Sanjeev Kapoor Asked More Money Than Akshay Kumar For MasterChef India: No One Was Bigger...

Chef Sanjeev Kapoor is one of the most celebrated faces in the Indian culinary industry. He hosted cookery show Khana Khazana on television for more than 17 years and is an author of about 150+ bestselling cookbooks. Recently, he revealed in an interview that he asked more money than Akshay Kumar to be a part of the first season of MasterChef India.

This is my field: Sanjeev Kapoor put his foot down

In an interview with Siddharth Kannan, Sanjeev said, "When MasterChef came, we had already done a show and saw what future looked like for it. I was approached (for MasterChef). As soon as the conversation began, I was told that one judge has been signed. At that time, (I was told) there was no one bigger than Sanjeev Kapoor. Forget top 10, even in top 100, there was no one. So they had signed Akshay Kumar. He’s a dear friend, brilliant guy, great professional."

He further added that the makers of the show told him, "‘We’ve signed him, so we wanted to sign you as well. I said, ‘Very good, I am very happy but I have only condition. Whatever you are paying him, I will charge Re 1 more.’ They asked, ‘Charge more than him?’ I said, ‘Yes, this is my field.’ They were shocked. They did not, and I was okay. They came back to me again. They decided to replace Akshay Kumar. I signed the show on my terms."

Sanjeev Kapoor later revealed that the makers of MasterChef India returned to him and decided to replace Akshay Kumar. But, chef Sanjeev maintained his stance.

Sanjeev Kapoor then joined the cooking reality show in the second season and continued his run in the fourth season.

All about Chef Sanjeev Kapoor

Sanjeev Kapoor was born in Ambala, Haryana on April 10, 1964. He was selected and got a Diploma in Hotel Management from Institute of Hotel Management Catering & Nutrition, Pusa, New Delhi.

Sanjeev became a household face with Khana Khazana, which happened early on in his career. Aired on Zee TV, it was the initially called Shrimaan Bawarchi. The show went on to become one of the longest-running show for about 17 years.

Now his business ventures range from premium cookware and appliance brand Wonderchef to TV channel FoodFood. According to a leading daily, his net revenue is over ₹500 crore. He is the brand ambassador for several famous brands. He has two daughters named Kriti Kapoor and Rachita Kapoor.