Akshay Kumar is gearing up to host a weekend cookery show, Masterchef India, on Star Plus. Produced by format owners Shine and co-produced by an Indian production house Colosseum, the show will flag off on October 15 and be aired on Friday and Saturday. But reportedly, the actor will not feature in it through the entire three-month long first season. He will anchor a limited number of episodes, before handing over the baton over to Rohit Roy.

Apparently, the channel, leading the pack of Hindi general entertainment channels (GECs) with 393 points this week, approached several actors to take over from Kumar on the desi version of Top Chef that is currently in its seventh season on AXN and being hosted by supermodel Padmalakshmi. Some sources say that Roy will enter after Kumar’s exit, after 10-12 episodes. Others insist that Roy and Kumar will alternate as hosts through the season.Roy confirms that he was approached for Masterchef India: “But then I heard that the channel had finalised Akshay Kumar as the host. I didn’t let it bother me and moved on. But then, I got another offer to take over the show after Akshay’s exit. We haven’t locked the deal yet but it will be a great act to follow.”

Akshay Kumar did not revert to our SMS till the time of going to press. However, the channel’s spokesperson rubbished the idea.

We quote from the email sent to us: “Star Plus has always been a platform for mega stars and Akshay Kumar is a reigning superstar today. He is indispensable for Masterchef India and even the thought of anyone replacing him, we think, is simply preposterous.”

 

Source: Hindustantimes