Shobhaa De was all of 23, when she took up the reins of Stardust, the monthly film and gossip magazine, which launched in February 1971, literally with a bang. Its inaugural issue cheekily asked, “Is Rajesh Khanna secretly married?” sending the Hindi film industry in a tizzy. Turns out, this was the beginning of the magazine’s tryst with scoops and scandals. “Stardust was a toofan, a hurricane... it was like nothing else in the market. The idea was to shake up the film industry and make readers sit up!” says De, the founding editor of the magazine, which just turned 50. During her 11-year stint with the publication, De went on to become one of the most intrepid editors, daring to push the envelope of film journalism, issue after issue.

Until before Stardust, De says, “there were only tame, goody-goody players on news-stands”. “Film magazines ran sugar coated, PR stories about a star’s pet Pomeranian or a dull photo shoot featuring star couples posing decorously next to plastic flowers,” she remembers. Stardust, she says, smashed all the stereotypes, emerging as a powerful game changer—not just in the realm of movie fanzine journalism, but across the board. “It was witty, bold, irreverent and deliciously wicked. It went where no others wanted to go—scandals, affairs, exposes. What is showbiz without masala? Stardust presented a far more thrilling picture, without glossing over the gory bits. It was catering unashamedly to the voyeuristic interest that fans have in the private lives of their favourite screen idols. Nobody wants a recipe for chutney from a sizzling star. Give us the dirt! Spill the beans—that’s human psychology,” shares De of the reason for the “aggressive approach” adopted by the magazine.