Raj Shamani tells all about viral Vijay Mallya interview, reveals BTS ‘bhasad’, says fugitive would ‘deflect’ as expected

Podcaster Raj Shamani opened up about the preparation that went into interviewing the absconding businessman Vijay Mallya. He said that the interview, which has garnered nearly 30 million views on YouTube, took a long time to prepare for.

Vijay Mallya's interview with Raj Shamani has scored 27 million views so far.

Podcaster Raj Shamani, who has over 12 million subscribers on YouTube, spoke about his highly-discussed interview with the fugitive businessman Vijay Mallya. In an interview, Shamani opened up about the preparations that went into the episode, which has garnered nearly 30 million views on his channel. He also admitted that there was a lot that Mallya said that didn’t add up, and that he was prepared to question him about discrepancies. Shamani said that the opportunity didn’t land in his lap, but it was one that he chased. It took a while for Mallya to be convinced, but when the green light was given, it was all hands on deck.

Appearing on Chalchitra Talks, Shamani was asked about the preparation that went into the episode, and he said that his entire team contributed. “One person watched every YouTube that exists about him, to check which stories add up and which don’t. One person scraped every tweet that he has posted in the last three years. A third person complied every news piece on him, on TV and online. Another person was in charge of accessing his side of the argument. We also spoke to ex-employees and associates. I did my own homework; I spoke to people who were very close to him. Then, we compiled all the information together. But we realised that a lot of it wasn’t adding up. He’d said one thing, but the news reports said something else and the courts said something else; dates weren’t matching… There was ‘bhasad’, nothing was adding up,” he said.

Also read – The cases against Vijay Mallya

Shamani continued, “So, we decided to create a timeline of events, a chronological account of his life. Then, we highlighted every detail that we could corroborate, and only then did we do the podcast. There were some stories that he denied; for example, I asked him about being a brat in his youth and showing off his expensive cars. But he denied it. He painted a different picture. Some details he agreed with. Other things, like Supreme Court dates and the lookout circular dates and the date his passport was revoked, he didn’t seem to be aware of himself.”

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Shamani added, “There were times when he agreed, there were times when he disagreed, there were times when he gave a different story. That’s how we did our research. Plus, there were a lot of answers that we predicted, and because we did the rehearsal, I knew where to take the conversation… We knew when he’d deflect, and we had a response ready. There were stories about him having a shell company in France, and because we knew the name of the company, he couldn’t deflect and he told us the story. We asked him about the private jets and the Picasso paintings and the Tipu Sultan sword, and he answered how he saw fit.”

Shamani said that he doesn’t want to judge anybody, nor does he want to take sides, but he wants to present facts as they are and trusts the system to do what is right. “There is zero difference in how we approach guests on the podcast; for me, he was just like any other guest,” Shamani said. On the podcast, Mallya spoke about living in exile, and his desire to settle the massive sum of money that he owes. He also spoke about being labeled a ‘fugitive’, and said, “Call me a fugitive for not going to India post-March (2016). I didn’t run away, I flew out of India on a prescheduled visit. Fair enough, I did not return for reasons that I consider are valid, so if you want to call me a fugitive, go ahead, but where is the ‘chor’ coming from… where is the ‘chori’?”

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Entertainment Raj Shamani opens up about viral Vijay Mallya interview, reveals BTS 'bhasad', says fugitive would 'deflect' as expected