Anupam Mittal says Shark Tank India producers don’t allow him to eat: ‘Bhookha rakhte hai’

Anupam Mittal, the founder and CEO of Shaadi.com, dismissed rumours that he is one of the producers of Shark Tank India. He said that the producers keep him hungry while the episodes are being shot and reasoned that he would not do that to himself.

Shark Tank India is a show where budding entrepreneurs pitch their business ideas to a group of self-made entrepreneurs or ‘sharks’ and seek their investment. It airs on Sony Entertainment Television on weekdays at 9 pm.

In an interview with Siddharth Kannan, Anupam shut down speculation that he is also one of the producers of Shark Tank India. “Yeh maine khud suna hai and maine kaha, ‘Bhai, jo aadmi produce karega show, woh khudko khana nahi khilayega kya?’ Yeh Sony wale log mujhe khane nahi dete, sone nahi dete, shoot pe shoot karate hai, bhookha rakhte hai (I heard this rumour myself and said, ‘Would someone who produces the show keep himself hungry?’ These people from Sony don’t allow me to eat or sleep, they make me shoot on an empty stomach),” he said.

Anupam explained the logic behind the Shark Tank India producers not allowing him to eat. “Aadhe contestants food ki companies leke aate hai aur aadmi ko jab bhookh lagti hai toh khana zyada interesting lagte hai, aur paise daal dete ho. Main khud ko thodi aise karunga (Half the contestants run food companies and when one is hungry, food looks more interesting and one tends to put money on it. I wouldn’t do that to myself),” he said, once again denying reports of producing the show.

Also read | Shark Tank India’s Anupam Mittal recalls how Amitabh Bachchan reacted to his joke: ‘Main darr gaya’

Shark Tank India also features six other ‘sharks’ – Ashneer Grover (co-founder and managing director of BharatPe), Namita Thapar (executive director of Emcure Pharmaceuticals), Aman Gupta (co-founder and chief marketing officer at boAt), Vineeta Singh (CEO and co-founder of SUGAR Cosmetics), Peyush Bansal (CEO and co-founder of Lenskart) and Ghazal Alagh (co-founder of Mamaearth).