From being a theatre artiste, founding an NGO to hosting a cookery show, Udhvithaa Harshaa Sharrma has always harnessed her multiple talents. Seeing her mum cook with utmost enthusiasm, giving directions to her father who used to cut vegetables and pestering her grandma to prepare new recipes, food has uncannily occupied a special place in her heart.
She’d also done a cookery course with an aim to open a restaurant (the idea couldn’t take off), given she also inherits the genes of a family full of businessmen. All of this, sans a plan, ensured a solid foundation to her television debut.
“The best part about my show, ‘ Wow Emi Ruchi ’ is that it is not scripted. You get to see me the way I am, hundred per cent. Of course, to not make this process seem random, I write aspects that I wish to talk about, leading to the recipe,” she states. When not on screen, she says, it’s easy to mistake her to be a mobile-obsessed teenager. “I am a sucker for information. I keep reading blogs, little tips, books and anything related to food. I also pick up the little things my pals and relatives keep telling,” Udhvithaa adds.
Her research has indeed paid off: she’s prepared dishes from cuisines of nearly 19 countries (Lebanese and German being the most recent ones). But, there’s a catch, she’s still a vegetarian and doesn’t taste the non-vegetarian dishes she prepares. “Most of my pals keep asking me the same thing. How could you cook a fish curry, and still not taste it? I make the best use of my senses here, the sound of the sizzle, the colour and the smell. A proof to it is the number of people who flock to the sets to have it,” she is proud to say.
Everything she cooks on the show comes after thorough preparation and the ‘Wow! It tastes good’ sort of comments come genuinely and are not staged. And unlike popular hosts, she is quite comfortable being dirty in the kitchen. “The show is a part of me now. I am readying myself for a food blog that’ll help the ones who are lazy cooks, find smart alternatives. There’s a book coming up as well,” says the enthusiastic girl.
As for her NGO ‘The Social Artist’ that took off in 2013, Udhvithaa has set herself reasonable targets for now. “I need to be practical enough to manage everything, given that the show takes up a good chunk of my time now.”
(‘ Wow Emi Ruchi ’ is aired from Monday to Friday on ETV Abhiruchi between 1 and 1:30 pm.)
