Mumbai: Duologue with Barun Das has recently released its latest three-part webisodes, featuring Dr. Subhash Chandra, the man who pioneered private television in India, who bares it all, no holds barred. The webisodes are divided into three parts: An Enduring Enigma, The Business of Life, and Creator & Destroyer.
Be it about his politics, business, or human resource management, Dr Chandra opens up to Barun Das as the latter probes him intently on many contentious issues, summing up the journey so far of someone who the world has hailed as a media mogul. The never-say-die entrepreneur also added that he is eyeing a 25 per cent stake in ZEEL, a company he founded but recently lost control of.
So, confiding in his former CEO, who is now TV9 Network MD & CEO Barun Das, Dr Chandra traverses the journey of life, noting its highs and lows since his days as a rice exporter. Duologue with Barun Das draws out the media and entertainment thought leader's persona like never before.
For instance, when the talk is about Dr Chandra’s recent electoral loss, Duologue with Barun Das has him turn philosophical.
The insightful conversation actually draws the Haryana-bred entrepreneur into a myriad of unseen, unheard, and unknown emotions, from the sublime to the subtle, from sagacity to serendipity.
On being described as a creator and destroyer, Dr Chandra wears a grudging smile as if receiving the comment as a compliment. Duologue with Barun Das featured a review of Dr Chandra’s performance as a business leader, especially the focus on human resource management at the leadership level with top exits generating headlines for the right or wrong reasons.
Dr Chandra opens up about his date with politics, his love for the idiot box, his restlessness with some "bad hires," and his new-found love for Japan (Sony). Or, in response to a question on the loss of control of ZEEL (which he founded as a young businessman), the chairman emeritus of the company says he has not thrown in the towel yet.
Incidentally, Dr Chandra had turned to Das during the ZEEL takeover, making a passionate plea for "saving Zee" and this did come up during the show, with Dr Chandra identifying those he wanted the company to be protected from.
Duologue with Barun Das, has Dr Chandra dwell at length on the political landscape in the country, with Das quizzing him on his love-hate relationship with AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal.
In response to a pointed question about how he sees Arvind Kejriwal and AAP's future, given that he has been aspiring to be a challenger to Nerendra Modi, the Zee founder did not shy away from expressing himself openly. "I doubt that the Aam Aadmi Party and Arvind Kejriwal will do any good for this nation."
On the corporate takeover of media questions (in reference to the Adani-NDTV deal), Dr Chandra put up a straight bat, but not without having a swipe at the business magnate who now owns NDTV.
