MasterChef India Season 8 – Winner, Runner-Up, Host, Contestants & Prize Money (2023)

Two seasons in the same calendar year. MasterChef India Season 8 launched just six months after Season 7 concluded — but with a meaningful difference: it moved entirely to OTT, premiering exclusively on SonyLIV before any television broadcast. For a show that had built its identity on prime-time satellite television, this was a structural statement about where Indian content consumption was heading.

The season also produced its most unlikely winner. A 24-year-old juice stall owner from Mangalore — who had previously auditioned for the show and not been selected — came back, cooked differently, and in December 2023 became MasterChef India Season 8 champion.

MasterChef India Season 8 – Quick Overview

Judges of MasterChef India Season 8

Vikas Khanna and Ranveer Brar both returned, their partnership now one of the most recognisable tandems in Indian food television.

Pooja Dhingra joined as the third judge — replacing Garima Arora from Season 7 — in her first MasterChef India appearance. Dhingra is one of India’s most widely followed pastry chefs and the founder of Le 15 Patisserie, a Mumbai-based chain credited with helping introduce French-style macarons to mainstream Indian café culture. Her cookbook The Big Book of Treats is a significant work in Indian baking literature. Like Garima Arora before her, her addition brought a dessert-specialist lens to the panel — particularly relevant in a season where contestants’ range across both savoury and sweet was consistently tested.

Winner of MasterChef India Season 8 – Mohammed Ashiq

Mohammed Ashiq’s story carries a specific detail that judge Vikas Khanna referenced directly when declaring him the winner: Ashiq had auditioned for MasterChef India previously and had not been selected. He came back, as Khanna put it, “worked harder, kept learning, and preparing for the next opportunity.”

At 24, Ashiq was from Mangalore, Karnataka — a coastal city with one of India’s most underrepresented and genuinely complex regional cuisines, rooted in coconut, seafood, and Tulu culinary traditions. He had been running a juice stall in Mangalore, had earlier been a semi-finalist on the Sun Premium Coastal Chef reality show on Daijiworld TV, and had an initial ambition to become a hotel manager that budgetary constraints had redirected. His MasterChef journey was built on that Mangalorean foundation — dishes that drew on the coastal Karnataka pantry with a precision and depth that repeatedly distinguished him from competitors with more diverse culinary backgrounds.

The finale, which aired December 8, 2023 on SonyLIV, featured a four-way competition among Ashiq, Nambie Marak, Dr. Rukhsaar Sayeed, and Suraj Thapa. Ashiq emerged as winner after a curated finale challenge designed by guest chef Manish Mehrotra.

Prize: ₹25 lakh and the MasterChef trophy.

What happened after: Ashiq has expressed a desire to open a restaurant focused on Mangalorean cuisine — giving that food the national platform his MasterChef win provides the credibility for.

Runner-Up Profiles

Nambie Jessica Marak (35, Upper Rangsa, Meghalaya) — a school principal from Meghalaya whose cooking drew from Northeast India’s Garo culinary traditions. She was one of the season’s most consistent performers by task-win count, and her runner-up finish continued Season 7’s pattern of giving the Northeast’s food cultures genuine visibility. She received ₹5 lakh.

Dr. Rukhsaar Sayeed (33, Pampore, Jammu & Kashmir) — a food technician from the saffron country of Pampore, J&K, whose Kashmiri culinary background gave the season a regional perspective rarely seen on Indian cooking television at this level. She received ₹5 lakh.

Suraj Thapa (28, Chalsa, West Bengal) — a home baker who finished fourth, eliminated in the semi-final stage.

MasterChef India Season 8 – Top 12 Contestants

Key Facts and Legacy of Season 8

Season 8 completed in just under two months — 40 episodes, significantly shorter than Season 7’s 70. The OTT-first format brought a different viewer engagement model: binge-watching flexibility rather than nightly appointment viewing. The season’s geographical diversity was among its most distinctive characteristics — contestants from Meghalaya, J&K, Mangalore, and Rajasthan all making deep runs underlined the show’s evolution from a predominantly north-Indian urban cooking competition toward something that genuinely represented Indian food geography.

FAQs About MasterChef India Season 8

Q: Who won MasterChef India Season 8?

A: Mohammed Ashiq, a 24-year-old juice stall owner from Mangalore, Karnataka, won Season 8 on December 8, 2023. He defeated Nambie Jessica Marak (first runner-up), Dr. Rukhsaar Sayeed (second runner-up), and Suraj Thapa in a four-person finale. He had previously auditioned for MasterChef India and not been selected before returning to win.

Q: Who were the judges of MasterChef India Season 8?

A: Vikas Khanna, Ranveer Brar, and Pooja Dhingra. Pooja Dhingra — pastry chef and founder of Le 15 Patisserie in Mumbai — joined for the first time in Season 8, replacing Garima Arora from Season 7. Vikas Khanna and Ranveer Brar both returned.

Q: Where did MasterChef India Season 8 premiere?

A: Season 8 premiered exclusively on SonyLIV on October 16, 2023 — the first season to launch on OTT rather than traditional television. This was a significant shift from the show’s earlier broadcast-first model, reflecting the growing dominance of streaming in Indian content consumption.

Q: What was the prize money for MasterChef India Season 8?

A: ₹25 lakh for the winner, consistent with Seasons 6 and 7. Both first runner-up Nambie Jessica Marak and second runner-up Dr. Rukhsaar Sayeed each received ₹5 lakh.

Q: When did MasterChef India Season 8 air?

A: October 16 to December 8, 2023, primarily on SonyLIV. The season ran for 40 episodes across approximately seven weeks — one of the more compressed seasons in the franchise.