Growing up with Screen

Screen has been one of the most enriching learning experiences of my life. My relationship with Screen as a ...

Screen has been one of the most enriching learning experiences of my life. My relationship with Screen as a freelance contributor goes back to 31 years. As a reader,it goes back by another decade and a half. When I bought my first copy,it was priced at 25 paise. I could rarely buy it as we did not have any pocket money in those days and no concerned parent would permit their kids to read film magazines. I would save some money from my tiffin allowance to buy an issue occasionally,go through the more interesting tid-bits and then hide it in a friend8217;s house whose parents were less strict than mine.

The most telling change in Screen is in its masthead. It is not like any masthead that gives a paper its identity and makes it a brand name over time. It is metaphorical because it reflects the change in technology not only within cinema but also within the print world. The oldest masthead,I can recall,had the alphabets of Screen styled after folded reels of celluloid film printed in black and white. Today,it is in bright red. The alphabets are fashioned in the shape of digitalised letters. Screen now also has its own website and an e-paper. Its character,stylisation and personality are very much in keeping with the glamour,gloss and chutzpah that dominate the Indian film industry today. It is not just a masthead 8211; it spells out the history of the paper!

When the masthead was black-and-white,Indian cinema was mainly black-and-white. The paper was black-and-white. The editorial content had a serious tone and photographic illustrations were mainly news-centric. Film stars did not get portfolios shot and photographers did not know about portfolios. I began writing for Screen in 1980 during my journalism internship with the Financial Express. I was a mother of a ten-year-old girl. Editor B.K. Karanjia was open to freshers but asked for a sample. He liked what he read and thus began my long innings.

Ali Peter John was perhaps the longest living columnist on the staff. His columns provided sole access to the personal lives and stories of film stars,lyricists,producers,directors,technicians etc. He was such an introvert inside the office that one was surprised to discover through his column how close he was to the film fraternity. The only time he would raise his voice was when someone happened to occupy his favourite chair. His columns were a delightful read.

Screen has changed in many ways,more in content than in form. Television,theatre,culture,business,technology,nostalgia,tributes,first-persons now enrich the thick weekly people keep waiting for. The Screen annual awards were introduced I guess,in the mid-90s,elevating the paper to the highest levels of glamour and business.

Scribes,stringers,features editors,news editors and photographers have come and gone. But I am still here,waiting for the very young,bright and efficient editor Priyanka Sinha Jha to clear my briefs. Namita Nivas,who edits the regional cinema pages and was once my student,is my direct 8216;boss.8217;

My love affair with Screen flows on like a river that winds and rewinds its way through the ebbs and tides in cinema and the people within it. The Bengali film industry today thinks that my name is synonymous with Screen. l

Shoma A. Chatterji is a veteran freelance contributor