- 9 months ago
Indian celebrity chef and actor Ranveer Brar, who matches strides with Bollywood powerhouse Kareena Kapoor in a new murder mystery out now, believes there are only two things that truly matter in life. He talks about why acting liberated him and why cooking makes him feel complete.
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00:00Good afternoon, I'm in conversation with chef and actor Ranveer Brar.
00:13He's a man who wears several hats.
00:15He's also a multi hyphenate.
00:16So I'm not going to ask you the very obvious question, actor or a chef.
00:20I think it's a chef, definitely.
00:21But it's so nice to see you reinvent yourself like this, Ranveer.
00:25Yeah, no, I just feel like, like I was saying, it's just one life, right?
00:29And eventually, it's all roles that we play.
00:33We play the role of a dad, we play the role of a husband, we play the role of a son, we
00:38play the role of a chef.
00:40Eventually, life's about roles we play, right?
00:43So why not act out those roles?
00:45Right.
00:46I have to say you do look like an actor, though, with your lanky figure.
00:51But I see you more in a gritty, dark crime kind of series.
00:55Am I totally wrong?
00:56Or should we put the word out there?
00:58She sees me like that.
01:01There is no chance of me getting a lead, a romantic lead, because everybody, you know,
01:06people look at me and say, negative, grey, slotted.
01:10So sad.
01:11Really?
01:12I'm the only one who saw that, didn't you?
01:15No, no.
01:16Story of my life.
01:17The story of your life where you are immediately slated a villain.
01:19That is just so, isn't that a good thing or a bad thing?
01:22I love it.
01:23In this OTT world.
01:24I love it.
01:25Where else in real life, you don't get to be a villain.
01:29I absolutely love it.
01:31I initially thought, there's this thing about negative, negative characters and this, that.
01:36But the more I navigate them, the more I get to navigate grey, which, you know, in real
01:42life, especially as Indians, we like black and white.
01:45We don't like navigating the grey, no?
01:47Our television is black or white.
01:50There is no grey.
01:51There is no Game of Thrones.
01:52Thank God for that.
01:55And that is why I absolutely love playing these negative characters, at least living
02:02these negative characters to understand where they're coming from, to navigate their grey.
02:10And I'm enjoying it.
02:11No, no.
02:12Nicole Kidman in an interview said she played a woman who was abused in a marriage.
02:16So apparently after every day of the set, she used to come home and break plates just
02:20to get it out of the system.
02:22Do you have such a process or no?
02:25Yeah, no.
02:26So, so the thing is, you know, some parts where sort of I, I think I get an advantage
02:32or a head start is because I've done enough television.
02:37So there's an on off button, right?
02:40The camera goes on, I go on, the camera goes off.
02:43You switch off.
02:44I switch off.
02:45All right.
02:46So that's more from my earlier training of being 11 years, being in front of the camera.
02:50So I have learned to switch off like that.
02:54And even if the character stays inside me, I trust the character to leave at the right
03:01time and leave the best inside of me, which is something that I thought was impossible.
03:08But it has happened to me and I, you know, and that's why I've sort of started liking
03:12this whole idea about acting.
03:14Really?
03:15Well, and you chose the best.
03:17I feel Hansil Mehta should start a masterclass or an acting school because I love talking
03:21to him even.
03:23Just talking to him, I'm like, oh, God, you know so much more about cinema people.
03:27And he truly cares about what you think, which I don't know whether many filmmakers do genuinely
03:32care.
03:33I just feel he does.
03:34In your case, is that why you, is there a good rapport between you two?
03:37Yeah.
03:38He loves food, right?
03:39Yeah.
03:40So he just loved your food.
03:41He loves food.
03:42So that's a great conversation point for the both of us to jam.
03:47And it starts, it started from there, his love for food.
03:52Even when we were shooting Modern Love Mumbai, all the food was actually cooked and we waited
03:57till the food got cooked.
03:58So his love…
03:59Oh, so it was not like plastic.
04:00No, no, nothing like that.
04:01No, no, it was authentic.
04:02I think everybody…
04:03I cooked 20 kilos of Nihari in Modern Love Mumbai, you know.
