At a time when all foreign ventures are viewed with scepticism, Hello! Pakistan on Saturday invited the media to discuss the magazine’s agenda and its launch in Pakistan on April 1.
The world’s arguably number one celebrity magazine is making its way to the land of the pure in a move that its publisher, the Saif Group of companies, believes will create a niche for interested readers.
At the press conference held on Saturday, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Zahra Saifullah said the aim of launching the magazine is not to create or define Pakistan according to their terms, but to “celebrate” the country. “We are Pakistani and want to celebrate that fact and not undermine it in any way,” she added.
Many at the press conference had doubts over the content and worries that it might create furore among religious groups. “This is our country just as much as it is theirs,” Consulting Editor Wajahat Khan replied. He said that Hello! is not the first celebrity magazine to be launched in Pakistan and that they are “working within the constitutional rights.”
The magazine will focus on both well-known and little-known celebrities, including accounts of Pakistani expatriates who have been contributing to the welfare of the country.
With an estimated price of Rs500 per copy, Hello! Pakistan will be published monthly and will include information gleaned from its international counterpart.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 25th, 2012.
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The magazine was great and it's not expensive!!:)
the magazine is quite expensive.
I think this is a fantastic break for Pakistan. It took 2 years to convince Hello to come to Pakistan, and now it has finally happened. It is good to celebrate all that is good and beautiful in the country. There are many problems in the country, but there is a lot of great things going on; lot of creativity is being put into arts, culture, even the sciences. Even in other countries, where they have problem, ppl do celebrate all that is good. Even in Ethopia glamour magazines have a wide readership. This is to prove that we too are not all bad news, and have some good stuff going for us as well at Par with many countries.
@Maya@aol.com: its not about reading about celebrities, its about celebrating our society and culture through the work these celbrities are doing and thus, inspiring others in our country to do something amazing.
Good luck with that! I doubt the lives of our FEW celebrities would be any interesting. Especially at 500 rupees?