When Vikas Khanna is not wearing a toque blanche in a steamy kitchen, the Michelin Star chef is probably wearing another hat—and the latest rabbit he pulled out of it is a full-length movie, The Last Colour, his directorial debut that has been short-listed for the Oscars. The film is about a nine-year-old rope walker and a widow, and how they bring hope and happiness to each other. Khanna speaks to Lachmi Deb Roy before the movie’s theatre release in India.
How did ‘The Last Colour’ happen?
First off, I wrote a short story that people rejected and it didn’t go forward. People rejected the story saying it is strange and only talks about a widow who wants to play Holi. Probably the people of India found it too foreign and were unable to figure out what I was trying to say. In 2012, the Supreme Court endorsed a law for rehabilitation of widows. Next year, widows (of Vrindavan, Varanasi and elsewhere) played Holi. I opened the Yahoo! home page and there...