Kunal Vijaykar (born 19 May 1964) is an Indian broadcaster, food writer, author, actor, and television personality.
He is also a YouTuber and his
YouTube
YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...
channel is called "Khaane Mein Kya Hai" (loosely translates to "What's for food?").
A whole generation has watched him eat his way into the hearts of hundreds and thousands of Indians. He is one of India’s most recognizable food show hosts, and the anchor of the country's most popular food show ''The Foodie – with Kunal Vijayakar'', a show which ran uninterrupted for nine years, completing close to 500 episodes. He has been a food columnist and writer with ''The Times of India'', ''Bombay Times'', ''DNA'', ''Asian Age'', ''Mahanagar'', and ''The Week'' and is currently a food writer and columnist with ''Hindustan Times''. He is the author of ''Made In India'' – his first cookbook. He is also an actor, director and political satirist, and writer, performer, and director of the satirical political show ''The News That Wasn't'' and ''The Week That Wasn't'' on CNN News18, along with regular collaborator and close friend
Cyrus Broacha
Cyrus Broacha is an Indian anchor, theatre personality, comedian, political satirist, columnist, podcaster and author. He is best known for his show ''Bakra'' on MTV India and '' The Week That Wasn't'' on CNN-News18.
Early years
Broacha was b ...
.
Early life
He studied at
St. Mary's School, Mumbai. He then received his bachelor's degree from
Sir J.J. Institute of Applied Art, Mumbai.
Career
Kunal started out in advertising and theatre and spent 11 years in a leading advertising agency. During that time he appeared in several English plays and various TV commercials. He appeared in supporting roles in many Hindi movies, including ''
Duplicate
Duplication, duplicate, and duplicator may refer to:
Biology and genetics
* Gene duplication, a process which can result in free mutation
* Chromosomal duplication, which can cause Bloom and Rett syndrome
* Polyploidy, a phenomenon also known ...
'' (1998) by
Mahesh Bhatt
Mahesh Bhatt (born 20 September 1948) is an Indian film director, producer and screenwriter known for his works in Hindi cinema. He has received List of awards and nominations received by Mahesh Bhatt, a number of accolades, including four Nati ...
, ''Paisa Vasool'' (2004), and ''
Salaam Namaste
''Salaam Namaste'' (transl. ''Hello Greetings'') is a 2005 Indian Hindi-language romantic comedy film written and directed by Siddharth Anand, in his directorial debut, and produced by Aditya Chopra under the Yash Raj Films banner. The film star ...
'' (2005) with
Saif Ali Khan
Saif Ali Khan (; born Sajid Ali Khan Pataudi; 16 August 1970) is an Indian actor and film producer who primarily works in Hindi cinema, Hindi films. The titular head of the Pataudi family since 2011, he is the son of actress Sharmila Tagore a ...
and
Preity Zinta
Preity G. Zinta (pronounced ; born 31 January 1975) is an Indian actress primarily known for her work in Hindi films. After graduating with degrees in English honours and criminal psychology, Zinta made her acting debut in '' Dil Se..'' in 19 ...
.
He played the role of a journalist in the Hindi film ''
Ghajini'' (2008) and was seen as Kunal in ''
Little Zizou
''Little Zizou'' is a 2008 Indian drama film written and directed by Sooni Taraporevala. ''Little Zizou'' is a comedy about how two battling Mumbai families finally come to terms.
''Little Zizou'' won the "Rajat Kamal" of 'National Film Award ...
'' (2009), a story of the
Parsi
The Parsis or Parsees () are a Zoroastrian ethnic group in the Indian subcontinent. They are descended from Persian refugees who migrated to the Indian subcontinent during and after the Arab-Islamic conquest of Iran in the 7th century, w ...
community.
He was the host of the channel
Times Now
Times Now is an English-language news channel in India owned and operated by The Times Group. The channel launched on 23 January 2006 in partnership with Reuters.
It is a pay television throughout India. Until 2016, it was India's most popula ...
show titled ''The Foodie'', which featured him travelling around the country sampling exotic foods. His weekly satire comedy show
The Week That Wasn't
''The Week That Wasn't'' was an Indian News satire, satirical late night television programme hosted by Cyrus Broacha and shown on the ''CNN-IBN'' (now CNN News18) channel. Started in 2006, the cast included Kaneez Surka, Gopal Datt, Mohit Maha ...
