Friendship Day Exclusive: Chefs Ranveer Brar-Vikas Khanna don’t bond over food!

It’s Friendship Day 2025! Well, bands and fancy threads may not be a fad anymore, perhaps we don’t even exchange normal wishes or text a simple ‘Happy Friendship Day’ anymore. But that doesn’t change the dynamics of your friendship and the bond you share with those few ‘real ones’. Maybe that’s what adult friendships look like. Chef and actor Ranveer Brar puts it across beautifully, saying, “Friendship means a relationship where there are no stops, only pauses, and you just restart where you left last time. There`s no overthinking and there are no second thoughts. That, for me, is friendship,” and we agree.

On the occasion, mid-day had the chance to chat with Brar and discuss his friendship with fellow Chef and best friend Vikas Khanna. In a heartfelt chat, the chef reveals the dynamics and innocence of their bond, describing it in three simple words: “Easy, childish, and music.”

Ranveer Brar spills the beans on friendship with Vikas Khanna

Sharing how their friendship started, Ranveer reveals, “Our friendship started on the sets of Masterchef, and it is a reality show. So, after a point in time, the real you comes out and it was always his relationship with food, how he described food, how he connected to people and food, I felt it resonated with me and most of the times when your first reactions to things are the same, a friendship usually ends up being real and strong.”

We asked the Buckingham Murders actor about his fondest memory with Vikas, and he shared a funny incident. He recalled, “One of my most memorable experiences with Vikas was when we challenged ourselves by cycling uphill on the Brooklyn Bridge. Later, we spontaneously boarded a ferry without realising it would take an hour to complete the route. Unfortunately, it was the wrong ferry, and we nearly missed an important event we were supposed to attend.”

 

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Vikas Khanna (@vikaskhannagroup)

We all have multiple friends, but there sis something about that one friend that sets them apart from the rest. Same is the case with Ranveer, who shares, “There are friends that I have grown up with, there are friends that I have studied with, there are friends that I have grown into. But, Vikas, I think is an old soul, and I consider myself an old soul.”

Talking of friendships in the 40-45s, he shares, “When you become friends after crossing 40-45, where you have discovered yourself, you’ve found yourself and you know who you are, and you find people who resonate with you at the level where you are. Those friendships are special. That`s what makes it different. And the acceptance of who both of us are, while obviously with a little bit of a pinch of Punjabi humour.”

Ranveer Brar and Vikas Khanna don’t bond over food 

Given that both Ranveer and Vikas are among the top chefs in the country, one might think they usually talk about recipes or cooking hacks, but the celebrity chef busts that myth. “Food and culinary is what we discuss the least. For us, Ghalib, Mausiki is a common connection, Nusrat Saab, Jagjit Singh, old Shabana Azmi movies, conversations about Masoom, conversations about Smita ji and her movies, Doordarshan, and Punjab is a common connection,” he shares.

He also revealed that competitiveness is never a thing between them, saying, “We are never competitive typically, and it doesn`t really matter what we do. To us, when I go to Vikas`s restaurant, for me, it is him first, restaurant later, when I am sitting with him, unless I specifically ask something related to work. So we could have been anybody but different people doing different things, and the friendship would have been as strong. That is the reason why it is the strongest because it`s not that we have to force ourselves not to speak about work, but there is just so much else to talk about.”

 

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Vikas Khanna (@vikaskhannagroup)

As much as we enjoy and have fun with our friends, some quarrels and fights here and there are what make the bond stronger. Do Ranveer and Vikas fight, yes! And what do they fight over? “Silliest of things,” says Ranveer.

“All our heated arguments are about stuff that doesn`t matter. Whether it is about one track being better than another, musically and lyrically. If I just have to speak about a movie and a scene that he likes and I don`t like, the smallest of things can cause the biggest of messes,” he concludes.