Cine Blitz - History

History

Cine Blitz was launched by Russy Karanjia's Rifa Publications in February 1975,and his daughter Rita Mehta became the first editor-in-chief of the magazine. The first issue of Cine Blitz had Zeenat Aman on the cover. To give the new magazine "a flying start," Rita Mehta approached Protima Bedi and asked her to do a streak run across Mumbai, first at Flora Fountain and then at Juhu Beach. Pictures of it would be carried in the inside pages of the inaugural edition.

The ensuing controversy forced the magazine to then (falsely) claim that the naked run was actually shot in Goa and later superimposed on images of Mumbai. However, the goal of popularising the new magazine was achieved and Cine Blitz went on to become one of India's leading film and gossip magazines for years to come. Its attitude was reflected in its rather tongue-in-cheek tagline of "C to Z of Hindi Films - Everyone covers AB".

In 2001, Dr. Vijay Mallya acquired a 100 percent stake in Rifa Publications in two phases. After the takeover, Rifa Publications was rechristened as the VJM Media Group. However, Rita Mehta continued to be the editor-in-chief. In the years to follow, the group went on to add three more magazines to its banner - Hi! Blitz, OK! India and Hi! Living.

The year 2003 saw Cine Blitz going international with the launch of its US and UK editions. And in 2006, Rita Mehta was replaced as editor-in-chief by Nishi Prem, the former editor of Stardust.