MasterChef India 9’s Kunal Kapur on being judged for becoming a chef: ‘It was seen as a job for losers’

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Chef Kunal Kapur is returning as a judge on MasterChef India after a long hiatus. Although he has been associated with the show since 2010, Season 5 marked the last time he appeared on the judging panel. Describing his comeback, Kunal said it feels like a homecoming. “Technically, even though I wasn’t judging the last few seasons, I have been a part of the show since its inception. Every season, I have come to the show with some challenge, so I never really missed out on the action. After a hiatus of a few years, I am back on the show with renewed energy.”

‘The paradigm has shifted massively, thanks to Masterchef India’

Kunal also spoke about the show’s evolution over the years and its role in changing how people view the culinary profession. He said, “When we did season one, people asked for a recipe and wondered what the big deal was about cooking. Earlier, people were apprehensive about participating and were not sure if this was something they would like to associate with, but that has now changed. A lot of men who joined season one got flak; they were told, aap toh mard hai, mard ka kaam kitchen main thodi na hai. So there has been a wider acceptance of the trade being gender neutral.”

He added, “Contestants’ skill levels have improved. Back in 2010, it was difficult to explain what a mousse is, how to plate internationally acceptable food. This season, people have come from remote cities, and they are already exposed to good-quality dining, food, and cooking. The paradigm has shifted massively, thanks to Masterchef India. The show started in 2010, and it was a turning point in how people perceived food in India. The show also inspired people to become entrepreneurs and get into the business of food. The food economy of the country stepped up after the show.”

Chef Kunal Kapur’s journey

Back in 1997, when Kunal Kapur decided to become a chef, his family supported him despite some initial criticism. However, society attached certain stigmas to the profession, and Kunal had to face the harsh comments that followed. Looking back at his journey, the MasterChef India judge said, “When I joined this profession, my grandparents were very sceptical because I come from a family of bankers and they wanted me also to become one. In hindsight, they also insisted that boys should know kitchen work too. I come from a family that was uprooted during the partition. My grandparents came to Delhi as refugees; both of them had to work to bring up their four kids. So they realized that everyone should help. So, in our family its mandatory that boys need to know a bit of cooking, which really helped me. My father and uncle also cook brilliantly; the men are seen in the kitchen on their off days.”

Kunal also spoke about facing judgment from relatives. He added, “While the family had no taboos, close relatives kind of sound an alarm. When I decided to become a chef in 1997, it was considered to be a job for losers at that time. It was like jiska kuch nahi hoga, woh khaana toh bana hi lega. Coming from that mentality where people thought khaansama banoge, halwaai ka kaam kar rahe ho, they would say why did you go to school, why did you get so much education if you had to do this. That was the mentality for most of the people who tried to help in their own way by saying this is not the trade to join.”

MasterChef got respect from the chef community

Like Kunal Kapur, many in the industry faced similar challenges. Recalling an incident, Kunal shared how senior chefs would hide their professional identities in those days. “I remember when I joined the industry, senior chefs who wanted to get married, they would always tell the girls’ side that they were managers in a hotel. They would not say they were chefs. There were a lot of societal stigma attached. When the first season finished, a lot of chefs thanked me and said that now when they went back home, their wives, kids, in-laws, and siblings understood that we don’t just cook, but we create. After the show, what also changed was…when restaurants were reviewed, they would post pictures of just the food and the restaurant, but after the show, they also started putting the chef’s photo. There was also recognition from the industry side. MasterChef was instrumental in galvanizing and bringing recognition to the industry and the household cooks.”

Kunal Kapur addresses accusations of MasterChef being scripted

The last season of Celebrity MasterChef appeared to dent the show’s credibility to a considerable extent. While Gaurav Khanna was accused of copying a dish, Tejasswi Prakash’s admission on Laughter Chefs that she did not know how to cook left many viewers questioning whether real cooking actually takes place on Celebrity MasterChef. Addressing the same, Kunal Kapur said such assumptions are unfair. According to him, due to time constraints in each episode, not every detail of the cooking process can be shown, resulting in heavily edited segments. “That’s why when someone excels at a dish, people wonder how it was made in such little time. We cannot show the entire process, which leads some viewers to make assumptions,” he explained.*

He went on to explain how contestants only get groomed before they step into the MasterChef India kitchen. “When we select certain candidates who finally make it to the show, we take them through a course which trains them in certain skills to enhance their culinary capabilities. We train them on certain skill sets so that when they are in the MasterChef kitchen and start cooking, they are already at a level where people get surprised. We put in a lot of effort to train them and bring them upto speed and on par with each other so that the competition stays very interesting. This is before they go on the show. There is a small training capsule that we decide they go through, then they come on the show and cook.”

MasterChef Indian Season 9 will air on Sony TV and stream on SonyLiv from January 5, every Monday to Friday at 9 pm.