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NDTV Imagine's new CEO Samir Nair says that the filmmaker will bring much more to the channel than just his starry contacts
Star CEO Samir Nair has left the channel to start a new innings as the chief executive of NDTV Imagine LTD.
He discusses his plans with HiTLIST.
How does the move feel?
Exciting! I joined NDTV from April 2.
Thank god it wasn't April 1! To start with, we'll do a Hindi entertainment channel and then go on to many other things.
The sky's the limit.
Today is my fourth day at NDTV and I've been getting the office and team in place, putting ideas down. I've been at the helm of affairs for seven years at Star, so this change will bring out the best in me.
My former boss always used to say that change brings challenge and challenge brings excellence. So this is a good process of re-discovery for me.
I've been closely associated with the television business, but the idea now is to do things connected with entertainment in the television space.
You seem to have taken a large part of your Star team to NDTV.
Yes, some of them are accompanying me. Shailja Kejriwal, who has been a part of my creative team from the start, will be one of the key people joining me at NDTV.
When I'm asked what I'm going to do, I say, 'something old, something new, something borrowed and a touch of new'. What I'm going to do at NDTV is what I'd have done at Star had I stayed on.
How heavy will be the inflow of Bollywood?
Bollywood and television are closely linked now. In recent years, we've had Mr Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan and Karan Johar coming into television, and the marriage between Bollywood and television will be further solemnised.
There will be a lot of Bollywood on our channel for sure. I'm also part owner of this new channel, so that brings an even greater sense of responsibility.
The stakes are higher hence the victories and losses are also higher. Karan Johar, who's also a part of NDTV, has a lot to do.
Karan will bring a lot of stars into the channel?
I have much more in mind for Karan than just bringing in stars. He has fantastic vision and we're looking at many ideas. General entertainment covers a big part of the imagination.
Would you like Star to be your biggest rival?
Well, at the moment it's the biggest channel and network and I'm always in pursuit of excellence. So yes, I'd want NDTV Imagine to be right up there. If our channel beats Star at the TRPs game, I'd be elated.
Would you miss Star?
Of course. My colleagues at Star gave me a great farewell party and also bought me a really fancy mobile phone and a watch. They're all such close friends.
Leaving Star was like growing up and leaving home. At the moment, we're getting our new office done.
When I joined Star in 1994, we built the Star office from scratch. Now I'm re-visiting the past as the new office comes up. It's an exciting time for me.
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| Moving Ahead: Samir Nair and Karan Johar & nbsp; pic/RANE ASHISH |
He discusses his plans with HiTLIST.
How does the move feel?
Exciting! I joined NDTV from April 2.
Thank god it wasn't April 1! To start with, we'll do a Hindi entertainment channel and then go on to many other things.
The sky's the limit.
Today is my fourth day at NDTV and I've been getting the office and team in place, putting ideas down. I've been at the helm of affairs for seven years at Star, so this change will bring out the best in me.
My former boss always used to say that change brings challenge and challenge brings excellence. So this is a good process of re-discovery for me.
I've been closely associated with the television business, but the idea now is to do things connected with entertainment in the television space.
You seem to have taken a large part of your Star team to NDTV.
Yes, some of them are accompanying me. Shailja Kejriwal, who has been a part of my creative team from the start, will be one of the key people joining me at NDTV.
When I'm asked what I'm going to do, I say, 'something old, something new, something borrowed and a touch of new'. What I'm going to do at NDTV is what I'd have done at Star had I stayed on.
How heavy will be the inflow of Bollywood?
Bollywood and television are closely linked now. In recent years, we've had Mr Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan and Karan Johar coming into television, and the marriage between Bollywood and television will be further solemnised.
There will be a lot of Bollywood on our channel for sure. I'm also part owner of this new channel, so that brings an even greater sense of responsibility.
The stakes are higher hence the victories and losses are also higher. Karan Johar, who's also a part of NDTV, has a lot to do.
Karan will bring a lot of stars into the channel?
I have much more in mind for Karan than just bringing in stars. He has fantastic vision and we're looking at many ideas. General entertainment covers a big part of the imagination.
Would you like Star to be your biggest rival?
Well, at the moment it's the biggest channel and network and I'm always in pursuit of excellence. So yes, I'd want NDTV Imagine to be right up there. If our channel beats Star at the TRPs game, I'd be elated.
Would you miss Star?
Of course. My colleagues at Star gave me a great farewell party and also bought me a really fancy mobile phone and a watch. They're all such close friends.
Leaving Star was like growing up and leaving home. At the moment, we're getting our new office done.
When I joined Star in 1994, we built the Star office from scratch. Now I'm re-visiting the past as the new office comes up. It's an exciting time for me.
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