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Tracking down lives of glitterati
Swarleen Kaur

Nari Hira
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Stardust, Savvy and Showtime, which track down the lives of glitterati, provide loads of spicy treat to us. The man managing these publications, Nari Hira, Managing Director, Magna, Publishing Company Limited, was here in the city today. The dynamic man is also running other reputed magazines like, Health and Society and Interiors. “I belong to a Sindhi family and it is very suitable name in our tradition,” he explains the mystery behind his name. Do not magazines act like a peeping tom, making public the secrets of filmstars, robbing the fun from their life?

Kunal Ganjawala performs at Hotel Mountview, Chandigarh, on Sunday.
— A Tribune photograph |
Quickly denying the charge, he claims that 90 per cent of articles appear in his magazines with their consent”. In fact, daily newspapers are more revealing in this regard, he said. Capturing the celebrity characters, he himself very carefully shuns limelight. “I don’t give any personal interviews as I don’t want to be seen or heard. I just want my editors to remain in the spotlight”, he says firmly. Many times controversial articles appearing in his magazines have landed him in soup but he has managed to bail out safely most of the time “ We come clean because we are always right”, he asserted. He has a passion for writing and disdain for cell phones. So we were not surprised that he was not carrying a cell phone.
Sultry Bollywood actresses Amrita Arora and Preeti Jhangiani unleashed their glamorous charm at a show organised by the Magna Group Publications held at Hotel
Mountview, today. The performance of Amrita on “Dilli ki sardi” and “laila-laila” cast a spell on the viewers. Singer Kumar Ganjewal’s “Bheege Honth Tere” gave the evening the much-needed bounce. The show was held to award students of interior design and professionals from the fraternity. Anu
Chatrath, Mayor, and Nek Chand, Rock Garden creator, gave the prizes amidst the scintillating performances. |
On his first visit to the City Beautiful, he was bowled over by the beauty and greenery of the place. How did having Shobha De, editor of Stardust, help the magazine to sell? “When I chose Shobha De, she had no celebrity status. She no longer works with us. But I must say that the celebrity should not overpower the magazine. Only then it sells but if the celebrity aspect becomes more dominating, surely a collapse happens. Appreciating Madhur Bhandakar’s Page 3 movie, he said it has depicted a lot of truth though the drama element is also there. With 30 years of experience in his field, he gets the best from his staff by creating a friendly environment and by discouraging politics. He follows the mantra “living in today and plan for tomorrow”. He wants to live every dimension of life. He is aiming for a feature film in October.
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