son’s ” name/ caricature/ lifestyle or likeness in their forthcoming project/films in any manner whatsoever”.