Devil's Advocate Special: Question time for 'devil'

KARAN WITH KARAN: Filmmaker Karan Johar (L) questions Karan Thapar in a 'Devil's Advocate' special.

        

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Karan Thapar, the 'devil' on Devil’s Advocate, found the tables turned on him this weekend. Thapar was the interviewee and interviewing him was filmmaker Karan Johar. Thapar, in this year-end special of Devil’s Advocate, reveals what Narendra Modi told him after walking out of an interview, why Amitabh Bachchan won’t speak to him and how Ram Jethmalani placated him after threatening to throw him out. Excerpts from the conversation:

Karan Johar: I made a career making friends and Karan Thapar made his by making enemies. But you can’t take away from the fact that he is intelligent, articulate and intuitive. In the year-end special of Devil’s Advocate, I am in conversation with Karan Thapar.

Karan, does it feel strange to be at the other end of the spectrum?

Karan Thapar: It feels nerve-wracking. I never have had to answer questions. I am sweating over here—I promise you.

Karan Johar: I remember you interviewing me some seven-eight years ago and contrary to your reputation I actually had a good time.

Karan Thapar: I hope we will have a good time as well.

Karan Johar: Do you always know what are you talking about?

Karan Thapar: Now that is the interesting bit. You have to convince the person you are talking to that you know what you are talking about. You have to convince them that the question you are asking makes sense. And if you ask it pretty quickly chances are they don’t bother to think about what they are being asked and they answer. And then suddenly they say to themselves afterward: hang on, that doesn’t make much sense. Why did I answer it?

Karan Johar: Does it come with a territory—that this is your USP and you are meant to push them against the wall. Be nasty, rude and stop them occasionally and never allow them to speak. Does it come with the territory?

Karan Thapar: My philosophy is that the way I treat politicians is markedly different to the way I would treat non-politicians. So if I were to interview an actor, director or an author—people who are not necessarily accountable to the public—I would be very different. Intelligent, I hope, but very different in handling them.

With the politicians it is our duty that if we ask them a question you ought to get an answer. If you don’t get an answer you must persist until you do, or until it’s clear why you are not getting an answer. But to ask a question, get an evasive reply and give up is actually an insult to the audience. Why are they bothering to listen to your interview if you are not going to persist with a question to the point which a sensible answer has been got.

Karan Johar: A politician is meant to have a way with words and dodges a situation or scenario. That is what they are meant to do because they are politicians.

Karan Thapar: Absolutely, and that is why an interview with an artful politician becomes very entertaining as opposed to just substantive because you are playing with each other, you are persisting with the questions he doesn’t want to answer and he is trying to ways to evading and avoiding answering. It is an intelligent meeting of talent and mind, and it makes for great entertainment. Sometimes that entertainment doesn’t become anything more than a spectacle…

Karan Johar: Like what happened with Narendra Modi, who refused to give the interview beyond the first five minutes.

Karan Thapar: It didn’t even generate heat in his case. I was actually well aware of the fact that there was a danger that he is going to walk out. I asked my questions in a fairly sober fashion.

Karan Johar: That was sober?

Karan Thapar: I wasn’t tense, I wasn’t rude; I wasn’t aggressive. There was almost, if you look at that interview, a tone of hesitation, because I was worried he might get up and go and he did.

Karan Johar: He walks out—the awkwardness when the cameras go off, does that happen to you a lot?

Karan Thapar: It is the only time that someone has walked out of an interview, and in fact on that occasion I spent close to three hours pleading with him to continue. I said to him that this didn’t make sense; I explained to him that I was not attempting to embarrass him and was simply asking a question about an image that he was a prisoner of at election time.

The Chief Minister’s image is an important issue for him, after all that is what he is contending with and in a sense in his case contending against. But I failed at the end of one hour of persuading him. He actually said to me that he is very sorry. He said, “Mera dil toot gaya”.

He said to me that he would ring me next day and apologise. He did ring the next day and in the course of an apology, he said to me that he loved me very much, but I think that was his way of being nice.

Karan Johar: Is there anyone else who doesn’t want to be interviewed by you?