GECs
Star Plus now available in Australia, NZ
MUMBAI: Star Plus is expanding its frontiers. The Indian expat community in Australia and New Zealand can now tune in to India’s leading Hindi entertainment channel.
The channel began beaming on Vision Asia’s South Asian pay TV direct-to-home platform over the weekend.
The Star Plus channel will however, not be broadcast “as-is”, official sources have said. This is because the network does not have the worldwide telecast rights for all the programmes that are on air on the channel, the sources have said. The programming gaps will be filled up by Star News bulletins.
The bouquet of South Asian channels is downlinked in Sydney, digitised and encrypted for uplinking onto the Globecast platform of Optus B3 Australia and New Zealand beam.
The market down under is a very small one though. Vision Asia has a subscriber base of between 2,500 and 3,000, the sources aver. Vision Asia earlier brought the Zee and Sony TV channels to the antipodes.
GECs
Vikram and Ajinkya Gandhe win Masterchef India season finale
Chef Sanjeev Kapoor joins judges for emotional MasterChef finale
MUMBAI: The latest season of MasterChef India concluded on a high note, with brothers Vikram Gandhe and Ajinkya Gandhe crowned winners in the grand finale aired on Sony Entertainment Television.
The duo from Nagpur lifted the coveted trophy and donned the show’s signature golden apron after a season that celebrated India’s diverse culinary traditions under the theme “Pride of India”.
This edition of the popular cooking reality show introduced a new jodi format, with 50 pairs from across the country competing in the Masterchef kitchen. Contestants brought personal stories, regional flavours and family bonds to the competition.
The grand finale featured the final three pairs: Vikram and Ajinkya Gandhe (brothers), Saisree and Chanda (mother and daughter), and Anju and Manju (sisters).
The finale was attended by celebrity chef Sanjeev Kapoor, who joined the show’s judging panel comprising Vikas Khanna, Ranveer Brar and Kunal Kapur.
Kapoor said the show has long served as a platform to celebrate India’s rich culinary heritage and provide passionate home cooks with a national stage. He noted that the current season reflected a confident India that takes pride in its roots while embracing new culinary ideas.
Judge Vikas Khanna said the contestants’ journeys and the memories created during the season would remain with the team long after the show’s conclusion. Ranveer Brar described the show as a family that continues to grow with every season, while Kunal Kapur praised the contestants’ creativity and determination.
With the finale now concluded, the latest season of MasterChef India once again highlighted how food can reflect identity, heritage and storytelling, inspiring home cooks across the country to pursue their culinary ambitions.
