How Anushka Sharma’s chole bature order for Virat Kohli turned a struggling restaurant into Rs20 million-a-month business

A struggling chole bhature restaurant in Mumbai's Chembur faced bankruptcy in 2022, with debts of nearly Rs1.8 million. Brothers Jaspal and Mahinder Khalsa owned the 250-square-foot outlet, which had only three tables and nine seats. Sales were declining, and they were preparing to close the restaurant.

On September 13, 2022, comedian Abhishek Upmanyu visited the restaurant, tried the chole bhature, and recommended it on Instagram. Within days, the restaurant saw an increase in walk-ins. The recommendation reached Anushka Sharma, who was searching for authentic Delhi-style chole bhature for Virat Kohli. The brothers started receiving repeated calls from someone claiming to be from her home, wanting two plates delivered to Juhu and the restaurant's bank details.

Initially, the brothers suspected it was a prank, but after several calls, they discovered the order was from Virat Kohli's home.

Anushka Sharma later posted on Instagram that she had found "ekdum-Delhi-jaise-Chole-bhature" in Mumbai, crediting Abhishek Upmanyu for the recommendation. The impact was almost immediate; the restaurant received a massive crowd, and within half an hour, it was completely full. The phones were ringing non-stop, and customers were ordering multiple plates. The small outlet quickly ran out of stock, forcing the brothers to source soaked chickpeas from neighbors to meet the demand.