Hansal Mehta recalls begging channel head to not scrap Khana Khazana, reveals Sanjeev Kapoor was paid Rs 5,000: ‘The budget was just Rs 32,000’

Before becoming a prolific filmmaker, Hansal Mehta began his career directing various television shows. In a recent interaction, Hansal recalled his experience shooting for the cookery show Khana Khazana, hosted by popular chef Sanjeev Kapoor. He shared how the show was almost canceled and he had to beg the channel head to avoid losing his money.

Apart from directing Khana Khazana, Hansal, a self-taught editor, would also edit and package the show himself to save production costs. “I used to be a freelance editor. I worked on Khana Khazana. I learned editing myself. The show would have been impossible to pull off if I couldn’t edit because there was no money to pay anyone. The budget for the whole episode was Rs 32,000. Sanjeev Kapoor was paid Rs 5,000 per episode. So, I used to package the whole episode myself. I also used to deliver the show,” he said in an interview with Mid-Day.

Speaking about how he had to beg the channel to not scrap the show, he said, “Initially, Sanjeev was rejected by the channel. Zee TV did not want him. An actress called Radha Seth was anchoring the show along with a different chef, but she walked out after the first episode. She thought I knew nothing, and she was right at the time. I took Sanjeev, and we shot the show with him. I sent the show to Zee, and writer Kamlesh Pandey, who was the content head of the channel, almost murdered me. He was screaming at me. He looked at Sanjeev in the show and said, ‘Who is this? Whom have you cast?’ I told him Sanjeev is a chef and he has credibility. He said, ‘Bull***. We don’t want him.’ It was a struggle, but I begged him to keep some episodes; otherwise, I would lose all my money.”

Khana Khazana made Sanjeev Kapoor a popular household name. Besides Khana Khazana, Hansal directed other shows in the 90s like Kalakaar, Lakshya, and Star Bestsellers. He is now known for making films like Shahid, Citylights and web series like Scam 1992 and Scoop.

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