EXCLUSIVE! Chef & actor Ranveer Brar on Ratan Tata's food habits: ‘Perfect breakfast for him was a croissant paired with fresh orange juice’ | Food Talk

Chef and actor Ranveer Brar who was recently seen in Kareena Kapoor starrer Buckingham Murders fondly remembers his early days as a Su chef at The Taj group of hotels, particularly his interactions with Ratan Tata.

During Tata’s stay at Fort Aguada Beach, Ranveer Brar noted that Tata’s idea of a perfect breakfast was simply a croissant paired with fresh orange juice. He described Tata as the humblest person he had ever encountered, often coming in for a light jog on the beach. After enjoying his meal, Tata would quietly vanish, embodying a sense of humility and simplicity that left a lasting impression on Brar.

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Ranveer Brar said, “One thing that always stood out to me about him was how he always discussed people. He stayed at Goa for a long time when I was working there but never once I saw or heard him discussing money, profits or business. He used to always ask the general managers and managers about how their people are doing. If everyone is well taken care of, and if they need anything.”

Ranveer Brar made his acting debut with Modern Love Mumbai, which was an anthology series with his episode being directed by Hansal Mehta. Talking to Firstpost, he said, “Hansal Mehta sir is an acclaimed director and his love for food is known to everybody. When I was called for this role, I thought he would be the right person to understand me both as a chef and an individual, and to be able to direct me.”

In an exclusive interview with Firstpost, Chef and actor Ranveer Brar said on the preparation of the role in The Buckingham Murders, “There was no preparation for the role as such. Hansal Mehta said that he is shooting next month for _The Buckingham Murders_ and that there is a role for me and I cannot say ‘no’ to it. That was the only preparation. I think what I feel happened was that after he saw me in Modern Love Mumbai, he understood that this is the kind stuff that he delves deeper into.”

In the interview he mentioned that he was offered some brilliant roles after Modern Love Mumbai, but he refused. And after refusing he had sleepless nights. “I refused them because I felt that they were too easy and I was offered those roles on the context of how I looked and they were very ‘straight jacketed’ ‘vanillaish’ stuff. It just felt that Ranveer you are not so desperate and if you have the opportunity to choose you should just choose well. And as chefs we like being a little uncomfortable. Thodasa agar kitchen mai gaarmi na ho toh khana achaa nahi baanta (If you don’t feel the heat in the kitchen, the food doesn’t turn out  to be delicious). I liked idea that both the roles made me challenge myself. One had the idea of the protagonist being gay while still being a chef, while the other role was a completely grey thing. This role in The Buckingham Murders added another layer of discomfort which made me say yes.”

On being asked how he does the balancing act of being a chef and an actor, to which he said, “I don’t feel the need to balance. After a point in life, it is not a profession, it is you. I am 47 and I have been professionally cooking since I was 17. So being a chef is me. That cannot be taken away from me. You have been in front of food and make me talk about food, I am very comfortable about that. There is no difference between Ranveer and Ranveer, the chef. But after a point that Ranveer needs to evolve and express and find ways to navigate. I think acting has given me that opportunity.”

Talking about his love for food, he says that his favourite dish is khichuri (kichadi), but the Saraswati poojawali khichuri. “The Bong kichadi is my favourite. I lived in a Bong neighbourhood as a kid, so somethings were always a part of growing up. There was a Saraawati Pooja, Durga Pooja and Kali Pooja in our locality. There were 60 to 70 Bengali families and we were the only Sikh family. I can speak and understand Bengali and so the love for Bengali food!”

“We had an inside joke that Hansal(sir) wanted all my recipes, so he gave me this role,” quipped the chef, who believes in sharing his recipes with people.

“I am playing a chef in the series, so we cooked a lot of Nihari on the set. We must have cooked at least 50 kgs of mutton. We cooked Yakhni Pulao and Kimami Sewai as well,” he shared.