MasterChef India returns with a celebrity twist; it will also air on TV

Sony Pictures Network India is experimenting with its two iconic reality shows—Shark Tank India and MasterChef India. While Shark Tank, which until last season was on both television and OTT, will be streaming exclusively on Sony LIV, Masterchef India, which was an OTT-only show, will now be airing on television as well.

Moreover, to increase its mass appeal, the cooking show will now feature celebrity contestants rather than regular home chefs. Announcing the new season of Celebrity Masterchef – Ab Unn Sabki Seeti Bajegi!, Sony shared its first trailer on December 21, revealing the host to be Bollywood choreographer and director Farah Khan, and judges chefs Ranveer Brar and Vikas Khanna. 

Though the show's launch date is not announced yet, it has already onboarded sponsors, including Veeba, Acko Insurance, GIs of India, Fortune Chakki Fresh Atta, BSH Home Appliances and Vinod Intelligent Cookware.

The confirmed contestants are Gaurav Khanna, Tejasswi Prakash, Dipika Kakar, Rajiv Adatia, Nikki Tamboli, Archana Gautam, Faisal Shaikh, and Usha Nadkarni. 

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Rishi Negi, group COO, Banijay Asia & EndemolShine India, says, the production house has focused on creating high-energy, episodic content designed to captivate prime-time viewers and keep them hooked from week to week.

"MasterChef has always resonated well with TV audiences. The celebrities have a genuine passion for cooking and resonate very well with TV audiences, which comes from them being part of shows that have been household phenomenas," he adds.

After six seasons on Star India, MasterChef India moved to the Sony Network in January 2023. While the seventh season was on both television and OTT, the eighth season streamed exclusively on Sony LIV. This was the first time Sony LIV experimented with a digital-only reality show. In 2024, Sony even acquired the Tamil and Telugu versions of the show from Sun Network, and it also streamed exclusively on the OTT platform. However, these regional editions did not elicit a great response from advertisers. 

In an interview with afaqs! in October 2023, Ranjana Mangla, head ad revenue, Sony LIV, said this shift to digital was a response to evolving viewer preferences.

"Digital audiences have a strong affinity for food content, viewing it as entertainment rather than just cooking. This trend is evident across platforms like Instagram and other social media, where food content is prolific," she had said.

With MasterChef India, Sony LIV was aiming to influence habit formation among its audiences. The cooking reality show aired a fresh episode every day for five days a week from Monday to Friday at 8 pm. This brought the audience to the platform every day. Apart from advertising revenue, the show also helped bring new subscribers to the platform. 

Aman Srivastava, head-marketing, Sony LIV, in an interview with afaqs! in January 2024, spoke about MasterChef India’s digital-exclusive strategy.

“The show doesn't dictate its audience. We decide on our shows based on how we would want to bring people onto our platform. There will always be both kinds of shows—digital-exclusive and TV-plus-digital. We are creating new shows, including limited series, under LIV Exclusives. The ecosystem accommodates diverse shows, ensuring a robust presence on both platforms,” he shared.

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As the show now airs on television, it will need to garner strong viewership to attract advertisers. Towards this effort, it has recruited a celebrity host. Farah Khan seems to be an apt choice, as she has a cooking vlog on YouTube where she brings in different celebrities to cook with her or her cook, Dilip. 

Moreover, she has been a popular judge on several Sony reality shows, including Entertainment Ke Liye Kuch Bhi Karega and Indian Idol. This is not the first time MasterChef India will have a celebrity judge. When the show debuted in India in 2010, it had Akshay Kumar as one of the judges.

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Celebrities as contestants is also a part of the same strategy. Negi says the celebrities help widen the show's reach and also enhances its entertainment value. 

"While the core of MasterChef India continues to celebrate the art of cooking and the diversity of food, the celebrity edition brings a fresh perspective. As storytellers, our goal is to highlight the culinary journeys of these stars in an entertaining yet meaningful way. Alongside our loyal food & cooking enthusiasts, the celebrities bring their own fan following, making it more engaging and relatable to an even broader audience," he says.

Colors recently experimented with Laughter Chefs, a cooking show with a dash of humour, and found immense success. The channel claimed that it drew 13.6 crore viewers on TV and digital platforms and achieved a BARC rating of 1.8 in July. On social media, it had a reach of 978 million, with 2.2 billion impressions and 966 million views on digital.