“Stardust has always told facts, not gossip!” An interview with Nari Hira, founding editor of Stardust Magazine Piyush Roy Vol. 2, No. 3, pp. 121–136 | ISSN 2050-487X | www.southasianist.ed.ac.uk www.southasianist.ed.ac.uk | ISSN 2050-487X | pg. 121 Vol. 2, No. 3, pp. 121–136 “Stardust has always told facts, not gossip!” An interview with Nari Hira, founding editor of Stardust Magazine Piyush Roy University of Edinburgh, [email protected] For 100 years, Indian cinema and its galaxy of stars have defined the drama on screen for generations of viewers and fans across the globe. For nearly half that time span, India’s leading film magazine in English (and Hindi), Stardust, has been a much ‘trusted’ source for some equally engaging real life drama ‘revolving’ around the lives of Bollywood’s bold and beautiful off screen. The rise of Stardust is a unique single-magazine driven 20th century media success story, that made Magna Publishing Co. Ltd. one of the largest magazine groups in India long before other publishing houses joined the trend of diversifying risk with myriad theme publications. Loved and loathed by its star subjects, consumed to addiction by its readers, and aspired for by journalists as a valuable and influential access to the film industry, Stardust remains for its founder-editor, Nari Hira – a legacy, an alter ego, and an attitude to reporting that continues to make headlines in a far more competitive and crowded space since its near monopolistic success for over two decades with a circulation of peak 300,000 plus copies and annual issues sold in ‘black’. Breaking film industry scoops may no longer be exclusive to Stardust, but a presence on its cover page still remains a dearly desired honour for many film stars. In a free and frank interview Piyush Roy, former Editor of StarWeek and Stardust, talks to Nari Hira, the uncrowned pioneer of ‘tabloid journalism in India’ and Chairman & Managing Director of the Magna Publishing Co. Ltd. on four decades of the Stardust impact story and how and why could it shape and set the agenda for film journalism in India, apart from making writing in ‘Hinglish’ acceptable and fashionable. Fresh insights are also provided on what went behind the making of some of Bollywood’s biggest scoops of the last 50 years www.southasianist.ed.ac.uk | ISSN 2050-487X | pg. 122 Piyush Roy: How was the Indian film magazine scene in the 1970s around the launch of Stardust1? Nari Hira: There used to be a lot of competition in the film magazine space in those days. There were magazines like Filmfare, Star & Style, Picture Post, Film World and few other smaller publications themed around cinema. But I found Figure 1. Veteran Bollywood star Dharmendra with Nari Hira that all of them, especially the leading ones like at the MAX Stardust Awards 2008 held on January 27, 2008 Filmfare, were basically PR (Public Relations) NH: In the 1970s, Shobhaa4 (De) used to work magazines. You would have elaborate photo with me, in the copy department of my advertising features showing Waheeda Rehman, Nanda and agency, Creative Unit. One fine day, I told her, ‘Do Sadhna2 sitting and making sand castles in you want to get out of here since you are not Mumbai’s Juhu beach. It was pathetic reading with getting along with the executives you are working hardly any content of genuine interest. My with?’ She hated them and they hated her, it was background was advertising. I was born, bred and kind of a mutual dislike. So to find a noble way out brought up in South Bombay. I was not an avid for her, we decided on this magazine, designed Hindi movie watcher like to the extent of an the Stardust logo. Until today we are using the average Indian fan, but we did know a Feroze same logo that we had started 40 plus years ago Khan3 at the Derby, and the likes. We had a and I worked on the headlines of our first snobbish attitude towards Indian movie stars. But I ‘breaking’ story on Rajesh Khanna. He was ‘the had always wondered why no one was writing reigning star’ in those days, and the biggest anything about their private lives, which the curiosity around him was whether he was married general public is interested about the most. or not? We published a story declaring that he was ‘secretly married’. At that time we knew Anju PR: How did the first cover story come about Mahendroo5 and her mother, who happily fed us and what did it reveal about the focus, attitude the story because she wanted Rajesh to marry and USP (Unique Selling Proposition) of the Anju. magazine at its ‘birth’? 