FRIDAYAPRIL 17, 2015

www.sakaaltimes.com

The eighth season of the Indian Premier League(IPL) is underway and cricket enthusiasts haveonce again come together to experience the eu-phoria of T20. For the cricketers, it is a lot ofhard work on the ground, but Extraaa InningsT20 Sony Max is also about entertainment. Keep-ing the entertainment quotient alive are anchors

like Samir Kochhar, Gaurav Kapur, Shibani Dandekarand Archana Vijaya. Actor, model and anchor Samir hasbeen with IPL since its inception in 2008. Gaurav, whocalls himself ‘the bearded face of IPL’ has been enter-taining the crowds with his wit and humour since 2009,IPL’s second season. And glam girls Shibani Dandekarand Archana Vijaya joined the bandwagon in 2011. Here’schatting up the energetic anchors who have been part ofIPL’s successful journey:

THE JOURNEY SO FARAnchoring IPL for seven years now, Gaurav likes to takeit one season at a time. “I take this tournament like oneball at a time. IPL has been a very interesting part of mylife and I like the fact that the my role as an anchor is ap-preciated by the viewers. It has also become somethingpermanent on India’s landscape and is like a family mem-ber coming home each year,” says Gaurav.

This is the fourth season for Archana and she too ishappy to be a part of the tournament. “It has been an in-credible journey for me and I am glad to be associatedwith a tournament which is viewed by millions in ourcountry,” adds the sassy anchor.

For Samir, who started with his first live televisionassignment with season one of IPL, it has been a greatlearning curve. “The journey has been fantastic so far.When IPL began, no one knew how itwould shape up, but it has only grownwith every passing year. The setshave become bigger and with thetournament travelling overseas,the reach has become wider too,”says Samir adding that person-ally, it has been a great expe-rience for him. “It is a greatfeeling to share the stu-dio with sports stars whoyou’ve grown up watch-ing.”

Initially, Shibani had experiencedsome jittery moments becauseshe’d never anchored alive show. However, shelived up to the viewers’expectations. “It hasbeen a great opportuni-ty, with every new sea-son throwing a newchallenge that I read-ily pick up and learnfrom,” adds the viva-cious Shibani.

FAVOURITE MOMENTSAll the anchors have had lots of favourite moments, but they

list a few for us. While Gaurav feels that the opening cere-mony of the tournament each year is his favourite, Archa-

na fondly recalls the finals in 2012 when Shah Rukh Khanmade her dance before the match.

Gaurav’s already had one of his memorable mo-ments this year. “Meeting little AbRam at the home of

cricket, Kolkata. I think he’s adorable,” says Gaurav. “Inter-acting with young cricketers and witnessing some nail-biting

matches have been my favourite moments,” says Archana and Samiradds, “For me, anchoring live from the ground gives mea different high altogether as there is so much hap-pening at one time.”

For Shibani, cricketing tips from the expertshave been unforgettable. “Getting bowling les-sons from Morne Morkel and batting tips from

Darren Sammy is what I would rate as my best mo-ments if I had to pick a few,” says she.

CATCHY ANTHEMSIPL’s anthems always catch attention. Jump-ing Japang, the anthem for IPL 6, becamevery popular. However, the anchors say thatthis season’s anthem, India Ka Tyohaar, iswhat they like after Aisa Mauka from sea-son four.

FRIENDS ATWORKTalking about their equation with eachother, the four of them believe that theyare a great team with each one support-ing the other. “We are all like a big hap-py family. Archana calls me her workhusband (laughs) since we travel a lottogether for assigments. We can all relyon each other, and be it in the studio orreporting live from ground, our cama-raderie shows, ” says Gaurav.

“Gaurav and I are both fromDelhi and we have a differentequation off screen. Even other-wise, the four of us chat witheach other over texts andphone calls which makes ourjob easier,” says Samir.

Food, fashion and music is seeing a growing numberof enthusiasts who want to pursue it further andmake a career out of it. However, making a careeris not easy. What the youngsters need is passionand dedication, and to maximise their potential

they need guidance and mentorship.To help them with mentorship, Johnnie Walker re-

cently conducted Step Up, which saw a huge numberof youngsters from the field of food, fashion and mu-sic interact with experts and understand the nuancesand requirements of the different industries from culi-nary wizard Nikhil Chib, avante-garde designer NikhilThampi and musician duo Midival Punditz.

The programme culminated in a grand finale wherethe aspirants showcased their talent to win the Best Per-former title. Here, the mentors share their experience:

Samir Kochhar

he eighth season of the Indian Premi(IPL) is underway and cricket enthusonce again come together to experienphoria of T20. For the cricketers, it ishard work on the ground, but ExtraaaT20 Sony Max is also about entertaining the entertainment quotient alive

like Samir Kochhar, Gaurav Kapur, Shibani Daand Archana Vijaya. Actor, model and anchorbeen with IPL since its inception in 2008. Gaucalls himself ‘the bearded face of IPL’ has beentaining the crowds with his wit and humour sIPL’s second season. And glam girls Shibani Daand Archana Vijaya joined the bandwagon inchatting up the energetic anchors who have bIPL’s successful journey:

THE JOURNEY SO FARAnchoring IPL for seven years now, Gaurav liit one season at a time. “I take this tournamentball at a time. IPL has been a very interestinglife and I like the fact that the my role as an anpreciated by the viewers. It has also become spermanent on India’s landscape and is like aber coming home each year,” says Gaurav.

