His eyes talk more than he does. His talent speaks more than his filmography does. Last year, Alyy Khan impressed with Azaan and Don 2 . We want to see him more on big screen but Alyy doesn't have the patience to wait for plum roles. He says television spoilt him. “I didn't have the patience for the star to turn up but I believe now things are changing but I am so occupied with my corporate assignments. Hosting is not challenging any more but it allows me to mix with a different set of people almost every week.” For now he is back to where he belonged as the co-host of a food reality show, “Foodistan” on NDTV Good Times, where professional chefs from India and Pakistan are competing for culinary glory and the likes of Vir Sanghvi and Sonya Jehan are judging. An eclectic company for sure!
At Le Meridien's The One restaurant, Alyy, opting for Lebanese cold mezze, says “Foodistan” is an interesting format because for the first time the richness of the food of the two countries will come on the platter. He is right for we hardly see five star hotels hosting Pakistani food festivals. “Right! Many people think that both the countries have similar recipes but they will be surprised.” Alyy knows better. After all, his wife is a Pakistani. “The Indian meat dishes have a creamy, sweetish flavour while the Pakistani version has a charcoaled and dry feel. It is more barbequed type. The Pakistanis cook everything from kaleji (liver) to magaz (brain) and it is usual for them. For us it is an experiment. Obviously, India, because of its sheer size, has much more variety to offer than Pakistan. The Pakistani contestants struggled to make something with just paneer and the South Indian delicacies because they have this habit to add meat to almost everything. That said, Pakistan's Sindhi food offers a lot of variety but I think the producers have kept it for the next season.”
Also, Alyy adds as the participants are professional chefs, audience can confidently replicate the recipes. “It is unlike ‘MasterChef' where you can't be sure of what the participant is up to until he or she gets the apron.” With beer proving a buyout companion, Alyy, clarifies that he has tried to play down the dramatic element of Indo-Pak rivalry or melodrama of ‘we are alike' sentiment. “It has been overdone. However, the nature of the contest demanded liberal use of Hindustani and that's why I have used a lot of Urdu though the series is for an English channel. The kind of food we have on the show demanded a bit of local flavour in the language as well.”
Talking about the challenges, Alyy, savouring tabouleh, says one of the biggest challenges was organising the visas for the Pakistani participants. “Once it was done, we forgot that India-Pakistan visas are city specific. As the show was to be shot in Noida, it created a lot of trouble. A lot of calls had to be made in the Ministry to make things roll. I find it curious because during the shoot, I asked the Pakistani participants to go to see Taj and they said they are not allowed to. There are surprise checks in hotels….”
Alyy spends a large part of the year in London and is one of the few faces ready to break on the international scene. Moving on to baba ghanoush, Alyy avers it is difficult to break the stereotypes that the directors have about the South Asians. “Irrfan Khan has replaced Om Puri as the new pockmarked South Asian who is conscious of his accent but people like me who can speak as well as any international star and can play a character of many ethnicities, it is difficult to find a dignified role.” However, after doing a few roles on British television, he is confident of finding a meaty role in Kathryn Bigelow's (“The Hurt Locker” director) next on Osama Bin Laden.
When it comes to cooking, Alyy, enjoyng chicken quesadillas, says he likes to but is surrounded by so many good cooks in his family that he doesn't need to. “But yes, chamcha ghumane ki aadat hai! (likes to stir the delicacies). During my college days in London, my mother had packed with me a masala powder that I used to employ off and on to make a meat dish. I remember once I didn't use it for a long time and one day I happened to bring a Swedish friend to my room with the idea to impress her with my cooking skills. When I opened the masala bottle, it had fungus on the top. I thought about the possible effects of using it for a moment and then put it in the pan thinking the heat of the microwave will take care of the bacteria. Thankfully, it went well as I didn't get to hear about any case of food poisoning next day.” Did he also eat it? “Of course, how could I have said no!”
