Preview: Star Vs Food | When stars collide with food

‘Not another celebrity show!’ I groaned. Koffee with the stars made me reach for the merlot, dancing with the stars made me head straight to bed and to hear celebrity guests spout inanities on a talent shows and comedy shows made me never want to watch television again. Thankfully, streaming platforms offer a smorgasbord of wonderful shows.

Then recently launched Discovery Plus platform (launched March 23, 2021) announced that they were going to make us watch celebrities in the kitchen in Star VS Food. A part of me screamed, ‘Isn’t it enough that Karan Johar is selling me strange soup at midnight, that Hema Malini is peddling filtered water and Ranveer Singh’s face is on noodles? Why do we need to watch them actually cook? Why can’t we all just watch Ranveer Brar, Maangchi and the quiet ASMR of Nino’s Home…

What should we do with a truly Over The Top celebrity cooking show? Episode Two that I watched, has Kareena Kapoor Khan making food that she craves: ‘We eat pepperoni pizza like it’s going out of style,’ she says, and I don’t believe it. She’s an Instagram goddess for God’s sakes! Could she be eating pepperoni pizza?

The show is clever, because she’s so effervescent and talks happily to the camera. Good choice! That goes also for the prettiest setting. The Lovefools restaurant in Bandra.

The format seems clear. The chef will get the celebrity to cook one dish at least and then have the friends of the celebrity partake that food. This way, the restaurant gets that much needed publicity, the celeb gets more Insta followers, and the audience gets something more to ‘goss’ about than watch reruns on the telly. Is the same restaurant going to be in all the episodes (like Masterchef Australia)?

I am amused as Kareena acknowledges that the rolling pin is not exactly her thing. But I was touched by her standing in front of the oven watching the pizza she has made. Scripted or no, that moment felt real.

Discovery Plus already has many food shows. Is this going to be just an also-ran in the search algorithm? Will Neeraj Pandey’s Secrets Of Sinauli work better? I already love the show Extreme Homes on this channel, I am not sure if the world needs another celebrity making a pizza burrata. But Chef Sarita Pereira chose burrata over mozzarella, so it gets full marks for flavour.

I’ve always hated watching anyone eat. And I am not talking of wedding guests wolfing down the buffet kind of eating. I’m speaking of eating on camera. It just looks terrible, and people become so self-conscious when the camera remains focused on their face, waiting for their reaction. So the silly game Kareena played distracted us from watching them eat. Would have been nice to see a recipe come up at that time too...

Chef Sarita is kind to Kareena, telling her that she needs to grate more parmesan. We could all use more cheese in our lives is my conclusion for the show. I wonder if Kareena could charm even Gordon Ramsay with her super, ‘I thought the weighing scale is post the pizza!’