04:07I always tell him, sir, you did this on purpose just to make sure you get Ranveer's recipe
04:12of Nihari out.
04:13He finally did.
04:14He did, isn't it?
04:15He did.
04:16And he cooked it and he sent me a picture and said, look.
04:17Does he make a mean Nihari now?
04:19He makes a mean, he makes a super mean Nihari.
04:22He's an amazing cook.
04:23He's an amazing cook.
04:24So that's where we connect.
04:25I think our connection starts from food, all things fine, music, and then it's just easier.
04:31There's a certain trust that builds post that.
04:34Also what I absolutely love about him is that he very strongly believes, not just for the
04:40sake of it, that creativity is a collaborative process.
04:45He believes in at least listening to you and collaborating to create the best.
04:51And that I think is, as a creative individual myself, these are values that you learn to
04:59really appreciate.
05:00Achha.
05:01So you did learn from it.
05:02What about cooking in the kitchen?
05:03What kind of skills did it help you to act?
05:05What techniques did you bring?
05:07Because I feel kitchen is equally stressful.
05:10I feel that's the pressure point where I love watching all these shows and I feel I wish
05:14I was in one of them where you throw a knife.
05:16You're not the knife throwing chef, I know.
05:19No.
05:20I used to be at one point in time.
05:21Really?
05:22Yeah.
05:23I love it.
05:24Yeah.
05:25Rage issues are good.
05:26Yeah.
05:27So no, I mean, when you're young, you sort of want to prove yourself to the world.
05:30When you are, when you cross 45, you're like, it is what it is.
05:35But no, but I think kitchen is a sort of, it's a glimpse of life all put together.
05:42Yeah.
05:43And it's a euphoric glimpse of life.
05:47The highs are really high, the lows are really low, you know.
05:50So yes, if you are a chef, it is actually life training.
05:57So you experience certain emotions that you can only experience while acting.
06:06So we call it a range, we talk about range in acting, you sort of get to experience that
06:12range in a kitchen.
06:13Between the highs and the lows, and then the rest is up to you, how much do you modulate
06:18it and let out.
06:20But yes, I strongly believe these are very intense and powerful places which make you
06:30experience life.
06:31And it teaches you life skills, I think, right?
06:33Being in a kitchen, there's always even, and also managing people, I think it teaches you
06:37people management skills more than anything, right?
06:40It makes you, like I said, it makes you a people watcher.
06:43People watcher, that's what.
06:44You know, and observation is very important to being an actor itself.
06:49So whether it is your staff, or whether it is the people who eat your food, it's just,
06:56you know, you're always looking for that first reaction.
07:01When somebody sits on a table, you're also trying to understand, ladke aaya hai, you
07:06know, has he had a fight, and so you're always people watching.
07:10Right.
07:11And you know, like I said, observation is the fuel of any actor.
07:14Of course.
07:15So it just helps.
07:16It really did.
07:17You also signed on to a second project.
07:19First project I thought was just a shot in the dark, Hansal Mehta, let's take a risk
07:22on him, for your niharis, of course, we know why.
07:25But the second one, that shows faith, mister, that shows faith.
07:30And coming from Hansal Mehta, he's a, I mean, he may look very gentle and very nice, but
07:35he knows what he's doing.
07:36So did that, was it a sense of validation for you, Ranbir?
07:42No.
07:43No?
07:44Sense of validation is when he will come to me and say, you did a good job.
07:50He hasn't said ladke?
07:51No, no, he, so like you said, he is a very gentle person, but when he's behind that monitor
07:57with his headphones on, he's a different guy.
08:02He's on the job.
08:03Really?
08:04All he will say is, close up kaad do.
08:07You know?
08:08Wow.
08:09Sounds beautiful.
08:10Yeah.
08:11But that's the beauty of it.
08:12And then when he's off work and he's sitting down having a conversation with you, it's
08:16a different person.
08:17So jab woh bolenge na, ki tune achcha kaam kiya, that probably will be a sense of validation.
08:21Okay.
08:22That's yet to come though.
