Tarun Katial has often been asked which college he attends. An honest mistake, given that the 31-year-old still looks like a teenager in his freshman year.
But after seven years and memorable stints at Star and Sony, Katial—one of the most successful execs in the industry—has finally graduated to a new medium, radio. A month ago, he joined the team at the Reliance-owned start-up Adlabs Radio as chief operating officer. ‘‘I wanted to take on a new challenge. I was always interested in radio, but it was never viable before this,’’ says Katial, a tad out of sync in the office space with his casual cords and sneakers. Even on the rare occasion when he does put on a suit, the sports shoes remain.
With 45 stations across the country to play with, Katial will be at the vortex of the next communication revolution, FM Phase II. And he’s not intimidated by the unfamiliarity of a new medium. ‘‘It’s still media, the audiences are the same, the challenge will be to go really local, because that’s what radio will be all about,’’ he says.
Despite the switch, Katial can hardly hope to sever ties with the television world. He spent his learning years as Sameer Nair’s apprentice and admits that his time at Star was professionally the most exciting.
Even some of his closest friends, Nikhil Alva, Aditya Singh and Ekta Kapoor are all small screen veterans. And they’ve had some wild times together. ‘‘Till about two years ago, we used to party hard every night,’’ he laughs.
It was Yashodhara Oberoi (actor Viveik Oberoi’s mother) who set him on the path to spiritual healing, by convincing him to take a crash course in Vipassana. Ever since he’s been hooked onto meditation and tirelessly tries to recruit all his friends into his way of life.
‘‘I don’t wear leather and I’ve given up eating meat, I’m almost Buddhist,’’ he says.
The music lover, also the hand behind Indian Idol and Fame Gurukul, is good friends with singer Sonu Nigam and last year’s Idol Abhijeet Sawant. ‘‘I can’t sing at all, but sometimes we get together at my house and have marathon music sessions,’’ he says.
Few people know that Katial also dabbles in home decor. From the streets of Europe to the bylanes of Chor Bazaar, he’s carried back chests and lamps from all over, one of the few perks of flying business class.
‘‘I love decorating houses, I’ve been doing it forever,’’ he says. After all, it is making something out of nothing that keeps him going.