I want to do television that would expand the frontiers, that has an impact and is archival. People are interested in doing things that make a quick headline and I don’t want that now… I’m just a dilettante; I know a little about a lot to say and not a lot about anything in particular… Politics, that’s really my interest; all the others are just sidelines.
Vir Sanghvi, Advisory Editorial Director, HT Media Ltd

Suave, charismatic and one of the best-known faces of Indian journalism, Vir Sanghvi has held several coveted and high profile media positions. Educated at Mayo College, Ajmer and Oxford University, Sanghvi was just 22 when he became Founder-Editor of ‘Bombay’ magazine, possibly one of the youngest editors ever.

He was credited with the revamp of Imprint, one of India’s oldest magazines, which he joined in 1983. He shot to national fame when he became the Editor of ‘Sunday’, then India’s largest selling magazine, at the age of 30.

After a long and widely appreciated stint at the helm of ‘Sunday’, Sanghvi was appointed Consulting Editor for Ananda Bazaar Patrika Group in 1997. Two years later, he joined Hindustan Times as Editor. He is currently Advisory Editorial Director for HT Media Ltd.

Meanwhile, he had embarked on a parallel career on a different medium – television. He started hosting his first show on Doordarshan in 1994. ‘Round Table’, telecast on Doordarshan and CNN, began in 1996 and took him to newer and wider audiences. But it was his shows on the Star network – ‘A Question of Answers’ and ‘Star Talk’ that his popularity reached unprecedented levels.

Currently, Sanghvi divides his time between print and television even as he sets precedents for the rest of his fellow journalists to follow.

In a freewheeling conversation with exchange4media’s Noor Fathima Warsia, Sanghvi traces back his career, his early days in television and the new shows that he is working on, what he would like to do and INX News...