His story is straight out of a Bollywood film — filled with struggle and marked by drama. He wanted to be an actor like Amitabh Bachchan, but life took a different course. A foodie at heart, restauranteur, chef and cookbook author Vishnu Manohar started cooking when he was 12. The first dish he made was a dhokla that turned into a dosa because he didn't know it had to be steamed. He has come far since then.

The initiation
Coming from a family of artists, Manohar was a commercial artist who started working at 14 to supplement his family's income. "I even volunteered to help the caterers while cooking," he remembers. One day, when the caterer insulted Manohar, saying some nasty things, it became the turning point of his life. "I took it up as a challenge to start a catering service that was bigger and better than his. I'm grateful to his harsh words because they gave me a purpose to succeed," says Manohar, who began by designing special recipes for weddings. He started conducting workshops which eventually led to cookery shows on TV. He has conducted more than 4,500 live cookery shows in India and abroad and authored 55 cookery books as well.