'Stardust has always told facts, not gossip!' An interview with Nari Hira, founding editor of Stardust Magazine

Abstract

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.