Masum bids farewell

On the rickety ride back to the hotel from the studio, Shaheda Yesmin, one of the judges, finally broke the enveloping silence. “He could have made a sushi out of it,” she said, her voice seemingly burdened with emotions. Masum's depature had put the judges in a somber mood. Chef Tazammul Haque nodded in agreement. “I expected so much more from him but his lack of practice with deshi cuisine finally cost him,” Shaheda Yesmin continued. Masum was a crowd favourite and secretly or openly, a lot of people were rooting for him.

Masum's unexpected elimination had caused quite a stir. As his name left the judge's mouths reluctantly, for the last time, an intense discussion sparked between the show's director Wahidul Islam Shuvrow and Shoeb Asaduzzaman, the Head of Marketing of BEOL. “We have just lost our last male participant,” a cameraman casually remarked. However, the implication of his words was immense. Masum was the last of the men remaining and there was an unspoken hope that perhaps he would finally break the duck and Bangladesh would have its first male Rupchanda-The Daily Star Super Chef. Masum's exit was met with a feeling of deflation that perhaps Portugal fans could relate to when the golden generation of Luis Figo came and went without so much as a slight glimmer of gold. The last man had fallen.

Facing the mystery box, Masum already seemed a little nervous for the first time in the competition. When the mystery ingredient was revealed to be a gourd, Masum may have known that his time was finally coming to an end. A final flourish was mustered but it evidently was just not enough to win the round for the talented chef. “Why am I here? To win. What is my strategy? To be me because I feel I am one of the bests at what I do,” Masum had said earlier when queried about his expectations. Like Muhammad Ali, Masum talked a big game and on his day, he really seemed unrivalled. But the mystery box proved to be too big a hurdle to jump and Masum fell hard.

But where the end of one star was revealed, another star's status was solidified. Runa Laila did what no one could have even imagined and prepared one of the best shondesh or sweets with her gourd. The dessert expert's dish was greeted with much acclaim, with the judges commending her on her innovation and even asking her for the recipe. With this round, Runa has become the next player to beat and the others must be wary of this silent enigma going into the next round.

Tonight, Umme Kulsum and Jebunessa, last year's winner and runner's up respectively will return to the Super Chef kitchen. They will each lead a team in the upcoming group challenge as team captains and be challenged to make the best iftar. The losing team will have to fight it out amongst themselves for the coveted safe spot. Who will stand and who will fall? Tune into Rupchanda-The Daily Star Super Chef tonight at 9:00 pm on ntv to find out!