Sep 10 2012.
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What made you enter the media industry?
Nothing actually, I never planned to be in the industry. I am an architect by profession; I originally planned to be a doctor but was not smart enough to enter medical college. Then MTV popped up with a VJ hunt into my 5th year as an architect and I thought that could be interesting and tried out and became a VJ!
Coming from India your parents must have been strict. How did your parents deal with you leaving architecture and getting into show business?
Yes, my dad was in the army and he was quite the disciplinarian, but he had one thing on his agenda for me - I had to finish my degree and then I could do whatever I wanted to do.
How hard does somebody have to work to be a stalwart in the media industry?
It is like any other job, you have to work extremely hard and you have to be dedicated if not, you get left by the wayside. Whether you are a doctor, lawyer, investment banker or builder you have to do really well in whatever you choose to do. Therefore, besides all the fun and meeting great and interesting people, it takes a lot of hard work and deprives you of A LOT of sleep. But if you love your job that makes it easy.
300(1).jpg) What are the basic survival skills one needs to last in the media industry?
What I consider the most basic is always carry a spare battery pack for your phone. At the rate, you use your phone, one never knows when it will die out.
If not for MTV what would you be doing in the media industry?
For starters, I do not think I would be in the industry. However, when I was studying architecture, I was already hosting a radio show and I was an active MC but what I actually wanted to do was to become a bartender and travel the world! But in the middle of all this MTV popped up and well if not for MTV in all probability I would have been a bartender.
What defines a good VJ?
The ability to communicate with your audience is one of the fundamentals of the trade. If you do not form a connection between yourself and your audience, you cannot be a VJ.
What defines a good song?
If somebody cracked that, they would be millionaires!
What are the songs that have made a lasting impression on you?
The older I’ve got the harder it’s been to identify a really good song. Because music nowadays is very transitional, you come across a good song, it’s huge for a few days sometimes maybe even hours and then it’s gone!
300(1).jpg) Something about you that even your closest friends don’t know..?
That is an interesting question, NEXT QUESTION!
If you were stranded on a deserted island, what 3 things would you need?
It would be stupid for me to say a cell phone! Who am I going to call? So I’m going to go with,
1. A fishing rod
2. A trampoline
3. A pocket knife
What was your most embarrassing moment on TV?
I have not had any, and even if you ask me what my most embarrassing moment in life was I still would say ‘I haven’t had any’. It takes A LOT to make me feel embarrassed.
300.jpg) Tell us about the Sunburn Festival.
About 10 years ago I started a company called Submerge, it was formed out of frustration because the type of music that we wanted to hear was not being played at clubs. Me, my girlfriend then who is my wife now and my best friend threw a party on the Thursday night, with 42 people at a club that could hold 800 and it was one of the best parties we ever threw. Three weeks later we found out there were people like us who were frustrated with the music scene, and since then we had crowds of 600 -700 people after which Thursday night partying spread into other parts of India. Five years later someone approached me with the idea of a festival, I jumped at it and that is how Sunburn was born.
How different is Sunburn going to be in Sri Lanka?
To put it in one phrase ‘Sunburn is an experience’. It is not about being different; it is all about creating a moment in time that you can reflect on and say “WOW that was awesome.” Sunburn is never the same experience for two different people; everybody sees it in a different way. It’s your own space to make whatever you want to make of it. So therefore, you need to come for it, because it is going to be an experience like no other. We are going to have one of the best DJ’s in the world Afrojack and you really don’t want to be missing out on the fun.
Is this your first time in Sri Lanka?
I’ve been here before and it is an amazing country! I have always had a fantastic time; I’ve always had good memories of Sri Lanka.
Any special foods that you like from here?
I tried the batter-fried calamari and it was off the hook and the devil chicken.
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