08:23What about from Kareena Kapoor Khan, who I feel looks very effortless when she acts.
08:28And she seems like when she walks around, fashion comes effortlessly to her.
08:32I feel you are more, you calculate things, right?
08:35So was that pharmacy?
08:36I'm an overthinker.
08:37Yeah, I'm an overthinker.
08:38I'm an overthinker.
08:39Oh, I see.
08:40I have to run a scenario many times in my head to sort of, not just create a course
08:51of action, but just look at all possible scenarios and react accordingly.
08:59But effortlessness is just, you know, you used the right word.
09:02I think the effortlessness with which Kareena works is outstanding.
09:08It takes you back as well, because it looks like some people write effortlessly.
09:12Some people have to think, they need a quiet spot, they need a darkroom or seven M&Ms.
09:18I'm assuming that there's a process behind their effortlessness as well, you know.
09:22You want to believe.
09:23Yeah, because you know, how can, itna saara talent kaise ho sakta hai yaar?
09:27It's just not fair.
09:28It's not fair.
09:29In your case, Voto, what's your process like?
09:32Have you discovered your acting process?
09:33Sounds very serious, but it's not, I'm sure.
09:37Nahi, I haven't.
09:38For me, again, I like to sort of understand the character and have a complete backstory
09:48to the character, a complete understanding of the character.
09:52Not necessarily, you don't necessarily talk about it, but then understanding the character,
09:59understanding that character in my head is a really important part of what I do.
10:07And a lot of times when you're sitting on an airport in crowded areas, you see those
10:13characters that either you've played or you've seen in a movie, or you imagine how they would
10:18react to certain scenarios.
10:22That's it.
10:23You just start sort of spending time with the character.
10:27And something, when the camera rolls, with trial and error, you sort of feel that, hey,
10:32this is the right fabric.
10:33Yeah.
10:34This is the…
10:35Hansa sir bolte na, yeh soor sahi hai.
10:36So, aapko soor pakad lete hain.
10:37I see.
10:38Masterchef must have kind of helped you, right?
10:43Because I've been on Masterchef Australia, by the way, on one of the episodes when they
10:47shot at the Atlantis, and it was the most boring experience of my life.
10:51You just have to sit and pretend to eat.
10:53I'm like, is that what we're doing?
10:55And I'm like, for the chefs, for you.
10:58And I saw all the celebrity chefs, and they edited so well.
11:00It's beautifully edited.
11:01I'm like, man, it's a boring process.
11:04Do you find that?
11:05You don't have to say it's a boring process.
11:06Did it help you?
11:07Like, just the patience bit of it.
11:10Yeah, I think so.
11:12For me, Masterchef, you know how it really helps is, you get, you have to react real
11:21time.
11:22Okay.
11:23Right?
11:24It's captured.
11:25Yeah, yeah.
11:26So, you know that it's not stand and stir cooking, where you're looking at the camera
11:31and saying, you know, aaj yeh banayenge, yeh banayenge.
11:34You have to react real time.
11:35The other person can react any way they want.
11:38So, the alertness or the on-camera presence that a reality show like Masterchef demands,
11:47that makes you a better professional.
11:51Because you can't sleep, right?
11:52Because it's not going to be edited.
11:55And it's unfair that somebody is sort of expecting you to react and you're zoned out.
11:59Yeah.
12:00That, I think, is the beauty I take back from Masterchef.
12:05Oh, really?
12:06And you're happy with the way your life as a chef and perhaps, you know, being a multi-hyphenate
12:11to shaping up?
12:12Are you like…
12:13So, I never really planned for this anyways, you know, so whatever I…
12:17You sound like all, yeah, it's all fate.
12:20It's fate.
12:21But yeah, it's fate.
12:23Who would have thought?
12:24I never acted in a single play in school, yeah.
12:27No way.
12:28No, sachi.
12:29Even as a villain?
12:30Come on.
12:31No, no.
12:32I'm just kidding.
12:33No, no, seriously.
12:34So, there's just everything just happening to you organically.
12:35Yeah.
12:36Even starting a restaurant in Dubai, it is kismat, is it?
