Gaurav Gera: Didn’t pretend to know what focaccia is

It wasnrsquot the lack of opportunities that pushed him to create his own content Instead it was Gaurav Gerarsquos desire to keep the creative juices flowing that led to the creation of several quirky characters mdash from Chutki to Shopkeeper to Billi Maasi Now after almost a twoyear hiatus the actorcomedian is back on the idiot box with Zee Cafeacutersquos Chef vs Fridge In a candid chat with midday he discusses how he learnt new dishes through the cooking show and how his viral videos have helped him stay relevantEdited excerpts from the interviewWill any of your popular characters make an appearance on Chef vs FridgeThere will be references to Chutki and her brother Chutku by way of voices but they wonrsquot appear on the show We avoided mixing the two worlds because it didnrsquot seem like a requirement for the show It is about cooking and the contestants not about the hostWhat is your relationship with foodI am a basic vegetarian cook A lot of it is selflearned and I figured out some dishes after calling up my mother and a close friend During the initial lockdown I tried experimenting with food Now I have a domestic help who cooks beautifully So I donrsquot venture much into the kitchen I believe cooking is an art that needs to be appreciated Eating without a word of praise is simply wrongWhat makes you a good fit for the culinary showI am like any aam aadmi with a middleclass thought process If I donrsquot know what focaccia is I will not pretend to know it I will ask I learned a lot from this show I was exposed to some fancy dishes ingredients and terminology like lsquogastronomicalrsquo I found it difficult to say lsquoculinaryrsquo and kept asking why we canrsquot just call it cookingYoursquove been in the industry for long How did you manage to stay relevantI embraced technology and stayed updated with all the new apps I learned editing long ago after viewing hours of tutorials You must make an effort and stay updated about new technology pertaining to your fieldDid the need to create your own characters arise from the lack of interesting rolesDuring Jassi Jaissi Koi Nahin I would tell my producer that besides playing Nandu I want to play the guard in the background even if I didnrsquot have lines I always had the desire to play multiple characters one is not enough I enjoy becoming someone else completely If I am playing an old man I want to alter my body language voice and mannerisms to mimic that This isnrsquot possible when you are doing a fiction show I am not blaming the makers So I pushed my boundaries and made videos to launch myselfIs it difficult to monetise such contentI believe in doing the work money will eventually follow I have been able to survive without fiction shows or films I generate revenue from my videos That is why I am choosy about my projects and rarely indulge in too many things at the same time I take up work that can be shot in a starttofinish schedule If this show needed me to dedicate two years I wouldnrsquot have come on board