Filmfare

Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Use Indian English Template:Infobox magazine Filmfare is an Indian English-language fortnightly magazine published by Worldwide Media. Acknowledged as one of India's most popular entertainment magazines, it publishes pieces involving news, interviews, photos, videos, reviews, events, and style. The magazine also annually gives the Filmfare Awards, the Filmfare Awards South, the Filmfare Awards East, the Filmfare Marathi Awards, the Filmfare Awards Punjabi, the Filmfare Awards Bangla, the Filmfare OTT Awards, the Filmfare Short Film Awards and the Filmfare Style & Glamour Awards.

After the businessman Ramkrishna Dalmia (1893–1978) of Dalmia Group purchased Bennett, Coleman and Company Limited (BCCL) in 1946, J. C. Jain from Bharat Insurance Company was employed to help him in running the company in 1950. In this period, Jain conceived the idea of Filmfare at the actress Kamini Kaushal's house. The magazine was launched by the industrialist Sahu Shanti Prasad Jain alongside his wife Rama in Bombay on 7 March 1952. Its circulation started to decline in the early 1990s and to handle these problems, Filmfare started special monthly editions for Telugu, Tamil, and Malayalam cinema. In 2004, BCCL (who previously published the magazine) established a subsidiary, Worldwide Media, for publishing its future issues.

History

Establishment (1946–1952)

Ramkrishna Dalmia (1893–1978)Template:Sfn was born in Chirawa into a Marwari family. He had a brother, Jaidayal Dalmia, with whom he established Dalmia Group in the 1930s. In 1946, on the threshold of the independence of India from the United Kingdom, Ramkrishna Dalmia purchased Bennett, Coleman and Company Limited (BCCL) for Template:INRConvert. According to Sangita P. Menon Malhan's The TOI Story (2013), the purchase was by him solely because he wanted to establish newspapers that could help him to "serve India effectively".Template:Sfn While Dalmia was searching for a person to help him to run it, J. C. Jain, a former employee of Bharat Insurance Company, saw the opportunity and took it in March 1950; he became the company's general manager until 1963.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>

During his term-of-office, Jain started the publication of Filmfare as a fortnightly magazine on 7 March 1952 to "build awareness about filmmaking and films".Template:Sfnm<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> It was launched by Sahu Shanti Prasad Jain and his wife Rama in Bombay,Template:Sfn distributed by The Times of India newspaper,Template:Sfn and promoted with the taglines, "Another name for 'CredibilityTemplate:'" and "The first serious effort in film journalism in India".Template:Sfnm It contains short biography of rising actors at the time, film reviews, and a number of columns, including "The Fortnight in Films" and "Filmfacts".<ref name="Filmfare, March 1952" /> Published two months after the 1st International Film Festival of India, Neepa Majumdar (in her 2012 book Global Neorealism: The Transnational History of a Film Style) wrote that the magazine "saw the festival as an opportunity for Indian film [actors] to be exposed to quality films" and established themselves as leading actors.Template:Sfn In the first issue, a manifesto was declared:

It is from this dual standpoint of its industry and its patrons, whom comprise the vast audience of movie fans, that Filmfare is primarily designed. This magazine represents the first serious effort in film journalism in India. It is a movie magazine—with a difference. The difference lies in our realisation that the film as a composite art medium calls for serious study and constructive criticism and appreciation from the industry as also from the public.<ref name="Filmfare, March 1952">Template:Cite magazine</ref>

The Filmfare Awards (1953–2001)

