It hurts to see that there isn’t even a single review written on this product. Primarily because it is now out of circulation. And it is even rare to find a copy or two on the raddi stand.
This was the magazine where I first started out as a film journalist and hence it is indeed very special to me. More special than mere words can say. The Zee Premiere office was where I learnt how to write like a professional, how to meet stars and how to be a non-gossippy journalist.
No Gossip was the bottomline of the magazine. A principal followed by the editor Rauf Ahmed all the thirty odd years he has been in the business. There is more to stars than just their star persona and their affairs.
Which I realized in due course is so true. They are after all humans too. They laugh when something funny is said, cry when something touches them. The magazine started by the Zee network was an attempt to get into the lives of filmstars but not probe into it.
Since it was a monthly magazine there was no news value attached to it per say. The highlight of the magazine was features, articles and glamourous pictures. Printed on costly art paper it made sense to use good quality pictures.
Some of the regular features included in the magazine were Four Walls (shooting a star at home), Friends (real life star friends), Romance (real or reel life lovers), On the sets (on shooting location), and a special 16-page pullout on a particular star.
The pullout was a huge hit since it not just featured the life - personal and professional of a star alongwith was a poster as well.
Right from the first issue which had Kajol on the cover to the next 22 issues and one special issue on Romance it was a great learning experience for me.
And trusting the feedback I got I believe it was a visual and editorial treat for the readers as well.
Do let me know if you have had the chance of browsing any of the issues. After all that is the beauty of print – unlike television – you can have a dekko at it even after years.