I'm coming back to India: Celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay

Agencies
July 28, 2019

New Delhi, Jul 28: Gordon Ramsay will soon be touring India and the celebrity chef says he is looking forward to his visit.

"The good news is I'm coming back to India, and I can't wait," Ramsay told news agency.

The British chef-restaurateur, who has earlier been to the country on culinary adventures, said his love for the Indian subcontinental cuisine dates back to his childhood.

"We lived in a council house in the middle of Birmingham in the Midlands growing up and my parents' landlord was from Pakistan, and so I fell in love with not just the Indian/Pakistani cuisine then, so my ambition was always to travel to India to understand.

"From the north to the south, even 50 km from the Burmese border, Nagaland, again completely off-pieced and understanding what it was like with those communities in the depth of that jungle, and cooking incredible food," Ramsay said in a select roundtable interaction from Los Angeles over phone.

But the highlight, he said, has been Kerala.

"It's the land of the spice, and the fragrance. I didn't think vegetarian cuisine could be that good in an ashram cooking with 55-60 women, preparing the most amazing meals," he added.

The world-renowned chef will feature in summer culinary adventure series "Gordon Ramsay: Uncharted", which premieres on July 29 at 10 pm, on National Geographic and Hotstar.

As the name goes, the show will see Ramsay treading the road less travelled -- from Peru, Laos and Morocco to Hawaii, Alaska and New Zealand which will keep him on his toes as he explores valleys, oceans, forests and mountains while tasting culinary brilliance.

But even before "Uncharted" aired, many compared the upcoming show's format with that of late chef-travel documentarian Anthony Bourdain's.

It was during his 2010 UK series for Channel 4, "Gordon's Great Escapes," that he came to India and Southeast Asia to taste both food and adventure.

Ramsay said he would never go on to "copy" anyone in the field, let alone, Bourdain, who was a great friend.

"Tony was a great friend of mine, and we shared many a time across the table with a glass of wine, and such a tragic loss. I would never, ever attempt to copy anybody in their profession."

The chef admitted it unsettled him when the series came under "a little bit of flack" as it was announced a year ago.

"Back in 2004 I started my journey from visiting Cambodia, the most amazing Southeastern Asian islands, Vietnam, and then spending three months in India from north to south, and a week in an ashram in Kerala, and understanding how to perfect vegetarian cuisine, and so I was more upset with people criticising Uncharted' without having seen it," he said.

"Now that the programme's out and clearly been successful and rated very well, I'm at peace now, because it's good for them to see there's no comparison. It's completely different," he added.

He said, as a person, he doesn't like things all mapped out for him and the series put him in unknown waters, which was a new high.

" It's me doing what I do best, an adventure with food, understanding cultures, and from becoming an amazing prolific chef, to becoming a teacher, to becoming a pupil, stripped of everything I know, and putting myself into that area of their expertise, for me was a dream come true."

Sharing one of his takeaways from the show, Ramsay said "Uncharted" was about diving into unknown secrets without being touristy and "embedding myself in that community" and from a chef's point of view, it was about "getting close to the source".

"I've spent the last two decades with the most amazing ingredients arriving on my doorstep, so to turn that in reverse and to go to the source. We also have that responsibility as a chef for sustainability, and I think I've always been a big advocate with seasonality, and some of these ingredients that I came across in many countries, they stay there, and well done for that.

"I've tasted ingredients across this programme that I've never tasted before. The high altitude fruit farm, tiny farm in the mountains of Peru, the intense flavour was extraordinary. We'll never get to buy that ingredient in London. It was so nice to see new ingredients tasting incredibly different to what we're used to from a chef's point of view," he said.

The multi- Michelin-star chef also revealed a second season of the show is in the works and he is excited about it.

"We're now planning countries as far as Tasmania, Indonesia, Jamaica, South Africa, and again, places that are incredibly culturally laced with some of the most exciting cuisines ever," he added.

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News Network
January 28,2020

Mumbai, Jan 28: A 33-year-old woman has written to the National Commission for Women (NCW) alleging that Bollywood choreographer Ganesh Acharya used to make her watch porn videos whenever she visited his office in Mumbai.

In a complaint filed with the police, the woman, an assistant choreographer, has alleged that Acharya and two women assaulted her during a function of the Indian Film and Television Choreographers Association (IFTCA) held in suburban Andheri on Sunday.

