This is Vikas Khanna’s moment in the sun. Forty minutes away from the screening of trailer of Buried Seeds, a docu-drama on his journey from Amritsar to America, the Michelin-starred chef’s voice over phone from Cannes is humble as always.
“It was not my idea. American-Russian director Andrei Severny came up to me and said, ‘Chef, can you help me in making this film?’ He told me that my family had sacrificed so much so that I was able to represent all kinds of Indian food globally. He appreciated my frank approach and was clear that it would not be a regular film. He said, ‘I want to make a powerful film which tells the practical side, pain, loss, defeat, betrayal and bullying.’ You need to talk about these facts so that our generation can understand the struggle and sorrow undergone by you,” he says.
The film, expected to release in fall 2017 and travel to India by the end of this year, has a message for the new generation, particularly immigrants who are desperate to make a mark.
“The film is important to tell today’s generation how difficult it is to fulfil your dream when so many odds are stacked against you. When an auto rickshaw driver’s daughter becomes a doctor, we all celebrate. Similarly, when the son of an owner of a video library becomes Michelin-starred chef, it is a huge honour for the entire country he comes from. For such people there is no self entitlement. It is victory of human spirit.”
In his honesty to give an authentic presentation, is he not revealing things which he would have otherwise kept under wraps? “Right from day one of shooting, we were convinced that Buried Seeds will capture not only the highs but also pathos, pain and turbulence which I had undergone while trying to educate myself and make a career out of cooking. It is not that when you land up in America, the locals roll out red carpet before you . They behave normally but the moment you start competing with them, everything changes.”
Two incidents are perennially etched on his mind. “One chef used to work with me in an American restaurant where fried chicken and pizza were cooked. Once the chef was so angry with me that he wanted to cut off all my fingers. I saved my hand by fraction of a second. Similarly, while I was doing research in an America university, I was mocked at by a budding chef. I was making my notes and I was known for writing like a poet. This guy came up to me and said ‘Look here no matter how hard you might try you would still be 10 times inferior to me.’ Those days I was working on brushing my English so his comments were incomprehensible to me. So I replied I am improving my English. He had the audacity to tell me ‘It is not your English; it is your skin. My reply was ‘I don’t want to be equal with you, I want to be 11 times better than me’.”
On that day, Vikas took a vow that his limitation cannot be decided by his pigmentation.
“My pigmentation is my pride, it comes from my heritage. It is a story from where I come. My colour is from the place I come from. And I am proud of my lineage. The comment by the local chef still pinches me. That incident was my Mahatma Gandhi moment.”
Blessing in disguise
That comment was a blessing in disguise as it propelled him to put all his creativity, passion into his work and realise his dream.
However, he adds, one cannot generalise. “Andrei has made a documentary which touches you emotionally. Story of a home where not much food is there but still there is happiness around needs to be told. The story touches core of Indian ethics. My father owned video library business failed. He ran business of blanket making; that too got shut. He became a property broker.”
While growing up in Amritsar, life was not easy for Vikas. “I had clubbed feet and it made my life miserable. Here I was wearing oversized funny looking shoes in school and I was laughed at and teased.
I could neither play nor go out with friends. I also had braces. Perhaps, God had a bigger plan for me but that time I was completely disheartened. To give me reason to live, my grandmother would take me to Golden Temple. That was her way of teaching me about life.”
To seek comfort, he would enter the kitchen. “When we had to shoot in Amritsar for the third time; it was very difficult for me to go back. Those memories kept rushing back. We went to the same spot at the Golden Temple where me and my grandmother used to go.”
Indians like fun and excitement in their food as well as in films. Just like he puts tadka to make dal makhni delicious. Vikas gets the hint. “I did not want masala . The film shows the power of culture. It has been made in an organic way and would have impact worldwide as it is a universal story. When we started, becoming a chef was like a back up plan. Now the world is giving us so much importance. Earlier people laughed at our profession. At every level, I have been honest about my life. You know Andrei’s last film Gravitation: Variation in Time and Space was based on greatest ballerina Diana Vishneva. When he picked me as a subject, I thought it would be interesting to go ahead. Bollywood films have glamour and are inspired by private lives. I do not have any private life. And why should all films be of same genre?”
The film’s title is interesting. “ Kismat hai (laughs). Bury means daphnana and many people feel it has negative connotation. Remember seeds were sown in Amritsar. There is an interesting quotation on my notice board: ‘They tried to bury us; they did not know we were seeds’.”
