Hansal Mehta quits job, to start restaurant chain soon

By Subhash K. Jha, Mumbai, Nov 23: Hansal Mehta, who directed Woodstock Villa, is now all set to pursue another dream. He has quit his job and is planning to open a chain of restaurants across the country.

Mehta, who was serving as the CEO at Sanjay Gupta's production company White Feathers, will open his first restaurant in Nasik and hopes to launch his wine shortly.

"I'm also starting my own wine to be named Kimaya after my daughter. I am currently checking out the grapes scene in Pune and Nasik," he said.

Mehta, who has moved to Karla on the outskirts of Mumbai, said food and wine are his primary passion now. "My wife Safina, daughter Kimaya and I are happy to be away from the bustle of Mumbai. In fact more and more of the industry is moving out."

He had produced Zee's popular cooking show "Khana Khazana" for years where the show's host star-chef Sanjeev Kapoor is said to have got Mehta interested in food.

"I've always been avidly interested in food and wine. Today cooking is a passion which I've been cultivating and developing very keenly in the past few months."

So has Mehta quit movies?

"Not at all. I will remain first and foremost a filmmaker, though at the moment I'm not making anything. That's why I was shocked to read that I had crossed over from one Sanjay to another. Please let me clarify that I'm not making a film for Sanjay Dutt Productions or any other production house at the moment."