1 The interview was conducted at Mr. Nari Hira’s Mumbai- based office, Magna House on 22 May, 2013. 4 Former Editor of Stardust, columnist and author of popular 2 Leading Hindi cinema heroines of the 1960s. fiction. 3 A leading Bollywood film hero of late 1960s and 1970s 5 Hindi film model and actress from the 1970s, who went on known for his flamboyant lifestyle. to become a popular television star. www.southasianist.ed.ac.uk | ISSN 2050-487X | pg. 123 So we started the first issue sitting in the offices of Creative Unit with a team of rookie journalists, who incidentally ended up being some of the best journalists we ever had. It was pure luck. Ingrid Albuquerque, Uma Rao, Binoy Thomas… the names that everyone remembers, and Vanita Ghosh, who joined little later – they all took to the job like a duck takes to water. They used to go out and find the stories, while Shobhaa and I, sat in the office, adding and subtracting to their inputs quite happily and thus Stardust was born. The cover story – Was Rajesh Khanna Secretly Married? – was a shocker! While other magazines were priced at Rs. 1, we priced ourselves at Rs. 2 and went on Figure 2: 1970s’ superstar Rajesh Khanna adorns the cover the stands. I took hoardings all over India and we of the first Stardust issue (October 1971) sold 25,000 copies in three days. Such figures in so short a time were absolutely unheard of at that surprised me were the leaps and bounds with which time! Since then, there has been no looking back it grew. I had to change my first press because it and the rest as they say is history. We looked at our could never handle the massive demand; soon we product and said that now we could do whatever opted for a bigger second press. Eventually we had we want. to start our own printing unit in order to print the huge number of copies that were required. PR: Had you anticipated such a phenomenal take-off? PR: Given a chance would you like to make any changes in the script of the Stardust ‘birth’ NH: Yes, I was very sure that it was going to story? happen. I was basically a marketing person. Copy was my forte, as I used to write advertising copies. NH: None exactly, though in retrospect, I do regret So I knew what the hunger must be for the people that we were a bit unfair on the stars sometimes, to know what’s happening behind the screen in the especially in the early days as we were so lives of their idols. There was no doubt in my mind disconnected from them. Neither did we attend on whether the magazine would take off. Its their film parties, nor did we have the need to be in success didn’t take me by surprise at all. What their goods books or aspired to get invited to drinks www.southasianist.ed.ac.uk | ISSN 2050-487X | pg. 124 or dinner with them. Hence we could afford to As regards, Baburao Patel, he indeed was a write whatever we felt. So far they had been pioneering editor in the English film magazine interacting with poor journalists, many of who space in India, but he also eventually ended up hung out on their doles, but I had done very well getting into politics, which we never did. He was for myself, had a terrace apartment in South very good, there’s no doubt about that, but I think Bombay and the works. So when we threw parties his publication lost its edge when its focus ended and invited the stars over instead, they were all up being political. astonished with their mouths wide open to see that in status and comforts we were actually equal to PR: So was there any other scare for the film them, or at least not less than them. industry before Patel, and Stardust and its Neeta’s Natter? PR: Was Stardust based on - or inspired by - any earlier Indian or foreign film magazine? Its NH: If you are asking about a film columnist of caustic quips on the personal lives of stars (e.g. reckon and concern, then according to me, it was the Neeta’s Natter6) do remind one of Baburao not Patel, but rather Devyani Chaubal. She was the Patel’s unsparing criticisms in Film India from one, who I would call was the first major ‘gossip’ a previous generation. columnist of the Indian film world. She wasn’t owned by any publication though many pretended NH: I used to read Photoplay and Movie Mirror, to know who she was. She definitely was someone which had a section called ‘Hopper’s Hat’ or who the stars feared besides us, and she functioned something like that.