Gaurav Khanna breaks silence on copying allegations on Celebrity Masterchef: ‘Shah Rukh Khan copy karte...’

Earlier this month, Gaurav Khanna emerged as the winner of the first season of Celebrity MasterChef. Nikki Tamboli stood second and Tejasswi Prakash third.

Actor Gaurav Khanna was crowned the winner of Celebrity MasterChef. But there was a time when he was trolled heavily for copying Swiss chef Dives Josh’s dessert. Now, the actor has spoken out about the controversy, clarifying his side of the story.

Gaurav Khanna with the Celebrity MasterChef trophy.

Gaurav Khanna reacts

Gaurav looked back at the stir with accusations being levelled at him during a podcast with Siddharth Kannan.

When he was asked about people trolling him for copying a dish, Gaurav said, “Copy? Main research karta tha aur mujhe jo cheez kahin acchi lagi ya kuch… jaise aap dekhein koi movie hai, for example maine ek interview suna tha jahaan pe log bolte the ki Shah Rukh Khan jo hain wo Dilip Kumar ki copy karte hain, bahot pehle suna tha Bachchan sahab[Amitabh Bachchan] bhi karte hain emulate. Phir maine suna tha ki Raj Kapoor sahab Charlie Chaplin ko emulate karte the ya like karte honge. Toh kya ye karne se Raj Kapoor, Dilip sahab, Bachchan sahab aur Shah Rukh Khan ki value kam hai kya? So again, logon ka kaam hai kehna. One produces it and make it our own (I used to do research, and whenever I found something I liked or something interesting… like if you see a movie, for example, I had once heard an interview where people said Shah Rukh Khan copies Dilip Kumar, or I had heard long ago that Bachchan Sahab (Amitabh Bachchan) also emulates (others). Then I also heard that Raj Kapoor Sahab used to emulate Charlie Chaplin. So, does doing this reduce the value of Raj Kapoor, Dilip Sahab, Bachchan Sahab, or Shah Rukh Khan? Again, it’s the job of people to say these things)”.

He went on to express gratitude towards Chef Vikas Khanna for giving a befitting reply, supporting him.

Gaurav added, “I am an insignificant, normal human being who has been making food for three months. He (Vikas Khanna) put an end to this segment in such a good way. So jab Dronacharya ne khud jawaab dedia hai, toh Arjun kyu jawaab de? (So when Dronacharya himself has given the answer, why should Arjun answer?) I like my work to speak and my work says that I have won MasterChef. I really worked hard on it. I am very proud of winning this show. It is my first reality show. This is something which I never expected."

Gaurav wins the reality show

Earlier this month, Gaurav emerged as the winner of the first season of Sony TV’s Celebrity MasterChef. Nikki Tamboli stood second and Tejasswi Prakash third.

During his stint on the show, he was accused of copying Swiss chef Dives Josh’s dessert. But chef Vikas Khanna, who was impressed with the dessert, backed him and responded to trolls. He was trolled for copying a dessert called Honey Dripping Dessert.

The Swiss chef even responded to the accusations by posting the promo on his Instagram stories and writing, “well done, so creative…(tongue out emoji)”.

Vikas responded to the criticism Gaurav has faced, backing the actor in the online feud. Sharing a clip from the show on his Instagram, he wrote, “Very rarely you witness Culinary Greatness like this one. I have to admit that this year’s MasterChef was next level benchmark for us. I only wish every celebrity contestants the very best.” Farah Khan who hosts the show commented, writing, “Truly (fire emoji).”