Besides Acharya, the complainant, Divya Kotian, has named Jayashree Kelkar and Preeti Lad in her complaint for assault, a police official said on Tuesday.

Calls made to Acharya for his reaction remained unanswered.

In her letter to the NCW, Kotian, a resident of suburban Bhayandar, claimed that Acharya forced her to watch adult videos whenever she visited his office.

In her complaint with Amboli police station, Kotian alleged that Acharya was demanding a commission from her for working in the film industry.

Kotian is also a member of the IFTCA.

Acharya, who was elected as a general secretary of the IFTCA, used to frequently call the complainant at the office in Andheri, the police official said quoting the complaint.

On January 26, when Kotian reached the IFTCA office, Acharya shouted at her and announced that she was being "suspended", he said.

Acharya grew furious after Kotian told him that she is a member of the IFTCA and allegedly asked his team member, Jayashree Kelkar, to slap her, the police official said.

"Kelkar and Preeti Lad hit me in public view which was captured on the CCTV," the complaint stated.

Police have registered a non-cognisable (NC) offence and investigating, the official added.

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News Network
April 6,2020

New Delhi, Apr 6:  In an attempt to pump up Indians with positivity amid the testing times of coronavirus, Bollywood's most prominent actors like Akshay Kumar, Kartik Aaryan, Tiger Shroff, Taapsee Pannu, Kiara Advani, joined hands and launched a hope anthem - 'Muskurayega India.'

The song is set on the optimistic theme that sends out the message that the country will smile again if the country supports each other in the current crisis situation.

An initiative of Akshay Kumar's Cape of Good Films, the video of the song features all the lead actors of the industry including Ayushmann Khurrana, Bhumi Pednekar, Sidharth Malhotra, Vicky Kaushal, Raj Kumar Rao, Ananya Panday, Kriti Sanon, Jacky Bhagnani, and Rakul Preet.
Curated by Jackky Bhagnani's music label JJust Music and composed and sung by the talented Vishal Mishra, 'Muskurayega India' is a symbol of India's spirit of solidarity, battling against the coronavirus pandemic.

The soulful song penned by Kaushal Kishore also features cricketer Shikhar Dhawan and famous Mumbai based Radio Jockey Malishka.
The video of the song starts with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's televised address in which he is seen assuring the country that every Indian will come out victorious from the coronavirus crisis.

The video then features all the prominent faces of the cinema industry giving out the message of hope from their balconies, terrace and other spots of their houses.

The song urges people to stay home and support the people who are working to combat the virus, like police officials, and medical practitioners on duty amid the lockdown.

A locked-down view of some of the most prominent spots in the country like the India Gate, Hawa Mahal, and Mumbai's beaches are also featured in the video.

The song also spreads the message of social distancing and washing of hands to keep the infection away.

The video ends with a rhythm of the national anthem with the celebrities standing still to honour it and finally fades away with the Indian national flag.

As the country battles the novel coronavirus, the song is an attempt to uplift the spirit of togetherness of every Indian during the unprecedented crisis.

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News Network
July 21,2020

Mumbai, Jul 21: Police have recorded statements ofthree psychiatrists and a psychotherapist as part of their probe into the death of Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput last month, a senior official said on Monday.

Their "statements were recorded over the last three- four days" by the Bandra police who are probing the case, said Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone IX) Abhishek Trimukhe.

The late actor was consulting these mental health professionals and hence their statements were recorded as part of the ongoing probe, police said.

Rajput was undergoing treatment for depression since November 2019, they said.

Rajput, 34, was found hanging in his suburban Bandra apartment on June 14 in what the police claimed was a case of suicide. In the initial investigation, the Mumbai police had found that the actor was under medication for depression.

So far, the police have recorded statements of over 36 people, including director Sanjay Leela Bhansali, Bollywood casting director Mukesh Chhabra, actress Sanjana Sanghi and Rajput's friend Sandip Singh, among others.

Rajput's friend, actor Rhea Chakraborty, has also given her statement to the police.

Filmmaker Aditya Chopra recorded his statement in connection with the case at the Versova Police Station on Saturday.

Rajput starred in films such as 'Shuddh Desi Romance', 'Raabta', 'Kedarnath' and 'Sonchiriya'. But his most prominent role came as cricketer Mahendra Singh Dhoni in the biopic, 'MS Dhoni: The Untold Story'.

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