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Karan Thapar (Kashmiri/Hindi: करन थापर), born on 5th November, 1955 in Srinagar, Jammu & Kashmir, India,[1] is one of the nation's noted television commentators and interviewers. He is the youngest child of General P.N. Thapar and Mrs. Bimla Thapar. His nephew, the gay and race activist, Siddo Deva, lives in Oxford.
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An alumnus of The Doon School and Stowe School, he graduated with a degree in the Economics and Political Philosophy from Pembroke College, Cambridge in 1977. In the same year, he was President of the Cambridge Union. He subsequently attained a doctorate in International Relations from St. Antony's College, Oxford.
He began his career in journalism with The Times in Lagos, Nigeria and later worked as their Leader Writer on the Indian subcontinent till 1981. In 1982 he joined London Weekend Television where he worked for the next 11 years. He then moved to India where he worked with The Hindustan Times Television Group, Home TV and United Television before setting up his own production house in August 2001, Infotainment Television, which makes programmes for amongst others BBC, Doordarshan and Channel News Asia.
Currently the President of Infotainment Television, Thapar is noted for his aggressive interviews with leading politicians and celebrities- his interviews with cricketer Kapil Dev (where Dev broke down into tears)[1], George Fernandes, Jayalalithaa, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, General Pervez Musharraf, Benazir Bhutto, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and The Dalai Lama are particularly well remembered.
A few of his shows which have been much watched and appreciated are Eyewitness, Tonight at 10, In Focus with Karan, Line of Fire and War of Words. The shows with which he has been making headlines lately are, Devil's Advocate on CNN IBN and India Tonight on CNBC TV 18.
Thapar is also a prolific newspaper columnist. His weekly column Sunday Sentiments in The Hindustan Times (the second largest English daily in India) is widely read and very well received.
In December 2003, he became the first person to win both awards in the current affairs category of the Asian Television Awards. His interview with Pakistan's Foreign Minister, Khurshid Kasuri, on Court Martial won 'The Best Current Affairs Programme'. He received his second award for 'The Best Current Affairs Presenter' for his popular long-running BBC series Face to Face. In 2005 he won the 'Best Current Affairs Presenter' for the third time since 1999 for his interview with former Indian Law Minister and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) General Secretary Arun Jaitley on Hardtalk India. He won the 'Best Current Affairs Presenter' award yet again in 2007, this time for his much talked about interview with Ram Jethmalani on Devil's Advocate. In 2008 Devil's Advocate was conferred 'Best News/Current Affairs Show' by News Television Awards & Karan Thapar was presented the award for 'News Interviewer of the Year' by Indian News Broadcasting Awards. In April 2009 he was honored with the prestigious Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Award & was chosen the 'Journalist of the Year (Broadcast)'. In August 2009 he was adjudged the "News Show Host of the Year" by Indian News Broadcasting Awards.
Thapar is sometimes criticised for not letting his interviewees have their say, and for frequently interrupting them as they speak. He is also credited with bringing out issues in front of his interviewees in a well-researched and strong fashion.
Thapar evoked protests on the Internet by suggesting the "sudden removal" of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi in an article in the Hindustan Times on 29 December 2007 titled "'Modification' of politics", which many interpreted as an unethical encouragement of unconventional and unsavoury action.[2] R.Prasanan criticised Thapar's interview with Gohar Ayub Khan for its hidden motives.[3]
Karan Thapar (Kashmiri/Hindi: करन थापर), born on 5 November, 1955 in Srinagar, Jammu & Kashmir, India,[1] is one of the nation's noted television commentators and interviewers. He is the youngest child of General P.N. Thapar and Mrs. Bimla Thapar.
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An alumnus of The Doon School and Stowe School, he graduated with a degree in the Economics and Political Philosophy from Pembroke College, Cambridge in 1977. In the same year, he was President of the Cambridge Union. He subsequently attained a doctorate in International Relations from St. Antony's College, Oxford.
He began his career in journalism with The Times in Lagos, Nigeria and later worked as their Leader Writer on the Indian subcontinent till 1981. In 1982 he joined London Weekend Television where he worked for the next 11 years. He then moved to India where he worked with The Hindustan Times Television Group, Home TV and United Television before setting up his own production house in August 2001, Infotainment Television, which makes programmes for amongst others BBC, Doordarshan and Channel News Asia.
Currently the President of Infotainment Television, Thapar is noted for his aggressive interviews with leading politicians and celebrities- his interviews with cricketer Kapil Dev, George Fernandes, J. Jayalalithaa, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, General Pervez Musharraf, Benazir Bhutto, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and The Dalai Lama are particularly well remembered.
A few of his shows which have been much watched and appreciated are Eyewitness, Tonight at 10, In Focus with Karan, Line of Fire and War of Words. The shows with which he has been making headlines lately are, Devil's Advocate on CNN IBN and India Tonight on CNBC TV 18.
Thapar is also a prolific newspaper columnist. His weekly column Sunday Sentiments in The Hindustan Times (the second largest English daily in India) is widely read and very well received.
In December 2003, he became the first person to win both awards in the current affairs category of the Asian Television Awards. His interview with Pakistan's Foreign Minister, Khurshid Kasuri, on Court Martial won 'The Best Current Affairs Programme'. He received his second award for 'The Best Current Affairs Presenter' for his popular long-running BBC series Face to Face. In 2005 he won the 'Best Current Affairs Presenter' for the third time since 1999 for his interview with former Indian Law Minister and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) General Secretary Arun Jaitley on Hardtalk India. He won the 'Best Current Affairs Presenter' award yet again in 2007, this time for his much talked about interview with Ram Jethmalani on Devil's Advocate. In 2008 Devil's Advocate was conferred 'Best News/Current Affairs Show' by News Television Awards & Karan Thapar was presented the award for 'News Interviewer of the Year' by Indian News Broadcasting Awards. In April 2009 he was honored with the prestigious Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Award & was chosen the 'Journalist of the Year (Broadcast)'. In August 2009 he was adjudged the "News Show Host of the Year" by Indian News Broadcasting Awards. In March 2010 Devil's Advocate was accorded an award for being the "Best News Talk Show" by News Television Awards.
Thapar is sometimes criticised for not letting his interviewees have their say, and for frequently interrupting them as they speak. He is also credited with bringing out issues in front of his interviewees in a well-researched and strong fashion.[citation needed]
Thapar evoked protests on the Internet by suggesting the "sudden removal" of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi in an article in the Hindustan Times on 29 December 2007 titled "'Modification' of politics", which many interpreted as an unethical encouragement of unconventional and unsavoury action.[2] R.Prasanan criticised Thapar's interview with Gohar Ayub Khan for its hidden motives.[3]
   | Karan Thapar wins Two Asian Television Awards - The Hindu : Karan Thapar wins two Asian television awards |
| | here - Decision on quota is final: Arjun |
| | ripped apart - Karan Thapar Rips Arjun Singh Apart at Seriously Sandeep |
| | Karan Thapar interview with Narendra Modi - Modi won't talk Godhra, walks out of interview: IBNLive.com > Videos |
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