Want to use my voice, my platform to create empathy: Chef Vikas Khanna on turning director

NEW DELHI: “Let’s take the risk” is the thought that propelled Vikas Khanna to become a world renowned chef and that’s what motivated him to turn director with “The Last Color”, a poignant story that he says he has lived with for quite some time.
The film released in India on Friday across PVR Cinemas to good reviews after travelling to various international film festivals. It’s posters also appeared on the billboards at The Times Square in Manhattan, the result of a promise that Khanna had made to his leading lady, Neena Gupta.
“This is one of the first films to be coming out in theatres after they opened. Everyone keeps telling me that this is the wrong time but I was like ‘Let’s take the risk’. That’s what I have been doing my whole life. I’m excited to be among the brave people who said, ‘Let’s release it’,” Khanna said in a Zoom interview from New York.
‘The Last Color’ is just the beginning, the Michelin Star chef said, promising many more films, stories, and documentaries in the coming year.
“I want to use my platform, my voice to create art and empathy in people… Through storytelling, you can create empathy for people.”
Set in Benaras and starring Gupta and Aqsa Siddiqui, the film is a story of promises, resilience, love and friendship. Gupta plays the protagonist Noor, a 70-year-old widow along with debutante Siddiqui, playing the role of Chhoti, a nine-year-old tightrope walker.
Recalling the origin of the film, Khanna said years ago he wrote a story about a widow who yearns to play Holi but she’s not allowed by the society and she dies without colour. (AGENCIES)