Trend Setter

SANTOSH BHARTIYA’S LIFE REPRESENTS THE POWER OF A PATRIOTIC LINEAGE COMBINED WITH AN INSATIABLE HUNGER FOR KNOWLEDGE, AND A VISION, WAY AHEAD OF ITS TIMES. IN HIS COMPLEX PURSUIT FOR TRUTH, SANTOSH BHARTIYA BECAME A TRENDSETTER.

Bhartiya’s courage came not from the juvenile energy of youth but from the deep roots of his family background, and his being extremely well read. Both his parents were freedom fighters with Mahatma Gandhi. His father, known by the name Narendra, dedicated his entire life and wealth in the service of Gandhian Principles. Bhartiya’s life represents the power of a patriotic lineage combined with an insatiable hunger for knowledge, and a vision, way ahead of its times. In his complex pursuit for truth, Santosh Bhartiya became a trendsetter. His work did not end with unravelling of the truth, the truth had to be heard and read by the people. So he explored various valuable techniques to seduce readers to his reports, which have now become a craze in journalism.

He ideated ‘information while interview’ technique. He did revolutionary lede stories for the publications he worked with this technique and embedded his name deep for the outstanding first-hand information in public domain.

He was on the leading edge of many trends that are still being followed faithfully.

What we now know as ‘Celebrity Interviewing a Celebrity’ was started by Bhartiya way back in the 1980s when the interviews of celebrated stars from Hindi films were limited only to film magzines. In a path breaking scoop, he made the reclusive actress Rekha, who was quite averse to journalists, interview the talented Shabana Azmi. This was one of the most unique interviews and paved way for many superhit shows like Rendezvous with Simi Grewal, Koffee with Karan, and others in this format.

Film celebrities and artists trusted Santosh Bhartiya because he never resorted to yellow journalism. He convinced many creative professionals from entertainment Industry to join politics. Raj Babbar, Shatrughan Sinha, Amol Palekar, and Anant Naag being a few of the reputed artists who joined politics because of Santosh Bhartiya. He also inspired General V K Singh’s entry in politics.

In an evocative move, he convinced the owners of the Jain TV to invite the common people as audience during the interviews of political leaders. This was unheard of, but the channel heads agreed to take the risk because of their faith in Bhartiya’s vision. That began a trend and it is followed till date.

Santosh Bhartiya’s initialised the ‘no-scripted’ interviews completely changed the outcome of the assembly election of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi, and Chhattisgarh in the year 2003. This style of coverage was also ideated by him opened a direct channel of communication between the candidates and the voters and made media a notable stake holder in the elections. Today we see many successful interview format shows like Rajat Sharma’s Aap Ki Adaalat and others, which invite audience participation is the result of the vision of Santosh Bhartiya.

One of biggest revolution that Bhartiya started in electronic journalism was field reporting. Earlier on DoorDarshan, the news would not show any footage shot during the key event. Bhartiya started exploring the state of the nation by digging social stories where they actually existed – in the local cities and villages. He zoomed across rugged terrains with his cameraman and recorded the reality for the news. This created a space for the voice of the people in Indian journalism. He brought the news from being the mouthpiece of the government to the mouthpiece of the common man.

Unlike most of his contemporaries, he did not get intimidated by the system, he broke rules and the rules followed him. He made his Journalistic Interviews more effective by first making the interviewee comfortable in a casual conversation and then tactfully phrasing questions that stimulated the interviewee to talk openly about issues, thereby giving the readers/audience an idea about their personal ideology, outlook, policies, plans, and take on any issue. It was a wicked but an effective technique of gathering information from the cautious source. His insightful interviews with Morarji Desai, Chandrashekhar, Indira Gandhi, and many more political leaders are a study in journalistic interviews.

In a way, his interviews became a source of more news. He has interviewed almost all the Prime Ministers after 1980s. His bold & honest approach was cherished by the Prime Ministers and other renowned political personalities. He took thousands of investigative interviews, which became keys to initiating solutions to various problems facing the common man and the system. His inquisitiveness and reporting became a conscious bridge between the government and the public.

His pro-people journalism brought him at loggerheads with many establishments. He started the trend of directly questioning the Prime Minister through his show. The format of ‘People want to know’ was in essence started way back in the 1980s and with a focus that is unimaginable in today’s times, because Bhartiya was never finished just after asking the questions, his persisted asking until the Prime Minister answered and took action.