March 22, 2007	Thursday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 2, 1428

LONDON: Further evidence that celebrity culture is making the world a smaller place was prominently displayed on Delhi newsstands yesterday as the first Indian edition of Hello! magazine was launched with Liz Hurley on the cover.

Featuring the same glossy photographs and gushing prose on Hurley’s lavish marriage to Indian businessman Arun Nayar as the current UK edition, its publisher promised a similar mix of celebrities, royalty, sports stars and business leaders.

Most Indians identify celebrity with Bollywood actors, but Hello! said it hoped to change that perception by also focussing on industrialists, socialites and leaders in other diverse fields.

About 80 per cent of the content will focus on Indian celebrities.

The editor of the monthly Indian edition, Ruchika Mehta, said the magazine was “the big daddy of the fine life”, promising “the larger-than-life romances, the ‘bling’ homes, the to-die-for fashion and class, the ‘giga-gorgeous’ women and men, all packaged into a high gloss monthly”.

The Indian market is seen by global magazine publishers as an important target for expansion. An increasing number of familiar titles are already available, including Cosmopolitan, Marie Claire, Seventeen, Maxim, Time Out and Hello!’s rival OK.

India’s large number of English speakers, rising incomes and greater media penetration have attracted companies including Financial Times owner Pearson and Independent News & Media.—Dawn/The Guardian News Service