Wednesday, 1 January 2020

Archive of Sridevi on Cine Blitz cover from the early 80s to 2017.

Sridevi was frequently featured on the cover of Cine Blitz from the early years till her last.  Here are some - not all of Sri's covers for CB.

Since Rita Mehta left Cine Blitz, the quality of the magazine, the cheekiness, the fun, the boldness, the ambition... all has come tumbling down we are sorry to state, in our humble opinion. No more exclusives, no more tongue-in-cheek editorials, no original ideas, it's a sliver of what it used to be. Now the trouble the magazine is the economics of it - yes we understand, but it's also no longer a quality product. Too many pontifications, not enough interviews, no variety, sloppy writing, quality in print, bad art direction, amateur layout, the same handful of 'stars' (many randoms), the same handful of people repeatedly featured. oyve. There used to be a moment where you'd see the magazine glittering on the newsstand - it really stood out with strong covers, now its so humdrum. Its especially sad when they are either old pictures, or deja-vu ones that other magazines have carried or are simultaneously carrying...

The best writing and reviews are now online. The best images are on social media by the photographers themselves, so why bother paying a good ruppee for something that's free online already?!

It's a shame really as CB was a part of the holy trinity of film magazines - Stardust, Filmfare being the others - who've survived till date (its sad many Indian / Bollywood film magazines/tabloids have closed shop...!) -

Digital killed  newsstand sales, there's no denying it. The numbers have been on a steady decline. Sad.

We have incredibly fondness for print - and we have a huge collection from the late 80s till date. But even we've stopped buying magazines. Takes up too much space, maintenance, its heavy...

Obviously as a desk-jockey, we have several ideas on how to rescue the mag from its inevitable doom but then... I feel there are others with such lofty quixotic ideas too so shall refrain from further comment.

In the meantime, a look at some of our fav Sridevi portraits that made cover. Every image is either by Rakesh Shreshta or Gautam Rajadhyaksha. One from Ashok Salian and the last by Dabboo Ratnani.

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