Page 3 Culture is the name given to tabloid culture, India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

's partying, high society or upper class

Upper class

In social science, the "upper class" is the group of people at the top of a social hierarchy. Members of an upper class may have great power over the allocation of resources and governmental policy in their area.- Historical meaning :...

, metropolitan culture, specifically Mumbai

Mumbai

Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...

 and Delhi

Delhi

Delhi , officially National Capital Territory of Delhi , is the largest metropolis by area and the second-largest by population in India, next to Mumbai. It is the eighth largest metropolis in the world by population with 16,753,265 inhabitants in the Territory at the 2011 Census...

, which features on Page Three tabloid newspaper feature.

Description

The term originates from colourful daily newspaper supplements appearing usually on the third page that chronicle cocktail parties and gossip of the glitterati - the country's equivalent of tabloid journalism

Tabloid journalism

Tabloid journalism tends to emphasize topics such as sensational crime stories, astrology, gossip columns about the personal lives of celebrities and sports stars, and junk food news...

. Page 3 features color photo spreads of celebrities and the nouveau riche

Nouveau riche

The nouveau riche , or new money, comprise those who have acquired considerable wealth within their own generation...

 at parties. Those featured on page 3 include fashion designers, socialite

Socialite

A socialite is a person who participates in social activities and spends a significant amount of time entertaining and being entertained at fashionable upper-class events....

, models, remix music divas, and the glamorous and rich. The flashy supplements are a mix of celebrity news, party pictures, movie gossip and stories on such subjects as the sexual habits and preferences of Indians.

Page 3 has become a phenomenon which arose from sensationalism

Sensationalism

Sensationalism is a type of editorial bias in mass media in which events and topics in news stories and pieces are over-hyped to increase viewership or readership numbers...

.

Observers say India's runaway Page 3 culture reflects two distinct levels of an aspirational society. One is the need for gossip. The second is the desire to be seen to be famous by featuring on Page 3.

In popular culture

The "Page 3" culture has been the theme of Hindi film by Madhur Bhandarkar

Madhur Bhandarkar

Madhur Bhandarkar is a National Award-winning Indian film director, script writer, and producer. He is best known for his films such as Chandni Bar , Page 3 , Traffic Signal , and Fashion...

, Page 3

Page 3 (film)

Page 3 is a 2005 Indian film directed by Madhur Bhandarkar about the Page 3 Culture and media in the city of Mumbai. It stars Konkona Sen Sharma, Atul Kulkarni, Sandhya Mridul, Tara Sharma, Anju Mahendru, and Boman Irani...

(2005), which won the National Film Award for Best Film

National Film Award for Best Film

The National Award for Best Feature film is one of the National Film Awards presented annually by the Directorate of Film Festivals, India, and was constituted in the year 1954. This is one of the Golden Lotus Awards given among National Film Awards...

amongst others.

External links

• thehindubusinessline.com