Interview: FHM India’s Tushar Amin

Our reporter Hamant Verma caught up with Mumbai’s premier lad, the new editor of FHM India Tushar A Amin, to talk about publishing, partying and poonani.

How did a nice bloke like you end up editing a lads’ mag?
[Laughs} That�۪s like having a night of drunken revelry and waking up in the morning to find the hottest babe in the world in my bed��_ Nevertheless, the honest answer is – by switching to Autopilot over a decade ago and through a series of (fortunate or unfortunate) incidents – and a little help from friends.

Having survived engineering college, I did a year of event management and followed the White Rabbit down the (w)hole called Department of Communication and Journalism at Pune University. The next decade is a haze, a cross-media orgy of sorts; I was part of launching a couple of Internet portals, collaborated on writing books on the making of Asoka and Devdas, shot music video in Ladakh, revamped B4U Television Networks global beams, designed the content and packaging of IN TV, Dubai, and worked as Associate Vice President ��� Creative and Programming Strategy at B4U Television Network.

My most recent memory is of subverting 53 years of Filmfare legacy to make the magazine more contemporary and youth-friendly. It is almost twelve years since the revelry began. Just as I was busy dreaming up my first solo book (Bollywood Themes, Brijbasi Art Press) and my first story to be filmed (The Goodbye Trip, SouthofPluto Films), I woke up bleary eyed to realize I was in bed with FHM India.
I firmly believe that the era of lad�۪s magazines ended with the arrival of free online porn. My publishers and I agreed on the need for FHM India to evolve into a men�۪s magazine rather than a lad’s magazine.
What distinguishes FHM India from its British brother?
Well, it�۪s definitely not the ���my brother, from another mother�۝ scenario. The basic DNA is the same ��� the tone, the attitude, and most importantly, the sense of humour. Humour ��� or rather our unique brand of humour is one of FHM’s key USP worldwide. On those count, both FHM India and FHM UK are the same. Having said that, FHM India has been adapted to be in sync with Indian ground realities. Let me put it in perspective. In UK, Bauer (FHM’s parent company) brings out FHM, Arena, Zoo, Mojo, Q and Empire among hundreds of niche titles. You want tits, asses and sports juice, you pick up Zoo; you want men�۪s lifestyle sprinkled with hot girls from around the world, get a copy of FHM. You want deeper stuff head for Arena. In music, you can choose between Mojo and Q from just one publisher. UK has a highly evolved magazine market. In India, that is not the case.

… and the readers?
Indian male psyche is culturally and socially distinct from its British counterpart. As Kareena Kapoor put it (Cover Story, FHM India, May 2009), ���Indian men have a certain amount of responsibility that they are born with.�۝ Most of us come up the hard way. This affects their demands from a media and their media consumption pattern. Indian men are inherently knowledge seekers (often bordering on the stereotypical geeky). This is mainly due to the fact that every man is trying to continuously upgrade himself – be it in terms of career, knowledge, better understanding of issues, health, lifestyle, whathaveyou – amid cut-throat competition (we are a billion strong country with over 50 per cent of us below 30 years of age). A magazine is one credible source that an Indian reader relies on in this competitive world. This does not mean they are averse to light, irreverent content or some racy-juicy stories and erotica. It’s just that, an Indian man is more likely to go in for a magazine that gives him well-rounded content mix ���brain, brawn, jokes, numbers and a dollop of sex, relationship and skin, thank you. This is the balance I am trying to strike at FHM India.

How is Next Gen Publishing coping with the global economic slowdown?
So far so good: the business has definitely been affected by the global financial crunch. But we at Next Gen are looking at this period as an opportunity to test our inner resilience. Having worked closely with the sales side of media business, I have ingrained a very disciplined approach to creativity. If a creative initiative does not add value, either revenue wise or brand equity wise or in terms of social impact, it should be a hobby not business. I should be doing it in my free time, not on expense account. That way, I am very conscious of budget and expenditure.

And my exposure to filmmaking has also taught me that one is at his most creative best when there are economic constraints. Innovation is the key in such a scenario and we are making the most of the given resources.

What is the best thing and worst thing about your job?
The girls!the girls![laughs]! Seriously, the best thing and the worst thing are the same in my case, and that is the fact that in the process of finding the right voice for the magazine, I am being forced to find my own voice. And once I find that voice, the challenge is to have something worthwhile to say on an continual basis��_ A magazine is an ongoing conversation with the reader and I am only as good as the time for which I keep him engaged.

Does your magazine risk damaging the social fabric of India?
[Laughs] Any social fabric that can be damaged by any magazine deserves to be torn apart, shred to pieces. But seriously, the intent is always to strengthen the social fabric. A warp needs a weft to make a fabric truly strong. The role of a magazine is also to push the boundaries and shape tomorrows society, not pander to today�۪s prejudices. So, be it sexual repression or political apathy, I see it as my responsibility to do my bit through my magazine�۪s pages.
The mandate I have set for myself is to evolve FHM India into a magazine that shapes the creative and social future of our society and lifestyle in whatever small way I can. Through the magazine, I am aiming at creating a platform for new individualistic voices to express the unheard, provoke the dormant and make a difference. That’s a personal philosophy spilling on to work, I believe in making a positive difference, wherever I go, whatever I take up.

Where would the typical FHM reader be hanging out in Mumbai on a Saturday night, what would he be wearing and what would he be driving?
A typical FHM India reader is someone who is so self-assured, confident and grounded that he is comfortable wherever he is, whatever he is wearing and whichever vehicle he is driving. He is free of any ��wannabe�۪ pretensions of being at any particular place, wearing a particular label or driving a particular set of wheels. He is what he is.