He truly lives life king-size! He's unapologetically flamboyant, extremely stylish and always dynamic! He ruled on land and now rules the skies! Karan's first guest this week is the king of good times, Dr. Vijay Mallya. His second guest is a successful columnist, author and social commentator. You could call her opinionated, you could call her judgmental, but she never fails to air her views and she is Shobhaa De.
Dr. Vijay Mallya talks about his flamboyant lifestyle, his showmanship, his legacy and his foray into politics. He discusses with Karan how he feels about the current state of politics and what changes he would like to see in the system. Together, Dr. Mallya and Shobhaa discuss their friendship, which is around 25 years old and has seen its share of ups and downs. They talk about their social lives and how they feel about being permanent faces on Page 3. They express their views on actors being politicians and politicians being actors …and also give their point of view on the current state of journalism and how they feel that the media needs a sense of responsibility. Dr. Mallya talks about the fact that he doesn't watch too many Hindi movies and Shobhaa admits that she has to catch the latest flick every Friday!!!
After the candid question-answer session, the show takes another interesting turn with the rapid fire round! Which Hindi film does Shobhaa wish she had written? Who does she think is the perfect celeb wife and who does she think is the most mismatched couple? Which living business icon does Dr. Mallya admire the most? If there was a film on his life, which actor does he feel would be able to play him best and who would he like his leading lady to be?
Excerpts from the interview
Karan: Your persona, the man you are… I mean most people who are industrialists and are in the business world have a certain image. You are not on of those serious industrialists who have that serious look on their face. Your whole perception is so different… Flamboyant… How do you react to that?
Dr. Mallya: Well you know at the end of the day I have to repeat… I have lived life on my own terms. I've not been shy I've not tried to hide anything. I'm totally transparent I am what I am and there's nothing wrong with that. I don't need to have a split personality I don't need to be a hypocrite. I just be myself. And as far as the showmanship is concerned... I am the brand ambassador of my brand, which are on the lifestyle platforms so what's wrong with that?
Karan: No there's nothing wrong with that. I think you love the fact that you are like this. But you have this party image. At times do you find yourself defending that to people who expect you to be more serious?
Dr. Mallya: You know seriousness is not a guarantee to success. If you don't have a party or you're more subdued it's not a recipe for increased stakeholder value. But you know, If I like to party I don't party alone, I party with people and as I said… it's all on that lifestyle platform which is becoming increasingly relevant in aspirational India today.
Karan: Your foray into politics a few years back, what drove you to politics?
Dr. Mallya: You know when I was 40, I thought I've come a long way in my life. I've had my fair share of success and also failures, but I've never looked back I've always treated my failures as stepping stones to success. I've made mistakes but the net balance sheet was pretty good. So I said what do I do now? Should I give back something to my country, to my state and how do I do it. It's very clear that in India you don't have a voice that's heard adequately unless you're sitting in the parliament. And so I decided to run for parliament. In 2000 I failed miserably and invited a lot of criticism that has become synonymous to Vijay Mallya, but in 2002 I defeated the city BJP candidate and got elected to parliament. I was most excited. Even though in the last 3-4 years I've been a backbencher, I've always tried to speak up about the accountability in governance.
Karan: How does it feel to be back on the show?
Shobhaa: Actually wonderful! The kind of response I'd got the first time round all over the world where there are Indians and Pakistani's and people monitoring Indian television, it was always "we saw you on Koffee with Karan!", so it says a lot about the host, a lot about the show and maybe a little about me!
Karan: Alright, I like that! You've known Vijay for how long Shobhaa?
Shobhaa: Around 25 years! I think!
Karan: It's been a good friendship?
Shobhaa: It's been an interesting friendship! It's had its ups and downs but it's never been a boring or a static friendship! Which I think is what keeps a relationship on its toes and it makes sure you don't take each other for granted.
Dr. Mallya: Absolutely! But I remember only the ups! Not the downs!
Shobhaa: Selective memory!
Dr. Mallya: (Laughs)
Karan: "The Queen of Opinions" … is that a good way of describing you Shobhaa?
Shobhaa: It's not bad! Empress might be better! But he has a copyright on that already!
Dr. Mallya: No! I can say that to you!
Shobhaa: His super super yacht is called the Indian Empress and I've happily stolen it for myself for tonight!
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