To Star and beyond: V Jagannathan's Midas touch made Star Health 'sparkle'

As he gears up to launch an insurance start-up at 79, Jagannathan has the energy of a 30-year-old and the confidence of a veteran, writes Shine Jacob

Chennai’s Poes Garden is a tony neighbourhood and home to Tamil Nadu’s who’s who. The larger-than-life Rajinikanth lives here and the sprawling residence of the late J Jayalalithaa, the state’s former chief minister, is also located here. I am headed to one of Poes Garden’s upscale homes for a coffee with its owner, Venkatasamy Jagannathan, the man who founded India’s first standalone health insurance firm, Star Health and Allied Insurance Company.

The complex is called Le Grand Trianon after the château Louis XIV, the king of France, got built in Versailles in the late 17th century. Its architecture is also