, with comedian
Cyrus Broacha
Cyrus Broacha is an Indian anchor, theatre personality, comedian, political satirist, columnist, podcaster and author. He is best known for his show ''Bakra'' on MTV India and '' The Week That Wasn't'' on CNN-News18.
Early years
Broacha was b ...
on
CNN IBN
CNN News18 is an Indian English-language news television channel founded by Raghav Bahl based in Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India. It is currently co-owned by Network18 Group and Warner Bros. Discovery. CNN provides international coverage for the c ...
completed seventeen years. He does a
sketch show
Sketch comedy comprises a series of short, amusing scenes or vignettes, called "sketches" or, "skits", commonly between one and ten minutes long, performed by a group of comic actors or comedians. While the form developed and became popular in ...
with Cyrus Broacha, ''Cyrusitis'', written and directed by Broacha.
Vijaykar debuted as a screenwriter and director in 2009 with ''Fruit and Nut'', a comedy starring
Dia Mirza
Dia Mirza Rekhi (born Dia Handrich; 9 December 1981) is an Indian actress who primarily works in Hindi films. She won the title of Miss Asia Pacific International in 2000 after being crowned Femina Miss India Asia Pacific 2000. Mirza made her ...
,
Cyrus Broacha
Cyrus Broacha is an Indian anchor, theatre personality, comedian, political satirist, columnist, podcaster and author. He is best known for his show ''Bakra'' on MTV India and '' The Week That Wasn't'' on CNN-News18.
Early years
Broacha was b ...
,
Boman Irani
Boman Irani (born 2 December 1959) is an Indian actor and comedian who works primarily in Hindi-language films. One of the most popular character actors in Hindi cinema, he has featured in over 100 films, and is the recipient of a Filmfare Awar ...
, and
Mahesh Manjrekar
Mahesh Vaman Manjrekar (Marathi pronunciation: Help:IPA/Marathi, əɦeːʃ maːɲd͡zɾekəɾ born 16 August 1958) is an Indian actor, film director, screenwriter and producer who works primarily in Hindi films, alongside Marathi language, ...
.
Since 2011, he also writes the fortnightly humour column "Funda Mental", in ''The Week'' magazine.
Has just written his first cookbook ''Made in India'', published by Jaico.
Filmography
Actor
* ''
Duplicate
Duplication, duplicate, and duplicator may refer to:
Biology and genetics
* Gene duplication, a process which can result in free mutation
* Chromosomal duplication, which can cause Bloom and Rett syndrome
* Polyploidy, a phenomenon also known ...
'' (1998)
* ''
Bollywood Calling'' (2001)
* ''
Main Prem Ki Diwani Hoon'' (2003)
* ''
Paisa Vasool'' (2004)
* ''
Ab Tak Chhappan
''Ab Tak Chhappan'' () is a 2004 Indian Hindi-language crime drama film directed by Shimit Amin. It was written by Sandeep Shrivastava and produced by Ram Gopal Varma. It stars Nana Patekar, Revathi, Yashpal Sharma, Mohan Agashe, Nakul Vaid, a ...
'' (2004)
* ''
Jo Bole So Nihaal'' (2005)
* ''
Salaam Namaste
''Salaam Namaste'' (transl. ''Hello Greetings'') is a 2005 Indian Hindi-language romantic comedy film written and directed by Siddharth Anand, in his directorial debut, and produced by Aditya Chopra under the Yash Raj Films banner. The film star ...
'' (2005)
* ''
Ghajini'' (2008)
* ''
Little Zizou
''Little Zizou'' is a 2008 Indian drama film written and directed by Sooni Taraporevala. ''Little Zizou'' is a comedy about how two battling Mumbai families finally come to terms.
''Little Zizou'' won the "Rajat Kamal" of 'National Film Award ...
'' (2009)
* ''
Fruit and Nut'' (2009)
*
''Guilty'' (2020)
* ''
Hello Charlie'' (2021)
* ''
Vijay 69
''Vijay 69'' is a 2024 Indian Hindi-language drama film directed by Akshay Roy starring Anupam Kher in the titular role alongside Chunky Pandey and Mihir Ahuja. The film was released on 8 November 2024 on Netflix to mixed-to-positive reviews.
...
'' (2024)
Director
* ''Fruit And Nut'' (2009)
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vijaykar, Kunal
Living people
Indian male television actors
Male actors in Hindi cinema
Hindi-language film directors
Indian male comedians
Male actors from Mumbai
Place of birth missing (living people)
1964 births