In the following year, Filmfare instituted the Filmfare Awards (previously Clare Awards, named after Clare Mendonça).Template:Sfn<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Modelled after the Academy Awards, the winners were voted by a total of 20,000 of the magazine's readers.Template:Sfn<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The first iteration's ceremony took place at Metro Cinema in Bombay on 21 March 1954, and only five categories without nominations were presented: Best Film, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, and Best Music Director.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The award has been considered one of the oldest and most prominent film awards in India;<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Business Line called it "one such coveted award".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In 1957, Filmfare published the "Self-portraits" series, where several well-known actors at the time, including Ashok Kumar, Dev Anand, Dilip Kumar, Meena Kumari, Nargis, Nutan and Raj Kapoor, were invited and accepted to talk about themselves and their experiences.Template:Sfn The magazine faced controversy after the actress Sharmila Tagore did a shot with her photographer Dhiren Chawda with only wearing a two-piece floral bikini for its 19 August 1966 issue. The first time for an Indian celebrity to pose with only a bikini for a magazine cover, she revealed that it was her personal choice but later admitted she had "no idea" why she wanted to.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In association with United Producers (a group formed by G. P. Sippy, Shakti Samanta and B. R. Chopra), Filmfare organised the United Producers-Filmfare Talent Contest (also known as the All India Talent Contest)Template:Efn in 1965.Template:Sfn

In the 1970s, Rauf Ahmed worked as the editor of the magazine, replacing B. K. Karanjia who had filled the position for 18 years.Template:Efn Talking to Daily News and Analysis in 2015, Ahmed spoke of how the magazine nearly collapsed at the time as no gossip columns were written by its journalist.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Following his quit, Bikram Singh (the actor K. N. Singh's brother)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> was hired for the position until the early of the next decade.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Pritish Nandy replaced him in 1984; the first issue he edited was published in July that year, titled "Unquestionably No. 1", which features the actress Sridevi on the cover.<ref>Template:Cite tweet</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The circulation of Filmfare dropped in the early 1990s, prompting the publisher to attach free consumer products (such as soaps or shampoo sachets) to the magazine. Additionally, special monthly editions with a few pages dedicated to Malayalam, Tamil and Telugu cinema were begun and, as reported by The Quint in 2019, become commercial successes. Khalid Mohamed was appointed as the editor in 1993.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Ownership change (2002–present)

File:Vijay actor in 2007 receiving his gift from filmfare magazine ceo.jpg

Actor Vijay inaugurating the event in 2007 and receiving his gift from Filmfare magazine CEO at the launch of South edition of Filmfare magazine

In 2002, following Mohamed's nine-year tenure, Shashi Baliga replaced him as FilmfareTemplate:'s editor; in an article published in Business Line, she described the occupation as "an opportunity that came unsought".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> BCCL announced their joint venture with the BBC Worldwide, a company named Worldwide Media, on 1 December 2004; the new company later published the future issues of the magazine.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2006, Jitesh Pillai was appointed as the new editor.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Filmfare launched the Filmfare Awards East in 2014,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> the Filmfare Style & Glamour Awards and Filmfare Marathi Awards in 2015,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> the Filmfare Short Film Awards in 2016,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> the Filmfare Awards Punjabi in 2017, and the Filmfare OTT Awards in 2020.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Template:As of, the magazine was published by Joji Varghese under The Times Group's subsidiary Worldwide Media and Pillai served as the editor.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>

Reception

Filmfare covers news, interviews, photos, videos, reviews, events, and style.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> It is considered one of the most popular and reputable magazines in India;<ref name="Boltin 52–5">Template:Citation</ref> The Illustrated Weekly of India referred to the magazine as "decorous",<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> and British magazine The Spectator praised it for "[providing] a good example of how the mainstream media marginalizes certain films as 'sleazeTemplate:'".<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> According to a 2004 article by The Economic Times, the magazine's monthly print circulation was 147,000. In 2008, the cinema and cultural analysis professor Rachel Dwyer estimated that it was 200,000.Template:Sfn In a survey conducted by the Indian Readership Survey, the circulation of the magazine was 276,000 in 2013 and 342,000 in 2014.<ref name="survey" />

See also

• List of magazines in India

Bibliography

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External links

• Template:Official website

 Official website Filmfare Middle East