Friday, August 1, 2008

'Society' strikes .... again!!

Yup. The super team of Ashwin Varde and Manjari Bhatnagar have done it yet again in the latest issue of 'Society'. They've gone into wild territory and come up with a couple of red hot scoops. While most celeb publications these days focus on pouring honey over their subjects, 'Society' has boldly talked about a couple of high profile marriages breaking up (Queenie and Raja Dhody),A talented actor ( Saeed Jaffrey) flushing a promising career down the tube, Amar Singh sulking about Parmeshwar Godrej ignoring him... and a real biggie - Jyotiraditya Scindia's marriage to Priya Gaekwad collapsing. Now that's what I call spunky society journalism the way the rest of the world knows it. Not the sickening pr puff pieces that pass for the stuff in other glossies. Taking on big names in the social whirl takes guts. No shortage of those in Nari Hira's stable. And welcome to the club, Pronita Hira ( we are also waiting for the third generation of Hiras to carry on the family biz !! Hint. Hint).Poronita's piece on Saeed Jaffrey showed competence and promise. Nari Hira must be really proud of his young daughter-in-law.
What depresses me the most about current society journalism is the lack of critical standards. Anybody and everybody is described as a 'style icon'. Some trashy socialite buys A Birkin, and she is lauded for her great taste. Come on, guys... all it takes is money to acquire a Birkin. How about some originality? Individuality?
Frankly, the only model with both is Bhavna Sharma.The rest look like tarts or clones.Bhavna is the one - love her assorted looks and the red and luscious lipstick. Keep pouting, girl...

11 comments:

flygye12 said...

you lie about ur age don't you? ur not even forty yet.

i don't know about smart journalism in Society. But what I do know is that all the magazines in the Magna stable need a Makeover- Health society Savvy (i hope they're all magna, even if they're not they need a revamp too,along with Gladrags).

Guys there are glitzy magazines like Vogue available for competition for God's sake. Cosmo's been here for more than a decade now.

If they can't hire a magazine designer from NYC (like these other Indian pubs tend to do), at least take one nice magazine and copy it from A to Z. now that won't take much imagination. I'm sure Nari Hira and Maureen Wadia have seen good magazines in their 'illustrious' lifetime !

flygye12 said...

ps: :D sorry for playing the Devil's Advocate all the time

Kris Bass said...

Fly, I'm astonished by your knowledge of high-society magazines. I, for one, haven't touched one in a decade.

Otherwise, Ma'am De - a little suggestion. You could break up the stuff into little paragraphs to make it more reader friendly. And do a spell check!

Cheers

Comfortably Numb said...

ROFLLMAO..Amar Singh...What a waste.

I was wondering if its really you..Shobhaa De.

If you really are then I must and I MUST say that I used to read TOI only cos of your article and yes the sports section :P

Cheers!

Ranjeet Kr. Vimal said...

hmm.. I hv some questions for u..
1) r u the real shobhaa de (a famous writer)??
2) If u r then Don't u hv ur own site where u suppose to write ur invaluable thoughts and ideas??
Ans my questions.. coz I m a big fan of her.. If u r the real one then i gonna mad..
Thanx
PS: thanx for publicizing my blog :P
http://bugsnerror.blogspot.com/

Harish said...

arrey baaba, this is sachi ki Indian Superstarni Shobhaa De.

Shri Amar Singhji poor chap, now that he is singing sonia sonia, he must have been banned by the bachchans. My sympathies, empathies with the tragedies in his life. Abhi Parmeshwar ke sharan mein he has gone. Now lets hope there is no GodRage.

Queenie and Raja Dhody. Kaun? ohhh those from the Page 3 circus ke trapeze artists who jump from one party to another…

Saeed Jafferey, haan, he truly epitomizes the phrase "Career ka Vaat lagaa dena" . He could have catapulted his career to phenomenonal heights. He is in fact amongst the few actors actually educated on film craft, that too vilayati education.
but look at the others, naseer, shabana,… ekcetra ekcetra… and look at him.


... rushing to teh newspaper vendor for society ka copy...

smiles:-)
Aham

Mister Crowley said...

Pardon the ignorance, but whatever is A Birkin?

Arjun said...

it's been awhile since I opened a magazine (other than MAXIM or T3). I used to read the film mags a while ago when mom still subscribed to them.

I am contemplating... a restart... based on the trailer tit-bits left by you :-)

sanju ayyar said...

film glossies, akashwani radio etc are best enjoyed when I am at the saloon for a hair cut on a sunday.
will check out the society issue for sure. but first, i'll have to let my hair grow.

Priya Joyce said...

**What depresses me the most about current society journalism is the lack of critical standards.
I guess that's true because I too see that some issues like the ones on entertainers are raised.
I don't think anyone bothers about the society these days.
Priya!!!!

Anonymous said...

I do agree with Shobhaa De that celebrities and socialites as they are called have turned even more vacuous and vapid. If that were even possible.
As a former correspondent with Society and later the one responsible for Bombay Times, Page three, I have seen and contributed to this celebrity trend.
I now live away from the limelight in Canada and am flabbergasted at the attention these minor rich folk receive.
I wonder if the publicity they get is even worth the number of trees that have to be destroyed.
They must have a huge carbon footprint. Some of them or rather, most of them either aren't deserving of the amount of publicity they get or are simply famous for being famous.
When I used to write Bombay Times page three, a lot of the celebrities then atleast did something worth mentioning about. Today, the only thing being mentioned about is the fact that they were spotted partying and the newsworthy part is what they wore and what they drank and who they kissed.
I don't recall ever writing that sort of stuff.
I am sure Shobha who was my mentor and guide in many ways would agree. Would you Shobhaa?
Pradip Rodrigues