Bollywood Magazines

[Ratnalekha]

This is probaly an old issue,I found it on her website. Oh and I just got the new issue of Cine Blitz,it has Rani on the cover,she looks gorgeous!

[sirf_mein]

^ Ah right, ok. Yeah the headlines on that issure were looking a little dated. i officially HAVE to get my hands on that new cineblitz mag, reliable or not 

[corbie]

I am not sure this is in the right place but here goes. After reading People magazine and a couple of other gossipy rags while camping, something I don't ordinarily do, I decided I wanted to get a subscription to a Bollywood magazine. What are the best ones and why? Does anyone know?

[Ratnalekha]

I like Filmfare and Cine Blitz the best but I can't really give you a reason why except that the articles are interesting to read and that they come with neat posters which I don't think is any help for you lol.

[corbie]

It looks like I can afford both since they are on sale at Nehaflix. I do have one last very very very stupid question. They are in English?

[humsurfer]

It looks like I can afford both since they are on sale at Nehaflix. I do have one last very very very stupid question. They are in English?

In India, you can get them in many languages. Hindi and Gujarati for sure. In the US, I don't know - I suppose they'd only sell the English edition here, but then again, given the readership, possibly not.

Stardust is another "gossip rag" that you find at the doctor's in INdia. It's real fun for while you wait . I've read perused it in Hindi and English.

[corbie]

I can't afford three. Sigh. So my question is now, which two and I assume they are in English sold here. I could do something silly like write Nehaflix.

[Ratnalekha]

The ones I got in this Indian cornerstore were in English and I would assume they are on Nehaflix too.If you have to choose two I would go with Filmfare and if you like the gossipy type,Stardust.

[humsurfer]

In fairness, there are others as well: Screen India, Movie Mag, others that are exclusively in Hindi, not to mention the ones that focus exclusively on the regional cinemas, but if you're interested only in the Hindi industry, Filmfare (which is more serious), Cineblitz, Stardust and SCREEN are the main ones. Google and you should find them all.

[Darshana]

I find Film Fare massively better than any others I've read.  It absolutely does not make things up, it prints fairly intelligent interviews and articles, its doesn't have that kind of scummy tone that these publications often do - no vulgar innuendo.

Lots of good photos etc.

For a second one I don't know which one. 

[corbie]

I found Stardust on Amazon for $60 for 12 issues, Filmfare only on Nehaflix $77 for 12 issues and Cineblitz $77 on Nehaflix 12 issues for $77 and 52 issues for $74 on Amazon. That last one has me totally confused.

Still researching and taking suggestions.

[humsurfer]

I found Stardust on Amazon for $60 for 12 issues, Filmfare only on Nehaflix $77 for 12 issues and Cineblitz $77 on Nehaflix 12 issues for $77 and 52 issues for $74 on Amazon. That last one has me totally confused.

Still researching and taking suggestions.

Talk about being ripped off . These magazines sell on-stand for about Rs 40-50 in India, which is around $1; with regular subscription, maybe about 20 Rs. Here Stardust seems to be $5 an issue which sounds ridiculous even taking shipping into account. You might do better just getting your issues from India.

[Darshana]

To be fair - the issues are printed in India, which means they would have to be sent to subscribers individually from there, and probably not by the slowest possible method!!!  Because how useful is three-month old gossip?  Unless Nehaflix wants to buy them in bulk and mail them from the US.

I think I pay $3 or something buying them at one of the few stores in Manhattan that has them.  I can walk there, otherwise you could add $3.60 to the price, supposing I took a bus and not a taxi.  (Yes, the fare is $2 but you get 20% off when you buy a card.) 

[Gi BW addict]

Hello "Corbie"

I usually read Filmfare, as it is the wider range magazine: they have articles on non commercial films as well, their peoples intervew tend to focus on carreer and not private life. But the magazine is changing softly into a boring fashion and gossip one, read it before it is too late! Price in Dehli is 35 Rs, in Paris 3 euros!
Check carefully though: they have national and regional edition with slightly different features. Propably you'll get the national edition anyway.
As for the second magazine: Stardust is really gossipy about scantily clad actresses we do not even know. Cinteblitz is slightly better. On the other hand, Cinteblitz and Filmfare tend to be quite similar, why don't you buy only one magazine?

[wannabe]

For reliable, non-gossipy information, I find Screen to be the best.  Filmfare has its share of gossip, although that is mostly in the spin it gives to articles, as opposed to actually fabricating items.  So reliability wise it, too, is OK, and it does have the respect due to age. 

But those prices are absurd. You can read Screen online for free, and you used to be able to read Filmfare online as well.  The last time I checked, you could read all the old issues of  Filmfare online without any trouble, but to read the current issue, you had to register with them.  The registration was free, but they asked a lot of personal information which I felt was none of their business, so I didn't register.  It was OK with me to read the articles one month late. But actually, I haven't read either magazine for a while now, so I'm probably not the  model you were looking for.

OTOH, if you want gossip, then you should get Stardust and CineBlitz. Just don't believe anytihng you read.  If there is a sizeable Indian population in your area, it is possible that your public library subscribes to one or more of these magazines (I have usualy seen Filmfare and Stardust in libraries; I don't remember Cine Blitz.)

