In Devil's Advocate, Karan dives deep into his life to come up with many memorable moments. Included here are stories of warm and lasting friendships, such as with Benazir Bhutto, Aung San Suu Kyi and Rajiv Gandhi. However, not all friendships lasted-for example, with L.K. Advani, with whom he shared a close bond until an unfortunate disagreement over an interview caused a falling-out. The tension generated during an interview has spilled over off-screen multiple times, and Karan discusses these incidents in detail. For instance, when Amitabh Bachchan lost his cool during a post-interview lunch or when Kapil Dev cried like a baby. And there's the untold story of two of his most controversial interviews-with Jayalalithaa and Narendra Modi. Now in paperback, with a new chapter containing reminiscences that were left out of the earlier version, Devil's Advocate is as no-holds-barred as any of Karan Thapar's interviews.
Karan Thapar worked for ten years in television in the United Kingdom. After his return to India in 1991, he presented well-known programmes such as Eyewitness (Doordarshan), HARDtalk India (BBC), Devil's Advocate (CNN-IBN) and To The Point (India Today). Presently, he is the president of Infotainment Television (ITV) and hosts a programme, Upfront, on Tiranga TV.
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Devil’s Advocate is Karan Thapar’s auto biography. It’s a quick read with interesting anecdotes that he shares from his frequent rendez vous with celebrities, politicians and sportsmen. There doesn’t seem to be any that he didn’t interview in his long and illustrious career. Many of his interviews are etched in our minds but what makes the book interesting is the behind the scenes details. Like how he made sure that Kapil Dev cried through the interview which was done immediately after the match fixing scandal and Tehelka accusing Kapil Dev of fixing game. The famous interview with Jaya Lalitha, his friendship with Benazir Bhutto, his interview with Amitabh where we get to know of the other side of the Shehanshah of Bollywood, his interactions with former prime ministers; most witty ones were those with Atal Bihari Vajpayee and his friendship with L. K. Advani that went sour. All of these make it a riveting read.
Karan Thapar speaks sparingly of his personal life and the loss of his wife Nisha. He speaks at length about his work. He is brutally honest and has no qualms in accepting that he was manipulative, petty and selfish in his professional life. It takes lots of courage to own up to ones flaws especially in an auto biography. The language is lucid and it is after a long time that I was actually referring to a dictionary. I got a few additions to my vocabulary ‘amour proper ‘, ‘sangfroid’ and a few others.
