CZAR OF STAR

In his gripping memoir, Peter Mukerjea sheds light on what made Star TV an industry leader under his decade-long leadership

- K. SUNIL THOMAS

Star Struck: Confessions of a TV Executive By Peter Mukerjea

Published by Westland Business

In the 2000s, it was not uncommon to find a female Star TV executive primping at a beauty salon during duty hours. And on the company tab. For head honcho Peter Mukerjea, workplace atmosphere and ethos were significant parameters, and he spared no expense. “Quite often I compensated people more than what they expected be- cause only then could you get them to constantly deliver great results,” Mukerjea told THE WEEK.

This anecdotal reveal, and many other insights that pepper Mukerjea’s just-released memoir Star Struck, help shed light on his rather legendary run in India’s corporate echelons. Helming Star India from 1997 to 2007, Mukerjea transformed the then also-ran TV network, and its flagship Hindi entertainment channel Star Plus in particular, into an industry leader.

Of course, mum’s the word when it comes to those problematic travails in his later life—like being implicated in the Sheena Bora case. There is not even a whiff of a mention of the ‘mum’ in question. Instead, Mukerjea’s book focuses, very much in a horse-with-blinders-on mode, on his days at Star TV.

“It would not be an honest response if I said this was not intentional,” he admits, adding, “I was very clear in my mind that this was about my professional life and nothing else.”