Save your money for DVD's!! 

ETA:  Uh-oh!  I tried to check if the Filmfare site was operational yet (they were down for revamping a little while ago), and Google gave me a warning messge that "This site may harm your computer" by installing malicious spyware.  However, the good news is that you can get pretty much all the same information by going to: http://movies.indiatimes.com/, since th is is the parent company that owns Filmfare, and the articles are just recycled from here to the magazine.  What you wont' get are the columns by Shtrughna Sinha and the reader's feedback.

You can read Screen magazine at www.screenindia.com.  Not only is it free and reliable, but you can also read their archives going back for many years. Alas, they now don't go as far back as they used to, but a few years ago, I got a kick out of reading the review of Deewana from their 1992 issue, where they predict that "this brilliant newcomer should go far in the industry". (SRK).

[corbie]

I think I am going to go with Filmfare. I know it is expensive versus reading it on line, but I want to take magazines with me camping etc. I don't want made up gossip, something more like People magazine. I was thinking of getting Filmfare and Cineblitz but if they are similar, not much point. Stardust sounds too much like National Inquirer.

Thank you for all the input!

[humsurfer]

I think I am going to go with Filmfare. I know it is expensive versus reading it on line, but I want to take magazines with me camping etc. I don't want made up gossip, something more like People magazine. I was thinking of getting Filmfare and Cineblitz but if they are similar, not much point. Stardust sounds too much like National Inquirer.

Thank you for all the input!

Okay, but as the parisienne GBWA says, beware that Filmfare is sort of boring these days - I think it competes with mags like Cosmopolitan these days. The last time I happened to flick through it, it was all about women's fashion, what colour eyeshadow goes with your grocerybag or whatever. If you want film stories, I'd go with SCREEN or CineBlitz.

Before subscribing, why don't you pick up an issue of each mag at your local dealer's and then decide.

[corbie]

I just tried that. I went by the Indian grocery in our area. Not great. No magazines, no new soundtracks, no food that I can eat. I will have to call the store in Aurora and see what they carry. He usually has up to date music and I know he has a least one of the magazines. But it is a half a day to go and come back and we just did that last week and my poor husband wants to do other things on our only day off together!

[corbie]

Ok, I got it. My poor sister, who lives real close to the Indian place that has all three does not know yet that the owner is holding all three magazines for when she comes in tomorrow. She works close to me so I can just go to her work and pick them up. Where there is an obsession, there is a way!

[Gi BW addict]

I just made a comparative test with the June issues of Filmfare and Cineblitz
the 4-5 pages of gossip in broken english (pretending to look cool maybe?) of Cinteblitz is really crappy! and the rest of it not so very good/interesting
the fashion relooking in Filmfare is crap
Filmfare is still slightly better when it comes to "giving readers information about indian movies"
regards
Gi

[Poonam]

In the first place, are Indian film magazines easily available overseas ? Or do you need to subscribe to them to ensure a regular supply? I know the general opinion (which I share) here about filmi journalism - even so, who doesn't have a weakness for the glossies? Let's hear about which ones you like to read (and why), which ones you detest.

I don't spend too much time on filmi mags, since there's lots of tidbits every day in the papers. When I'm hanging out at the dentist's reception area or getting a pedicure, that's when I sink my teeth into Filmfare/Cine Blitz and read the damn thing cover to cover. I never buy them. There's a magazine circulating library near my home, so if I spot anything remotely SRK related on the cover of a mag, I borrow it for a quick flip-through. Generally stay away from Stardust. Their gossip columns are fun sometimes, but the articles really get to me, spinning rubbish out of thin air and pretending to be the gospel truth. So I've given up on this mag.

[mainhoonemily]

Where I live (a relatively large city in Kansas) the only way to get Indian magazines is by subscribing.  Nowhere here sells them.

I subscribed to Filmfare for a year, but wasn't terribly impressed by it.  I'm not interested in filmi gossip so much, though, I just like the movies.  Could care less about people's personal lives. 

[filmifan]

i only read Filmfare; the rest are too tabloidy. but i have been debating on letting my subscription go, as Filmfare seems to be going the bitchy, obsessed-with-gossip route. and in the past year, i've become rather slack about reading the things; i'm like 5 issues behind right now!

but i did enjoy the Gulzar column and still find the occasional articles on yesteryear peoples to be informative.

i get them through the Nehaflix subscription because my fave desi shop is rather hit-or-miss with keeping magazines in stock. it just saves me a trip to the store(s).

[ber]

In Paris I buy Hindi Stardust and Filmi Pariyaan (Hindi too) from time to time. They are available in Indian shops. Actually I buy them only because their Hindi is quite easy to understand (simple vocabulary) since I'm not interested in gossip. There are some English and Urdu magazines too but I've never looked precisely at what's available.

Overall I don't find them interesting.

[Savera]

i get them through the Nehaflix subscription because my fave desi shop is rather hit-or-miss with keeping magazines in stock. it just saves me a trip to the store(s).

Nehaflix charges WAY too much for Filmfare-- currently $77 <faint> for a year's subscription outside India. The best deal is at:

http://www.shopping.indiatimes.com/ism/faces/tiles/catalogue.jsp?catalogueID=20375475

I just renewed for about $36!!