Filmfare

About Filmfare

MW, originally launched as Man's World, is India's first men's luxury lifestyle magazine and one of the country's leading men's magazines. Founded in 2000 and published from Mumbai, it was created to equip Indian men with the information and advice needed to lead life to the fullest. The magazine covers fashion, lifestyle, cars, gadgets, sports, etiquette, books, films, theatre, wine, food, music, fitness, adventure and travel.

The magazine was founded by Anuradha Mahindra together with two leading Mumbai-based journalists: Radhakrishnan Nair, then the executive editor of Business India, and Harsh Man Rai, the creative director. It was targeted at a generation of young men coming of age in the first decade of the economic boom unleashed by India's economic liberalisation of the early 1990s. The name was shortened from Man's World to MW in 2008.

Published by MW.Com India Pvt Ltd (MIPL), a Mumbai-based publishing company set up in 1999, the monthly magazine has a reported circulation of around 60,000 copies. Its first issue, published in February 2000, featured Shah Rukh Khan on the cover, followed by the likes of Sachin Tendulkar and Amitabh Bachchan — a roll-call of achievers from films, sports and business that set the tone for the title.

Founding in 2000

Man's World was launched in February 2000, making it India's first men's lifestyle magazine — a world-class product that arrived to a rapturous welcome from the reading public, in the words of the publisher's own history. The timing was deliberate: the founders saw a generation of young Indian men, beneficiaries of the post-liberalisation economic boom, who had disposable income and global aspirations but no Indian magazine speaking to their interests.

Anuradha Mahindra, the founder of Verve magazine and wife of industrialist Anand Mahindra, conceived the title with Radhakrishnan Nair and Harsh Man Rai. Nair brought editorial leadership from Business India, while Rai brought visual direction. The combination of serious journalism and high-end design was intended to give Indian men a magazine as sophisticated as anything available internationally.

The First Issue and Early Covers

The first issue of Man's World featured Shah Rukh Khan on the cover — a statement of intent that the magazine would engage with the biggest names in Indian public life. It was followed by covers featuring Sachin Tendulkar, Amitabh Bachchan and a string of achievers from the worlds of films, sports and business.

The magazine's early reception was enthusiastic. Within the first few months of launch, the celebrated columnist Busy Bee (Behram Contractor) wrote about the magazine in one of his columns — an endorsement that signalled the title's arrival in Mumbai's cultural conversation. Over its first decade and more, the magazine built a loyal and growing tribe of readers and advertisers on the strength of its refusal to compromise on quality.

The Publisher: MW.Com India

MW magazine is published by MW.Com India Pvt Ltd (MIPL), a Mumbai-based publishing company set up in 1999, a year before the magazine's launch. The company's editorial and marketing offices are based in Mumbai. MIPL's other major publication is Rolling Stone India, the Indian edition of the world's best-known music and pop-culture magazine.

MIPL also runs a contract-publishing division that creates specialised magazines for companies and organisations, as well as content for third-party websites. Its client list has included Mahindra Holidays, Kuoni Travels, Airtel, the Future Group, Air Deccan, Go Air and the National Centre for the Performing Arts. The digital editions of the magazine are published by Mans World Digital Private Limited.

From Man's World to MW

In 2008 the magazine's name was shortened from Man's World to MW, a rebranding that gave the title a sleeker, more contemporary identity. The change reflected the magazine's evolution from a pioneering start-up into an established luxury-lifestyle brand, and it aligned the masthead with the way readers and advertisers had come to refer to it.

The MW identity has been carried across print, digital and events, with the magazine describing itself as India's definitive guide for the man with mettle and as the lively, vibrant and authoritative voice of the urban Indian male.

Editorial Formula

MW's editorial mix is built around the premise that its reader is a man on the go who wants authoritative guidance across every domain of his life. Regular coverage spans men's fashion and grooming, luxury watches and accessories, automobiles and motorcycles, technology and gadgets, fitness and adventure sports, wine and spirits, fine dining, books, films, theatre, music and travel.

The magazine stands out for the quality of its writing, the lavish variety of its coverage, the sumptuousness of its photography and the elegance of its design and production. Whether the subject is clothes, cars, gizmos, electronics, books, movies, wines, music, fitness, relationships, adventure or travel, MW's stated mission is to arm men with the information and advice they need to lead life to its fullest.

Editorial Leadership

Radhakrishnan Nair, one of the magazine's founders, has served as its editor, providing continuity of vision from the title's inception. Nair's background as executive editor of Business India gave the magazine a foundation in serious business and current-affairs journalism that distinguished it from purely fashion-driven men's titles.

The magazine's newsroom has cultivated a generation of Indian lifestyle journalists, and its pages have featured contributions from leading writers, photographers and critics across fashion, motoring, technology and culture.

Digital Presence and E-Magazine

MW's online home is mansworldindia.com, which extends the print brand with digital features on men's fashion, grooming, automobiles, technology and lifestyle. The magazine's e-magazine editions are distributed through digital newsstand platforms, where readers can access monthly issues on mobile phones and tablets.

The digital editions are published under the Mans World Digital Private Limited imprint, and the brand maintains a social-media presence that reaches younger male audiences with fashion shoots, cover reveals, grooming advice and automotive content.

Place in the Indian Men's Magazine Market

When Man's World launched in 2000, there was no Indian men's lifestyle magazine; by the time international competitors such as the Indian edition of GQ arrived later in the decade, MW had already established itself as the incumbent authority. Its Indian ownership and editorial perspective gave it a distinctive voice — one that understood Indian men's lives, aspirations and cultural context from the inside.

The magazine's advertising base spans luxury menswear, watches, automobiles, grooming, spirits, technology and travel — the categories that define the Indian male luxury consumer. Its endurance across more than two decades, through the arrival of global competitors and the digital transformation of media, testifies to the strength of its brand and its reader relationship.

Cultural Impact and Legacy

Man's World — now MW — created the Indian men's lifestyle magazine category. Before 2000, Indian men interested in fashion, grooming and the good life had to rely on international titles or general-interest magazines; MW gave them a publication of their own, in their own cultural idiom, at international production standards.

The magazine's covers and features have chronicled the transformation of Indian masculinity over the twenty-first century — from the first flush of liberalisation-era aspiration to the confident, globally connected urban Indian man of today. Its refusal to compromise on quality, its investment in photography and design, and its authoritative, detail-rich journalism set a benchmark that shaped every men's title that followed. As India's first men's luxury lifestyle magazine, MW remains the category's defining Indian brand.