Top Cooku Dupe Cooku (often abbreviated as TCDC) is an Indian Tamil-language comedy-based cooking competition show, produced by Media Masons. The show is produced and judged by Chef Venkatesh Bhat, along with judge Chef Rammohan. In Season 1, the show was supported by Singer Binni Krishnakumar and hosted by Rakesh, while in Season 2, it is hosted by Rakesh and Sivaangi Krishnakumar. The show is based on the reality series Cooku with Comali, which was also conceived, ideated, and produced for four seasons by Media Masons, but for a different channel.
The contestants are referred to as "Top Cooku" and would be paired up with a "Dupe Cooku" each week. Some episodes would feature one or more guest judges.
In Season 1, the show began with this round in which the Top Cooku's will be given a simple task to complete within 120 seconds. Winner of the Rapid fire can choose their desired Dupe Cooku while others will be paired through a random selection chamber. This round was discontinued for season 2.
After pairing up, teams take part in a 20-minute quick-fire cooking task called the Golden Table Challenge. The winning team earns the right to cook at a special golden workstation equipped with premium amenities and enjoys exclusive privileges for the rest of the episode â such as immunity, priority access to ingredients, and additional support from their chef mentor.
In each episode, all teams participate in a themed main cooking challenge, where they must create dishes based on a given concept or cuisine. The chefs can guide their teams from a dugout and are allowed a limited "Chef's Time-Out" to step into the kitchen and offer verbal instructions. Teams are judged on taste, presentation, and creativity by the judges, and the lowest-scoring cook faces elimination.
At the beginning of each episode in Season 1, the Top Cookus are presented with two boxes. One box contains a card marked âÂÂElimination EpisodeâÂÂ, while the other contains a card marked âÂÂNon-Elimination EpisodeâÂÂ. The contestants must jointly choose one box to determine the nature of the episode. If a non-elimination card is selected for two consecutive weeks, the third week automatically becomes a compulsory elimination round.
Season 2 does not use the box-selection format. Instead, the show follows a two-week cycle:
In the mid-season, one or more Top Cooks dubbed as "Wild Card entries" will join the contestants. They will be assigned a new mentor as well. Season 2 neither featured any wild card entries nor additional mentors
In the final stage of the season, all episodes would be either elimination or a ticket to the Finale rounds leading up to the Season Finale.
Media Masons producer Ravoofa announced at the end of February that their company was quitting Star Vijay television after 25 years. Later on, Media Masons decide to produce a new cooking show like Cooku with Comali on Sun TV.
The first season's first promo was unveiled on 28 April 2024. The first season's second promo was unveiled on 1 May 2024, featuring the first contestants FEFSI Vijayan.