Vidisha Pavate, model: Outlook is an intelligent magazine that has a good mix of stories from politics, sports, business to fashion. But I think it should work harder as some of the recent covers have been thanda.
Rina Dhaka, fashion designer: Outlook first became famous in my mind with its cover on fashion. It was a rape of fashion. I associate Outlook more with politics, I never read it for fashion. I have met your editor once, what’s his name, yeah, he’s nice.
Rajeev Sethi, culture czar: I love your laidback editor. He brings decency and honesty to anything that he does. Outlook is completely different from the jaded and power-broking world of media. Very rarely does the nature of an editor reflect in a product, Vinod brings that special something that’s both honest and gentle to Outlook.
Sir Mark Tully, writer, broadcaster: I’m enthusiastic about Outlook’s political coverage in particular. It provides me with insights on current affairs and a way of catching up on the week when I haven’t had time to read as many newspapers as I should.
Bibek Debroy, economist: What surprises me most about Outlook is that it survived and grew, given the competition, and established some kind of USP
.
Aamir Khan, actor: Outlook is one of the few magazines which still tries to report with honesty and integrity, and without taking sides.
Valmik Thapar, wildlife author, naturalist: Outlook is a magazine of substance. But I would like to see a more in-depth coverage of the states and a summary/scan of the most vital news stories across India. And greater depth/homework on all the issues involved.
Govind Nihalani, filmmaker: When Outlook started, I was looking forward to dynamic journalism and unbiased reporting and analysis. I must say that is the impression I still carry with me. Outlook has maintained its objective perspective. But there is a tendency to sensationalise, which may be in keeping with today’s journalism, but it bothers me when Outlook stoops to this level.
Mrinal Sen, filmmaker: A decade ago, the feeling grew on me, without being able to explain why, that Outlook will soon be something of importance in the world of print media. As I see it now, it has turned out to be a remarkable magazine, most of which its volumes and numbers, without being always uncritical, are seen to be penetrating studies of our time.
Chandralekha, dancer, choreographer: Outlook has bravely sustained a liberal face. However, that liberal face is meaningless without a more penetrating analysis and coverage of the arts and culture—a neglected area in Indian media. To mark the tenth anniversary, may I suggest an Outlook-Arts magazine?
Kiran Nagarkar, writer: Outlook is one of the better magazines but I think that the quality has deteriorated. Somewhere commercial considerations have come in. I agree that they need to be looked at, but it is also eminently possible to have more in-depth analysis, and not just cricket, for god’s sake, and politics. It used to be a more well-rounded magazine and it still could be.
Ritu Kumar, fashion designer: Outlook came out as a parallel weekly and found its niche. It has been fairly innovative, at times controversial. And, of course, on fashion it has done rather interesting stories.
Ambika Soni, politician: Outlook has played a balancing role in the field of news publications. The idea to honour six achievers unrelated to journalism demonstrates Outlook’s larger agenda, that it is committed to more than competitive journalism.
Brinda Karat, politician: I wish Outlook many more years of reporting on issues of concern, not just to the privileged middle class, but to larger sections of the society—the poor and the deprived. I also wish it strength in standing up in the most adverse of circumstances and fighting for the values of secularism.
Rohit Gandhi, fashion designer: Outlook does not do too many controversial stories now. Sunil Mehra’s fashion cover did a huge service to the cause of fashion because it made designers and Indian fashion drawing room talk. The negative publicity actually turned out to be good. Outlook should do more such stories.
Rajiv Menon, filmmaker: Outlook offers news with a bite in an era of 24/7 TV. TV believes in beautiful images and voices, in poignant pictures. We need to go beyond that. Outlook seems to be struggling between the glossy and the newsy, succumbing sometimes to tabloidisation. But its core reader still looks for something beyond the gloss.
Mohammed Azharuddin, cricketer: I think of Outlook as a magazine that looks for controversies just to make big headlines. You cannot put a person down without asking him his side of the story. Whoever is doing a story must put himself or herself in the shoes of the person whose life, career or image is being put on the line.
Geet Sethi, billiards champ: Outlook challenged India Today and even replaced it in the mindspace of many people with its "adventurous journalism".
