Masterchef India FINALE ~ Reviewed

The grand finale of Masterchef India Season 3 is now over and I am extremely happy!! My prediction came trueeeee and the dude I wanted to win, WON! Woohoo!

I initially drafted this entry during the last week of Masterchef when we had the Final Four and I was super excited but unfortunately because I had a terrible Internet connection and no time I was unable to post it. I could have changed the entry to present tense but I guess it is better to post as is .. so here I go!

"We have the Top 4 in front of us on our television screens competing for the title of their lives, a grand money prize, and the chance to have their very own cookbook published! Soon there will be a chosen winner, deserving or not, that is yet to be seen!

As I said in my first review of Masterchef India Season 3 this entry will be my views and reviews on the Top 4 chosen contestants. Who is my favorite? Who is my least favorite? Who deserves to win the most? Who is there undeserving? Why do I feel that way? EVERYTHING will be revealed in the words that follow ...

If there is someone who is least experienced and professional in the game right now, compared to the other three, then that is Navneet Rastogi. He's been trying his luck at Masterchef since the past few years to no avail. This season he finally entered the Masterchef Kitchen only to reach the Grand Finale this time. He is rude, misbehaves with every single person competing with him, shows exaggerated over confidence, and is harsh and unacceptable as a winner. I have seen how he narrowly escaped elimination numerous times due to being with a stronger team member. So far in the show there hasn't even been one single instance where he worked with others without fighting or throwing tantrums. Even though undoubtedly he has improved dramatically ever since the last time he had auditioned, as of now he least deserves to be a finalist. I was horrified, furious, disappointed, and hopeless when he was given a Chef coat and announced as the first chosen finalist. They should have at least considered the fact that he had ruined the ingredients he had acquired and borrowed it from another contestant; that should have automatically disqualified him from having a chance to proceed! This dude has pure luck involved in his status right now, I am telling you! And if he gets chosen as Masterchef India winner for Season 3, these months I have spent glued to my television screen will go down the stinkiest drain. Seriously, it will be a great disappointment!

After Navneet, Doel seems to be the weakest. She is clumsy, a little bit and I hate that she is so hyper; you're a grown up woman, you can't just jump around and bounce like you have springs beneath your feet. However, I do agree that she's an excellent salesperson and a good chef. Her skills to sell, to attract customers, to capture their attention is just fabulous! She has dealt with pressure nicely so far and twice she's achieved a win against strong competitors fighting to save themselves from elimination; Devyani and Yasmin. And obviously when you're talking about her you just can't forget her chutneys! She makes mouth watering chutneys that look so good on television that I wonder how amazing their taste would be like! I'd like her as a runner up but not the winner."

From this point onward my entry is going to be in the present tense for this is the point up to which I had drafted my thoughts before my Internet decided to just die like that.
So my next view is about Nisha; experienced, strong, and a good chef. I sometimes hated how she was so 'ohh aah' with Ripu (another contestant) but honestly she had it in her to be in the top four. She should have reached the top 3 and Navneet should have been eliminated before her, however that did not happen! Nisha ji was strong-willed, her experience with food and ingredients was always supporting her, and she was confident enough to go ahead. It was really disappointing to see the way she let pressure overcome her in the last tasks against Navneet; she knew things, but luck didn't favor her, as she said so herself! But anyway .. she was gone and Navneet was there to make my blood boil before I knew it!

And then finally I speak about the fourth contestant. Chef Ripu Daman Handa, the final winner of Masterchef India Season 3; a golden chef coat, an awesome monetary prize, the chance to publish his own cookbook, and gazillion loads of fame! I was in support of him being the winner since the very beginning. This man kept innovating deliciousness right before everybody's eyes despite having had no cooking experience whatsoever. A gym instructor cooking all kinds of foods, beating everybody when it came to taste and innovation ... marvelous! His presentation was what impressed me the most! He actually made me feel like I had to learn how to present food so professionally myself, else I was a failure!

 The most well deserved winner of all 3 seasons so far!! CONGRATULATIONS CHEF RIPU DAMAN HANDA! You deserved it, and I seriously would be glad if you're given a cooking show on television where you teach everybody some of the awesome cooking that you do!

An awesome season has come to an end! I will wait for Season 4 now when hopefully another deserving winner will be chosen after a very exciting journey!!

- S. Ali