This is the fourth season for Archana andhappy to be a part of the tournament. “It hascredible journey for me and I am glad to be aswith a tournament which is viewed by millioncountry,” adds the sassy anchor.

For Samir, who started with his first live telassignment with season one of IPL, it has beenlearningWhenwouldwith evehave btournathe reacsays Samally, itriencefeelingdio withyou’veG

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THE STARANCHORSWith the IPL frenzy taking over cricket fans,

Rajlaxmi Arora chats up anchors Samir Kochhar,GauravKapur, Shibani Dandekar andArchana Vijaya

who add to the entertainment factor every year

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CATCHY ANTIPL’s anthems alwaysing Japang, the anthvery popular. Howevethis season’s anthemwhat they like afterson four.

FRIENDS ATTalking about their eqother, the four of theare a great team withing the other. “We arepy family. Archana calhusband (laughs) sintogether for assigmenton each other, and bereporting live from gr

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who add to the e

The fancydecor that addsto the eatingexperience

Chef de cuisineShailendra Khannaand executive chefGauravMalhotrapose at the live

counter

Say balle-balle withthis Punjabi fare

If you want a taste of Baisakhi, which ushers inthe New Year for the Punjabi community, vis-it Novotel. Baisakhi was celebrated on April 14,but the festivities continue at the hotel till April24. Though their ongoing Baisakhi Festival in-

trinsically revolves around food, it also gives youa glimpse of the vibrant Punjabi culture and themusic.

Hosted at the hotel’s spacious The Squarerestaurant, the festival offers an authentic Punjabiexperience. The rustic décor almost instantly trans-ports you to a Punjabi dhaba. From live countersserving Pindi Chole to Lassi, to the staff dressed intraditional Punjabi attire, you can almost imagineyourself to be on the streets of Amritsar.

In terms of food, the festival has a lot of

lip-smacking dishes lined up on thebuffet table. Start off with some ten-

der Tandoori Chicken or tastyBhutte Ki Tikki that is served

with creamy yoghurt. For themain course, you can relish

the well-known Makki DiRoti and Sarso Da Saag, ordig into a plate full of Kul-chas and Dal Makhaniserved with some authen-tic white butter. They alsoserve some typical Punja-bi dishes like Aloo Ki Sub-

zi, Paneer Lababdar, CholeBhature and so on. What

completes the rustic experi-ence is the earthen pots and

aluminium handis in which thefood is served.

For those with a sweet tooth canindulge in the wide range of delec-

table desserts that the festival offers.Creamy Phirni, Kheer, Mango Barfiand the famed Gajar Ka Halwa – all onoffer for you to gorge on.

Talking about the festival, Execu-tive Chef Gaurav Malhotra informs,“We have retained the homestylecooking method for most of the dish-es that will enhance the experience.Baisakhi being the harvest festival wemake sure that we provide an authen-tic experience to food lovers. To keepthe food authentic, we are keeping tothe original recipes and not tweakingthem to suit the palate.”

To experience and enjoy Baisakhi,head for The Square at Novotel Pune,Viman Nagar, for dinner at 7 pm. Restassured you will come back satiatedwith Punjabi goodness.

— SHALAKANALAWADE

MusicKnown for their electronic music with Indian sounds, Midival Punditz– the brainchild of Gaurav Raina and Tapan Raj from New Delhi – is anestablished label in the industry. The musicians, who took out time fromtheir busy schedule to mentor the youngsters, strongly feel that suchprogrammes are necessary because learning can only take you to thenext level. Besides, such platforms help showcase your talent to a largeraudience.

Gaurav says, “When the organisers approached us to mentor a bunchof really talented kids, we really liked the idea. The only way to grow iswhen more people learn.”

Elaborating further, Tapan says, “When we started out in 1998, wewere quite naïve and raw. We really didn’t have anyone to turn to. We’reexcited that there is a platform such as the Step Up which encouragestalented musicians and gives them an opportunity to reach a wider au-dience. We wish we had this opportunity back then!”

FoodParticipants, who are inclined towardsthe food industry, had celebrity chefNikhil Chib taking them through a rig-orous schedule. Says Nikhil, “I was hon-estly not expecting so much but as theshow progressed, I found that the con-testants were quite talented and defi-nitely stepped up to the plate. The mostchallenging part was preparing a three-course meal in two hours. The com-petition was neck-to-neck which alsoproved that the youngsters wanted tolearn a lot. I was not at all an easy men-tor. I made them go through the upsand downs during the two-month pro-gramme. The guys who won the showare very bright and will make it as greatchefs.”

DesignerNikhilThampi

Nikhil Chib

Tandoori Chicken

Cholewith K

ulcha

FashionFashion Designer, Nikhil Thampi, who men-tored the design students at the programme,says, “It was a very interesting experience forme as a designer too. Out of five candidates,three were chosen for the grand finale and Ihad been mentoring them for weeks. Therewere a lot of tasks, one of which was creatingoutfits wherein I had asked them to incorpo-rate my ideologies in their design. The can-didates also had to showcase their skill whenperforming under pressure witha certain time limit. For thefinale, they had to designa three-piece collectionand the surprise was thattheir pieces would be soldat Pernia’s Pop Up Shop.It was great to see the par-ticipants get thorough-ly involved in the tasks.Besides, programmes likethese help me teachand share myknowledge.”

Midival Punditz

FASHION I FOOD I FUNPics: Inamul Hassan

— RAJLAXMI ARORA ANDVIOLET VAZ