Diljit Dosanjh's kitchen videos got him cooking show, masala ad offers: 'Kuch aur taraf chalne laga tha mera career'

Diljit Dosanjh’s cooking videos, which he began in the lockdown, became so popular that the singer-actor was inundated with requests for cooking shows and restaurant endorsements.

The pandemic brought out hidden talents in a lot of people. One such name was singer-actor Diljit Dosanjh, who became everyone’s favourite home chef on Instagram in 2020. Diljit sharted sharing videos of himself cooking in his kitchen during the lockdown, and became an instant viral sensation. The artiste now recalls how his music career was almost derailed because of how popular his cooking got back then.

Diljit Disanjh's cooking videos on Instagram became quite a hit during the lockdown.

Necessity is the mother of all inventions, they say. And that’s certainly true for Diljit’s reinvention as a chef. He recalls, “It all began because there was nobody to cook for me. I never had to worry about food. On shoots, there was food arranged. Same is the case with shows. At home, mummy would cook for me. I never had to face the tension of cooking. But the pandemic happened. And nobody was home and people were scared of going to each other’s houses. My cook stopped too. Now, I have always been fond of good food. I can’t eat just about anything.”

The singer turned to social media and learnt cooking on the go, eventually sharing his learnings with his millions of fans on Instagram. “So, I decided to look at the experts in this field. I researched and learnt on YouTube. And when I learn anything, I have this urge as a performer to share it with everyone. Since I had nothing else to flaunt then, I shared those videos,” says Diljit.

The public loved the videos. “There was instant connect,” recalls the singer-turned-actor. But then, things started to get out of hand. He shares, “I even got 2-3 commercials for spices. There was even an offer for a cooking show. But I said, don’t get so serious about this. I have a lot of other work to focus on too. Some restaurant people also approached. Kuch aur taraf chalne laga tha mera career (My career began to veer into some other direction) so I had to pull it back. I didn’t want to overdo it in the kitchen so I put a stop to all that.”

Diljit was most recently seen in the Netflix film Jogi, which is based on the anti-Sikh violence of 1984. The film and Diljit’s performance have both received praise from audience and critics alike. The film began streaming last week. He will be next seen in the Punjabi film Babe Bhangra Paunde Ne. The family comedy, which also stars Sargun Mehta, will release on October 5.