Vikatan, Kumudam - end of a relationship
I know a lot of folks in TN who have grown up reading Vikatan, Kumudam. I remember walking to the nearby pottikadai as a kid and buying Anandha Vikatan for Rs. 2.50. Those were the days when Vikatan had jokes right in the cover page. Recently I stopped buying Vikatan and Kumudham and am glad for it.
This is not to suggest that they are useless for everybody else. You should read if you are keen to:
- know whether Dayanidhi and MK family will patch up.
- date Trisha, Nayanthara and the latest and greatest damsel in the tinsel town (I am assuming you can if you want to!)
- planning to make a big budget tamil movie
- predict what property of Vijaykanth will be targeted next.
- know about Bharathiraja’s son’s/daughter’s married life
Alternatively, if you are planning to make a saga out of ‘Manal Medu’ Shankar* or ‘Vella’ Ravi*, you MUST go for Junior vikatan, Kumudam Reporter, Nakheeran.
The rest of the folks, I think, are better off subscribing to specialty magazines in their area of interests - be it photography, computers, health, interior design or business.
I went ahead and subscribed for “”Better Photography” which costs Rs.60 a month for a year (Vikatan and Kumudam costs Rs.40 a month each minimum). I got two bonus issues and a AAA/AA battery charger worth a few hundred bucks for free.
Bottomline, information on how to take better photographs and the latest DSLR comes cheaper than news on who is willing to shed more clothes for a price in Kollywood. I’ve also subscribed for ‘Dare’(dare.co.in) - a magazine for wannabe entreprenuers, for Rs. 30 a month.
I feel specialty is the way to go as far as magazines go, be it Tamil or English. This is not to suggest I have something against those two reputed magazine groups. I am planning to buy ‘Naanayam Vikatan’, i liked it when i tried once. ‘Motor Vikatan’ should be of similar quality as well. My mom likes to read ‘Kumudam Health’.
I will subscribe to Vikatan and Kumudam again when I am keen on the lifestyles of the rich and the famous and the glamorous and the notorious. But for now, I am better off saving my money and reading magazines which cater to my interests and well being.
Once in a while Vikatan will let someone write two good pages in their mag for 26 weeks. Be rest assured that will come out as a book soon. It makes sense to buy a good book for 100 Rs. than to buy a mokkai magazine for 6 months. What say?
If there’s someone in your family who is hell bent on reading it, get them enrolled in circulation library. You can still save on costs. What’s more there is less trash at home.
April 2nd, 2008 at 1:38 am
the trend here in US is online subscription..
if that catches up there soon, you definitely will have less trash to take care of.
on the sad side, there are plenty of maamis here subsribing to these magazines which get shipped all the way from India! and end up eventually in our local public library.. we were guilty of this as well when the older generation visited..
looks like you got a great deal on the photography magazine subscription..
April 2nd, 2008 at 4:02 am
Photography மேகசின் எல்லாம் வாங்கினா எப்படி படம் எடுக்கறதுன்னு வேணா தெரிஞ்சிக்கலாம். ஆனா, நயன்தாரா த்ரிஷா படமெல்லாம் நீ எடுக்க முடியுமா இல்ல பாக்க முடியுமா? வாழ்க்கைல எவ்வளவு மிஸ் பண்ண போறேனு தெரியாம விகடன், குமுதம் படிக்கறத நிறுத்தறேன்னு சொல்றியே. எடுக்கும் யோசிச்சு முடிவு எடு.
April 2nd, 2008 at 5:51 am
thanks for the dare.co.in….i subscribed too…intha mari nalla vishayathalam ni blog pottu than na therinjikarennu nenacha varthama irukku…..eppayum phone la thitta mothu ithalamum sollu
April 2nd, 2008 at 8:21 am
PK nice and wise decision, btw do you buy/read ‘The Mandu’/The Chindu’ it supposed to be a good newspaper published by CPP.
April 2nd, 2008 at 12:19 pm
ganesh
naan businessline ku maariten:)
I know vatsan will say bad abt that and ask me to go for business standard. enga agent adhu poda maatan nu nenaikiren. need to check out
April 2nd, 2008 at 12:20 pm
karthik,
enna panradhu.. nee phone vaanga 3 months aachu. nee adhu panravaraikum vera edhuvum solla thonalai enakku
April 2nd, 2008 at 12:22 pm
chakra,
indha madhiri photo parkanumna adhileyum specialty ya poidu nu solama sollreengala??
April 2nd, 2008 at 12:24 pm
sundar,
Actually outlook profit gives a 50% discount for their annual subscription. Good deals are everywhere.
Also most of the folks buy vikatan, kumudam just because they bought it the previous week!
April 5th, 2008 at 2:14 am
Can anyone ever remember a cover of these magazines in all these years that did not have a female on the cover ? I think AV initially did not have this practice. This seems to have become the norm in the 60s or 70s - they seem to follow a lot of what the American Magazines do. I remember the late Idhayam manian once writing about how an American publisher once explained to him how to use females on the cover to boost sales (sorry, I can’t call those cover girls ‘ladies’ for some reason). In a way it symbolises the late 20th century readers - Shamelessly use some gimmickry to promote your business, but make sure you include some pseudo intellectual crap . One of the best examples is Vinod Mehta, who is the current editor of Outlook. People have forgotten that he was also editor of debonair at one point.
April 5th, 2008 at 6:28 am
BNB,
AV used to sport jokes in the cover even in the eighties. I hope you remember the episode when AV editor was jailed by the late MGR because of a joke. I think it was for one of those cover page jokes.
The only place where I dont mind reading vikatan or kumudam should be in the barber shop. These two magazines have joined the elite company of FILMFARE and STARDUST.