Cover up. Review on Outlook India

Open letter to Vinod Mehta

Dear Mr. Mehta,

My entire family is an avid reader of Outlook. In fact we subscribe to the magazine as well as its views. However, the previous two issues of the magazine have left me somewhat distraught.

Let me get down to business straightaway.

Issue December 22, 2003

The cover story talks of Karan Johar: King of Hearts. Sir, this was definitely not done. One could have expected such a sales-boosting exercise from publications such as The Times of India. Outlook is a serious magazine that has often re-established one’s faith in journalism. But to have KJ, along with the hamster Shahrukh Khan and Rani Mukherjee was simply a waste of precious paper and our time. Pray, what exactly has Karan Johar done to deserve a cover in your precious magazine? After all, he has just made three highly melodramatic films – Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, Kabhie Khushie Kabhie Gham, and Kal Ho Naa Ho. All his three films are vulgar and reek of excesses, be it money, emotions, and all other resources. I would have been pleased had the piece been featured in the Cinema section of Outlook. Also, it would have been worth it had Nikhil Advani, the director of Kal Ho Naa Ho been featured in the story. I am actually scared. Today, it is Karan Johar, tomorrow it could be Ektaa Kapoor. Sir, the assembly elections have just been conducted in four states. Agreed that you have done a story on that, but a cover on a person as asinine as Digvijay Singh or the current CM of MP, Uma Bharati (the past and present of MP) would have been better. I am no one to suggest cover stories to your esteemed publication, but I definitely feel that his highness Karan Johar did not deserve this space.

Issue December 29, 2003

Agreed that Rahul Dravid has done India proud. Agreed that he along with Laxman and the usually pathetic Ajith Agarkar helped us win a test match in Australia against the world champions. Agreed that he truly deserves the title of the Wall. Agreed that he is in much better nick these days than Sachin Tendulkar. But what I do not agree is that he has become India’s best batsman ahead of the little champion – like other novices your publication too has gone on record to suggest this. And what I ABSOLUTELY, TOTALLY disagree with is the cover status that you have given to him. I agree that India beating the Aussies is a matter of pride. But will it in any way have an impact on the way the world will continue to function in the future? The answer is an emphatic NO. Saddam Hussain has allegedly been caught by the Americans and yet this matter is not of that much importance to you. You place it on some obscure corner of your cover, highlighting Rahul Dravid with his arms held aloft under the word GOD. Have we come to that? Making gimmicky filmmakers and cricketers our Gods? If the answer that you wish us to believe is yes, then sir, I am disillusioned.

I have been following your career ever since you broke away from India Today to create your brand of journalism. But I am sorry to say that with these two issues you have only confirmed what I have been believing all along – you too have sold your soul to publicity seekers, all in the name of journalism.