Shawn Arranha sets his sights on TV with food show

Shawn Arranha, who directed Teraa Surroor early this year, will mark his directorial debut on small screen with Secrets and Spice with Zarine Khan that premieres today. In a quick chat, Shawn tells us about shooting with 26 celebs, his fondness of food and more. Edited excerpts from the interview:

How did the idea of Spices and Secrets come about?
Jaaved Jaaferi's wife Habeeba and Laxmi Singh, who are the producers, got in touch with me and told me that they wanted me to direct a food show. The brief given to me was that the food show has to resemble a movie or an ad film. They wanted something different on television. It is going to be the first time ever that celebrities will participate on a chat show. It has gossip session, trivia and a lot of cooking.

After directing Teraa Surroor, why did you choose a television show?
I found the idea interesting. I have never heard or seen a chat and food show format on television. I felt it would be interesting to do this show in terms of shooting it.

I found it intriguing to merge a filmmaking approach to a television show.

How many celebs did you shoot with?
I shot with 26 actors, and shooting with each of them was so much fun. Abhay Deol kept us in splits. Sajid Khan had so many jokes to share in his own style. Jackie Shroff opened up on the show and made us laugh so much.

I wanted every episode to be fun to watch. For each of these actors, Zarine Khan was like a mother or an aunt so they had a great vibe on the sets.

How was it watching Zarine with all the food on the sets?
When I was directing the show on the sets, Zarine made me feel so comfortable. I actually learned from her and tried all those recipes at my home. Whenever, I used to look at the monitor, I used to eye the food. That’s how much I wanted to taste it.

When are announcing your next Bollywood projects?
I am in talks with couple of producers. I am still working on those projects. I hope they will be out early next year.  I feel putting out a right project is important. That is why I take my own sweet time to make another film.