Gaurav Chakrabarty and Ridhima Ghosh’s chemistry on screen is no secret. Right from Rang Milanti, their first film together, to Byomkesh Bakshi on the small screen and many more, the audience has always cherished the couple on and off the screen. After almost a decade, they are back on the small screen as hosts of Zee Bangla’s new cookery game show, Rondhone Bondhon. Directed by Ronojit Roy, the show, which airs on Zee Bangla at 4.30pm, will have six episodes a week. Amidst a busy shoot schedule, t2 spoke to the couple to know what they were cooking in the Rondhone Bondhon kitchen.

You are coming back together on the small screen after 10 years...

Gaurav: For me, it is very exciting because it is a non-fiction project where I am hosting this show. Also, because I am doing it with Ridhima, having her with me is helping me a lot and that's what is exciting.
Ridhima: It is like a new debut for us. I was very nervous when we started the shoot but it is actually a lot of fun.
Gaurav: Our chemistry is helping us to take the show forward. I hope the audience likes it. It is not just a cooking show but also a game show and that makes it more fun.

What is the format of the show?

Gaurav: Each episode will have two pairs who are related to each other. Either father-daughter, daughter-in-law, mother-in-law or husband-wife. The two pairs of each episode will be given a hero ingredient, which they have to use in their recipe and present the dish within a certain time. Whoever makes the better dish goes to the next round. They will be judged by guest judges such as professional chefs, a food vlogger or a celebrity. The winner of the first episode and the winner of the second episode will play each other in the third episode and the winner of every third episode will become Sherar Shera.

What kind of cuisines will you explore with the guests in the show?

Gaurav: This will be dictated mostly by the players. Subhajit Bhattacharya is our food researcher on the show. From him, we got to know a lot about recipes from Bengal. One contestant made onion payesh and it is supposedly Thakurbarir ranna, which most of us have no idea about. Even though I am not a foodie, I have always been a fan of cookery shows. When I was young I used to sit next to my mother and watch shows like Khana Khazana.

Ridhima: There is something de-stressing about watching somebody cook.
Gaurav: We sit together and watch MasterChef Australia. It is very therapeutic and inspirational.
Ridhima: Another thing I am noticing in the show is that people have a notion that it is the woman who cooks but it is a great thing to bring in front of everyone that cooking is for everyone. The kitchen is not just a woman's place.

Who is a bigger foodie between the two of you?

Ridhima: I am! I love eating. I love trying out all different kinds of food, exploring new places and trying out different things. Mostly I encourage Gaurav but sometimes I force him to try new things! (Laughs)
Gaurav: I am not someone who likes change. If I like something from a particular restaurant, I end up ordering the exact same thing every time I go there because I know that I like it.
Ridhima: I am just the opposite. Even if I end up going to the same restaurant 15 times, I will order a different dish every time.
Gaurav: And once in a while I see her saying that this isn't nice and then I will be like, 'Why did you experiment?!'
Ridhima: I don't like to eat the same food every day!

Who is a better cook?

Gaurav: Definitely Ridhima.
Ridhima: Because Gaurav can't cook! (Laughs)
Gaurav: Unfortunately! I think I should have learnt to cook from my mother. It is a life skill that one should have. But I do know how to make breakfast for myself. I know how to make an omelette and coffee but that is where my cookery skills end.
Ridhima: I used to bake from a very young age, which I learnt from my mother. But I mostly learnt cooking when the lockdown happened. I did not know how to cook even basic Bengali home food. Those two years of continuous cooking helped me to become the cook that I am today. Now, I experiment with different kinds of food. Sometimes it is great and sometimes it is not that great. But that is what fuelled the fire. But I hope after this show, Gaurav will pick up a few dishes and cook for me!
Gaurav: I really want to.

Gaurav, what is your favourite dish amongst the ones that Ridhima cooks?

Gaurav: She is a brilliant baker. She can actually have a bakery or a cafe of her own. And for general food, there is one dal that she makes which I really love.
Ridhima: It is just dal!
Gaurav: That's what everybody might say but the way she makes that dal… it doesn't taste like dal. It tastes better than mangsher jhol. I love it.
Ridhima: You also like that pasta that I make.
Gaurav: Yes! The cheese that you put… I never liked pasta until Ridhima started making it. I have always eaten pizza. But once Ridhima started making it with the cheese… the way she adds the cheese… when I eat it, there's an explosion in my mouth!

What is the one thing that connects the two of you when it comes to food?

Gaurav: I think Japanese food. Ridhima introduced me to sushi and I have become such a sushi lover that given an option, I will always have sushi. If we go abroad and don't know what to order, we just order sushi.
Ridhima: Also, whenever we go on our date nights, we try different cuisines and that is when we discover new food together. That not only helps us with our conversations on food, but even if we don't like something, we talk about it and that somehow helps in connecting.

What is that one food that grew on you that you both introduced to each other?

Gaurav: Pasta and sushi.
Ridhima: He has actually not introduced me to it but I am more of a chicken person than a fish person but because Gaurav loves his maach bhaat that has grown on me now.
Gaurav: I have made you find a new love for maach bhaat. (Ridhima agrees)

Ridhima, what is that one recipe you learnt from your mother or grandmother that's close to your heart?

Ridhima: There are a lot of things. I learnt how to bake a simple chocolate cake from my mother. That's how I started baking and entering the kitchen.
Gaurav: They have these beautifully written cookbooks.
Ridhima: Yeah. So every time I feel like cooking something specific I refer back to it or I ask my Naani. I have kept all my mother's cookbooks at home. My mother-in-law taught me how to make curry chawal. I love to have it. It is her recipe that I have learnt to make and I have it at least once a week. So that is also very close to my heart.

Ridhima, this is your first work after becoming a mother. How excited are you to be back on the shooting floor?

Ridhima: The work is very exciting. As soon as we got the offer, I jumped with joy because it was something very different. Both Gaurav and I love to travel, we love to eat and we are truly Bengalis in that way. Not only is this a cooking competition which we are hosting but also while hosting, I am getting to learn a lot of new recipes. It is a reality show, so if we are shooting like five or six episodes a day you are actually meeting so many new people and you are interacting with them for the first time. It is not scripted in any way, so all of it is very real. That's very exciting. Whenever Dheer (son) wants to visit me on the sets, there is a separate room for him.

What is the weirdest food habit that you don't like about each other?

Gaurav: She doesn't like the fact that I eat too fast!
Ridhima: Yes! Even before I have two spoonfuls, he is done with his. After that, he sits and stares at my face! It is fine at home but it is the worst when we go out to eat. He is done with his food in just five minutes and I am talking and eating and doing all of that.
Gaurav: Things are not like that any more. I now take it easy. When we go out on dates, I chat more. Because if I don't chat, I will finish the dish in five minutes. I end up talking a lot.