Vir Sanghavi

Age?

Forty for another month. That makes him a Cancerian, which means this media personality is actually a shy-boy.

Married?

Well, that's a stupid question, isn't it? For everyone knows that the celebrity-hack is separated from the social butterfly-editor Malavika.

Isn't he known to be a bit of a casanova as well?

He insists not. But we have heard otherwise.

Appearance?

By the look of it, he is a somewhat trendy middle aged man with a penchant for stuff like rust waistcoast with matching trousers and a white T-shirt. He thinks he is balding and fat, though -- not quite the description of a ladies' man.

So how did he become a journalist?

"I slipped into journalism," he says. Vir had a `proppah' education at one of England's top boarding schools and then went to Oxford.

Oxford, that must have been tough?

"I came out shaking after the interview." But all that worrying was in vain, for soon after he received a letter of offer. To which the young and carefree Vir replied: "Why do I have to take the exams if they offered me a place?" With the likes of him around, it is no wonder that the Brits thinks Indians are a lazy race.

Where does the journalism fit in then?

While at Oxford, he actually got to spend six months a year in India. (Oxford is known to give students more holidays than any other university, which must have suited Vir down to the ground). Which is how he began working for news magazine called India Today, one that no one had heard of before and for which nobody was willing to write. For Vir it was a great opportunity to make some money.

Did he ever contemplate doing anything else?

Well, he does not play any musical instrument, nor can he sing. (For that matter he is not the kind of guy you would take to the disco as he has two left feet). And yet, he wanted to join the music industry and met Bhaskar Menon of EMI. But then he opted to come back to India to edit the Bombay magazine.

Hasn't this noted political journo also written for Femina?

Yep, he did a story for them, as it meant a free ride to Delhi to visit his sweetheart. (Aha, so women do play an important part in his life!)

And why did he move to being in front of the camera?

It started in 1989 when Prannoy Roy invited him to be a panelist. After that, Vir just sat back and waited for the phone to ring. But he is obviously not as good as he thinks he is, for no offers came his way, till recently.

Does he like being in front of the camera?

No. In fact he never watches the show and if he sees a promo he switches channels. Nor does he like being interviewed. "Journalists should not be celebrities," he says. But he is obviously more vain than he is willing to admit. For he is very particular about what he wears on the show.

"Star TV asked me I'd like to have a fashion designer do my clothes. I'd rather die than have a credit saying Vir Sanghavi's clothes by... ." You see Vir does not think a lot about Indian designers, so he would rather wear his own clothes.

What designers does he consider up to the mark?

For years he only wore Japanese designers like Issey Miyake and Commes des Garcon."I am partly colour blind so Jap clothes are good for me as they are mostly in black and white." Now he wears just about anything which includes some made in India clothes like ColorPlus. But his taste for the good things in life still shines through that Cartier watch on his wrist.

So if clothes are not his passion what is?

Food. Which explains his paunch. In Mumbai his favourite restaurant is the The Thai Pavilion.

He likes wining and dining then?

Yes but only in small groups he is not into the social scene at all. "I have no PC and I am not a networker," he says. In fact the increase of partying in Mumbai has made this city tacky in Vir eyes.

"In the 1980's Delhi was called noveau and Mumbai was understated, now it is the other way around.

So what's this hack most likely to say ?

"Why are you wasting time with me"

And least likely to say?

"See you at the next party."

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.