Is romance dying?

Mills amp; Boon might be targeting readers who once lapped up lurid tales of murder and romance in Manohar Kahaniyan and Manorama,published from Allahabad,or the painkilli kathas sentimental serialised novels published in Malayalam magazines,or the risque Tamil romances of Ramanichandran,commonly hidden under pillows and sarees. Readers were to be found in big cities as well as in small towns and villages. However,this readership has waned. The Indian readership survey,for instance,showed that only two of the top 15 Hindi magazines registered positive growth in the third quarter of 2010. With Mitra Prakashan Ltd,the original publisher of the Allahabad magazines,going into decline,many familiar titles vanished from the stands. According to some publishers,sales of Hindi pulp fiction have fallen by 80 per cent since 1992. Recently,India has seen traffic going the other way,with English translations being published,witness the Blaft Anthology of Tamil Pulp Fiction. But these are beautifully mounted editions,a stark contrast from their tawdry originals,and aimed at the English-speaking urban reader looking for kitsch.

Many of their original readers have long ago succumbed to the seductions of 24-hour TV,with serials telling very similar stories. Mills amp; Boon has survived for a century by constantly diversifying launching an e-edition,seeking regional variations. Just when paperback sales had dipped,the publisher saw a boom in e-book sales. Indian romance and pulp fiction,unable to adapt,may soon be consigned to nostalgia.