Harihara S A

Early Life: Hariharan, the second son born into a Tamil family in the year 1988, has been a resident of Chennai his entire life. With schooling completed at the Sri Sitaram Vidyalaya Matriculation in Mambalam, he went on to pursue his Visual communication degree from D.G. Vaishnav college followed by his master’s in communication from Gurunanak college. Years later he went on to complete his MA Security & Diplomacy, [Tel Aviv University], [Israel].

Career: Hariharan, started his career with the Makkal TV by hosting a series of shows, ranging from pets to telemarketing.[1]. After his stint at the Makkal TV, Hariharan moved to Thanti TV under the then editor [Rangaraj Pandey]. He started with the news desk and quickly moved up the ladder to start hosting the daily prime debate show [Ayudha Ezhuthu] [2] Hariharan’s approach to the subject of the day to his handling of the debate guests roped in viewership to the show, making it a popular news programme in Tamil TV Channels. [3]

Hariharan is also known for hosting Thanti TV’s election show Makkal Yaar Pakkam.[4] This show that has been aired since the 2014 parliamentary general elections has been well received for its flow and detailing. [5]

Hariharan went on to also anchor the popular Kelvikenna Badhil show on Thanti TV. It is through this show and his interviews with prominent global leaders he rose to limelight in the national media. Hariharan also enjoyed a brief stint in the national English media by being a prominent anchor on the then newly launched [Republic TV] of [Arnab Goswami].[6]

Interview with [Narendra Modi] Hariharan’s interview with India’s Prime Minister [Narendra Modi] was the first one by the Prime Minister during the election season of 2024. A lengthy interview in which the Prime Minister spoke in length about national and state politics was well received.[7]

Interview with [Pervez Musharaf] In a one of its kind rare, direct interviews to the Indian media, specially to a vernacular, the former president of Pakistan [Pervez Musharaf] gave an explosive interview to Hariharan covering sensitive area of war, Indo-Pak relationship, talking about Kargil and more. This interview sent shock waves for the nature of its content and its timing. Notably this was Mr. Musharaf’s last ever televised interview.[8]

Interview with [Mahinda Rajapaksa] Sri Lankan political leadership often avoids direct interaction with Tamil media, however, Hariharan was successful in interviewing the top politicians of the island nation. This included the fiery interview with the then president [Mahinda Rajapaksa] who on the show spoke elaborately on the post war approach by his government.[9]

Interview with [Mahathir Mohamad] Hariharan’s interview with Dr. Mahathir Mohamad of Malaysia remains to be his only interview given to an Indian News Media . The Interview generated headlines across South East Asia triggering a massive political debate in Malaysian Politics with Malaysia’s Prime Minister and the entire Political spectrum joining the debate on issues related to ethnicity, immigrants and trade. Several editorials in Malaysia and its neighborhood wrote in detail on this interaction.[10] [11]

Interviews with other notable leaders Hariharan’s series of interviews ranges from covering Chief ministers within India such as [M.K. Stalin] to those of foreign political heads such as [Ranil Wickramasinghe][12], [13]

His interviews with India’s finance minister [Nirmala Sitharaman] [14], Malaysian Prime Minister [Anwar Ibrahim] [15], Ehud Olmart and Ehud Barak, the former prime ministers of Israel [16] delved deep into political matters of the day and set the narrative for elaborate media deliberations.