12:40Kismat.
12:41Really?
12:42Yeah.
12:43There's only two things that matter in life – a good korma and good kismat.
12:46I'm going to put that on a T-shirt.
12:48So, tell me, like, what was the reaction of the people trying your food?
12:53By the way, your paneer with the sun-dried tomato, I thought, look, it was amazing.
12:57It was spot on.
12:58But you need to tell me, like, were you happy with their reaction?
13:01Is it stressful?
13:02Is it exam time for you?
13:03Yeah, no, it is exam.
13:05See, there are…
13:07The good and the bad is that everybody, you know, will say the food is good.
13:13You are the one who has to find the faults, right?
13:16So, my job is never to accept that the food is good.
13:19Okay.
13:21And if I do that, then I have nothing to take back and tell these guys on places to improve.
13:25So, while the reaction is the food is good, sort of the probing is always, yeah, but there's…
13:30I think this can be a little better.
13:32Okay.
13:33But I think the sun-dried tomato could have been pastier.
13:35It's a little too chunky.
13:36Oh, I see.
13:37No, it wasn't.
13:38I'm telling you.
13:39It was the right pieces of chunks in there.
13:43Yeah.
13:44No, no, no.
13:45But well done.
13:46And are you happy?
13:47Because there are so many restaurants, you know, opening up, mushrooming in the back.
13:49I'm finding it difficult to keep up, honestly.
13:51So, it takes a very brave man and I know that you guys are brave.
13:55It's a gamble, right?
13:56It is a stupid or brave?
13:57Stupid or brave.
13:58Then I want to believe in the latter, that you are brave.
14:02But tell me, like, were you scouting as well?
14:05Because so many Michelin-starred restaurants here.
14:08No.
14:09No scouting.
14:10You know, I was shooting for Masterchef in Abu Dhabi.
14:13These guys came and met and they said, well, this is what it is.
14:16I said, but I don't want to do this.
14:18And then my wife said, hey, why don't you?
14:23Right sort of people, right sort of place.
14:25I said, let's do it.
14:27And then if we're doing it, then let's not just sort of wet our feet.
14:30Let's just dive deep in.
14:31Yeah.
14:32So, we dived in.
14:33You really dove in.
14:34You're right here looking at everything and seeing everything.
14:38And Dipya was telling me as well, you've been here looking at everything.
14:42It goes, it goes to perfection, right?
14:45All of us are getting older, right?
14:48The reality is…
14:49I was not older.
14:50Okay, okay, fine.
14:51It's like me.
14:52It sounds like me.
14:53Forty-two, I keep telling my kids, oh God, I'm going to die soon, guys.
14:57I'm saying the chances that life is going to give us, as time passes, we really learn
15:03to appreciate the chances that we get, the opportunities that we get.
15:07And we want to give our hundred percent to those.
15:10The level of carelessness when you're… or the nonchalance when you're twenty-five
15:14versus when you're forty-five is different.
15:16So, I just want to sort of, you know, at least give it my best.
15:20That's the thought.
15:21Okay, brilliant.
15:22But you've done so well.
15:23Thank you so much for talking to us.
15:24And I really hope your acting career also takes off because that's what fascinates
15:28us because it's so lovely to see somebody try it out, try things out.
15:32And even if the critics are mean, it's okay.
15:35I'm sure they'll… we can always…
15:37Yeah.
15:38No, that's the last thing.
15:41As you know, being a chef teaches you one thing, be shameless.
15:46So what that is, like you said, kitchen lessons are life lessons.
15:50If you let everything get to you, you can't be a chef.
15:55So what that is ingrained in our genes.
15:57Okay.
15:58You know, everybody do their thing, say their thing, you shamelessly carry on doing what
16:01you want to do.
16:02I love it.
16:03Here is to being shameless for another decade.
16:05And don't consider yourself old, sir.
16:06I feel old.
16:07Forty-five?
16:08Yeah.
16:09That's it.
16:11Well done, you.
16:13So proud.
16:14And thank you for that wonderful paneer with the perfect sun-dried tomatoes.
16:16I promise.
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