Eating out with Adaa Khan

Click on the pic to view slideshow As I got feelers that the 5-star Hotel Grand Sarovar Premiere in Goregoan is hosting an Independence Day Brunch at its all-day dining restaurant 180 Degrees, with Jewels of India festival, I made up my mind not to miss this opportunity to take a celeb friend of mine for a nawabi outing. And, who better than Adaa Khan, the regal princess Amrit of Amrit Manthan from Life OK to savour the royal cuisines of our country. Due to the hectic schedules of lead actors of television shows, after pursuing consistently for a couple of weeks, it was really sweet of Adaa to concede to my invitation on the national holiday. The GM of the hotel Mr Ajoy Balakrishnan joined me as I welcomed her in the lobby. Adaa looked sprightly in her western avatar of jeans and U-cut top quite different from her screen character where she dons Indian attires. In spite of shooting at Filmcity in Goregoan, she revealed she was not aware of this fabulous Grand Sarovar Premiere. While we waited for the kebabs to be served, I prodded on the beautiful actor to share her off-screen life with me. The only daughter with two siblings, she has been brought up in the queen of suburbs, Bandra. She seems to be in a happy space now that her show Amrit Manthan is topping the TRP charts and no, nobody from the public ever accuses her of being a scheming vamp. “On the contrary,” enthused Adaa, “I have viewers telling me that I look good in my getup of sarees and traditional makeup.” Hats off to you Adaa, that’s certainly an achievement despite attempting to murder your on-screen sister Nimrit. By now kebabs arrived and Adaa relished Galouti and Mahi kebabs with her favourite mocktail - guava juice with a dash of Sprite. She is fond of good food but prefers to stick to her diet regimen “as I have a tendency to put on weight,” she said. Definitely on the personal front, I notice that Adaa is well-groomed and has impeccable manners or ‘Tehzeeb’ as it is termed in Urdu! On that observation, I took her around the lavish buffet counters putting forth interesting dishes from the Awadhi, Rampuri, Mughlai, Kashmiri and Hyderabadi cuisines. Our taste buds did a jig and olfactory nerves geared up to take in the aroma of royal cuisines from executive Chef Navid Sayyed Akhtar’s kitchen. But though the perky actor found the food was amazing, she has just a small helping of Lasagna and was adamant about not trying anything else from the main course. Typical Taurean qualities I say! Is Bollywood the next rung in her ladder? “No,” she said vehemently, “at least not as of now.” While other TV actors are clamoring to get into Hindi films, Adaa has already been offered lead roles by reputed production houses that she has politely declined. After Amrit Manthan, Tips approached her for a movie, but the elegant TV star is yet been lured by the silver screen. But she is open to reality shows (no not Bigg Boss) and this adventure freak, who has indulged in bungee jumping, valley crossing and rappelling, would love to be a part of Khatron Ke Khiladi. Anchoring or hosting a show is another avenue she would love to further explore as she averred, “I have done lot of similar things in college and also hosted an episode of Saas, Bahu aur Saazish.But given a chance, I would love to be a part of Comedy Circus.” I goad her to have dessert from the vast array of sweets but she had a bit of a chocolate pastry just to make me happy. That brings us to the end of an amazing brunch and wonderful conversation as Adaa had to rush for an interview (no holiday for this sweet and obliging girl) and I had to leave for the special screening of Ek Tha Tiger. It is ciao till I hunt for my next dinner target!