This year has been filled with mixed emotions. There editorial is concern, worry, confusion and hope looming in more or less everyone’s thoughts. For the first time the whole world is feeling the same sentiment. We are all one, in fighting, this pandemic.

To keep us a little calm and engaged, the arts as usual has given us some relief. Be it through the various shows and films on the OTT platforms or the virtual art exhibits or the inspiring webinars or the engaging reads – Arts has been a positive distraction.

For us at Platform The Arts has inspired us since the last fifteen years. 

The journey so far has been so exciting, challenging but mostly inspiring. The talent we continously have the priviledge of interacting with drives us to explore and experiment and that’s exactly what we set out to do with every issue. This edition of Platform has the very talented Anoushka Shankar on the Cover. Love Letters her new EP sees her for the very first time take on the role of singer. The multi-facted Farhan Akhtar gives us an insight into what goes on in the mind and body when transforming to play a part. Hari Kunzru’s new book Red Pill flits between past and present. The book is about State Surveillance, psychological warfare, human vulnerabilities and it poses certain hard questions that many of us are often too distracted to consider. We have a promising young talent, Ishaan Khattar who talks films, choices and challenges. Celebrating 25 years, Tarun Tahiliani takes us down memory lane and highlights the key moments that shaped the designer that he is today. 

Even though our plans for 2020 have got pushed however our spirit and passion has only made us more certain where we want to go next. Not only does 2020 mark Platform’s 15 years but we are also expanding our narrative beyond the medium of magazine and introducing Platform Books in 2021 and Platform Fashion, a collaborations with the very talented fashion brand Rishta by Arjun Saluja. Platform Retail debuted this year and has been actively creating functional products for everyday use. The next 15 years at Platform will be all about collaborations and exploring different tracks. We are excited and hopeful that even though 2020 has not been very kind however we hope to leave all our concerns behind and start 2021 on a strong note.

Happy 2021!

Shruti Kapur Malhotra
Editor-in-Chief