Lokmat releases 11th edition of Deepotsav

The 250-page annual magazine from Lokmat Media was launched recently at a formal ceremony in Mumbai.

Lokmat Media recently released the 11th edition of its Diwali special magazine titled 'Deepotsav' at a formal ceremony at Ravindra Natya Mandir in Mumbai. The magazine is a bouquet of literary works such as stories, poems and illustrations along with experiences of stalwarts from different walks of life.

Priced at Rs 200, the magazine has 250 pages and is edited by Aparna Velankar. This year, the magazine has made a record pre-publishing subscription sale of over 1 lakh copies.

Raj Thackrey, chief, MNS, released the magazine this year, while some of the other dignitaries present at the event were Vijay Darda, chairman and editor-in-chief, Lokmat Media; Rishi Darda, joint managing director and editorial director, Lokmat Media; Rajiv Khandekar, editor, ABP Maza; Dinakar Raikar, group editor, Lokmat Media; Sonali Kulkarni, actor, and FM Shinde, president, Akhil Bhartiya Marathi Sahitya Sammelan, among others.

The theme of the magazine revolves around 'Tools for Tomorrow'. It includes life experiences of people from films, banking, social work, artists, government agencies, philosophy and others. Some of these people are Raghuram Rajan, governor, RBI; Sam Pitroda, advisor to PM; E Sreedharan, the man behind Delhi Metro; Dinesh Keskar, senior vice-president, Asia-Pacific and India sales, Boeing Commercial Airplanes; Ranbeer Kapoor (actor); Deepika Padukone (actor); Madhuri Dixit (actor); Nawajuddin Siddiqui (actor); Pandit Birju Maharaj; Sri Sri Ravishankar; Anjolie Ella Menon (artist/ writer); Trilok Gurtu, percussionist and composer; Shobhaa De (writer); and Amish Tripathi (writer).

The magazine has added a special section on stories from war torn regions such as Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya. It also has stories from Angelina Jolie (Hollywood actor/Special Envoy with UNHCR) and Deborah Ellis, Canadian activist, who writes about the innocent children of war across the world.

Speaking on the occasion, Vijay Darda, chairman and editor-in-chief, Lokmat Media, called it a historic day. Darda said, "When the thought of achieving the figure of 1 lakh was put up before colleagues, they said that it was impossible. But my resolve was firm and I persisted. The hard work paid off and now we get the pre-publication subscription of more than 1 lakh copies. That is why I call this day historic."

The magazine has earlier been edited by Shobha De, Gulzar and others.

The Lokmat Media Group has its presence in publishing, broadcast, digital, entertainment, community and sports verticals. The brand has become widely popular across households in Maharashtra and Goa. Some of the popular brands from the media group are IBN Lokmat, Lokmat, Lokmat Samachar, Lokmat Times, Lokmat Entertainment and others.