Always kind, always fair, always even-tempered…that’s how I will remember Pradeep Guha. One of the original media barons of Indian journalism, he came into the Times Of India like a typhoon, changed around the pieces on the chess board.It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say he revolutionized the Times group with his radical ideas . Glamour and showmanship seeped into the group. One heard exotic tales of Mr Guha’s tryst with various stars. For a young journalist from Patna he seemed distant and unapproachable.
In fact he was neither. When I contacted him he was surprisingly warm accessible and responsive. He said good things about my writing and granted me a weekly column in Bombay Times, a big thing for a 28-year old.
He also produced a number of films for the Times among which Fiza directed by my friend Khalid Mohamed was a stand-out.
After that the Times did with Mr Guha what they do with all powerful media personalities: they clipped his wings. He moved on , started the DNA paper which, considering the formidable competition, was another success story and then moved on.
I caught up with him again recently and we began working together again in a totally stress-free atmosphere. No politics, no games of oneupanship. Mr Guha was a true democrat in the media space. He believed in team spirit and he believed in positive journalism. When after re-connecting with him recently I sent him a sarcastic piece on Shah Rukh Khan’s Zero he shot back, ‘We don’t do malicious stories specially not when a film has not worked. It happens to the best of them.And Shah Rukh is among the best’.
His words reflected on the person he was. Mr Guha was a favourite among the stars of Bollywood. His circle of close friends included many, if not all, A-listers. He was born a media baron, he died a media baron.
Your going was so sudden.You will be missed, Mr Guha.
