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Grade 7

Piyush Roy’s magazine article ‘The Prince of Tides’, published by Stardust Icon in 2010, not only targets those immersed and interested in the trends of Bollywood actors, but also beautifully interests the readers in Saif Ali Khan’s rise to stardom. Roy illustrates and explains the different facets, from Saif’s carefree life, to his relaxed attitude, to emphasize how he grew from reckless glass cannon to the ultimate Bollywood ‘cool dude’. Through his use of stylistic devices, structural conventions, and audience understanding, Roy manages to create a sensational piece, reminiscent of gossip magazines.

From an initial read, it is evident and suggestable that this article was produced with an intended audience of Bollywood fans in mind, more specifically Bollywood fans interested in Saif Ali Khan. Uniquely, by assuming that the reader is already aware about Saif’s film roles, Roy’s casual mentioning of Khan’s numerous films, such as Love Aaj Kal and A Tashan, creates an intrinsic connection with the target audience of Khan’s fans and those deeply engrossed in the cultures of Bollywood. Moreover, Roy emphasizes how Khan’s sudden rise to success was due to his “unfettered”, “unpredictable”, and “unplanned” personality. Through the alliterative catchphrases, and the use of negative prefix of ‘un’, Roy not only develops rhythm and tone, engaging the reader’s auditory senses, but he also emphasizes the notion that Khan’s success rose from his natural, pure, and unadulterated personality - by being imperfect and himself, he rose to stardom. Such themes are beautifully illustrated in the opening paragraph’s final sentence where Roy mentions how Khan has “survived to become the ultimate cool dude”, highlighting how his “unpredictability” helps make him an “in-sync-with-the-times youth icon”. Through the use of colloquial phrases such as “ultimate cool dude” and “in-sync-with-the-times”, Roy not only beautifully highlights the “unpredictable” casual nature of Khan, but also the iconic representation of Khan as the ideal model figure for the “youth”: further relating to the younger audience often found within gossip magazines.

Throughout the article, Roy dictates Khan’s rise to stardom, explaining how he could maintain his success as an actor and celebrity. By focusing on Khan’s biography and his initial struggles in the 1990s to debut as an actor against his brothers, Roy manages to beautifully engage the readers and highlight Khan’s road to stardom through his dismissive attitude, satirical remarks, and reference to classic idioms. For instance, Roy satirically taunts Khan’s initial career by mentioning how he was “ignored as the ‘man with the funny face’”. Through the dismissive remark, not only are the readers surprised by the phrase juxtaposing Khan’s initial praises as a “success story in the superleagues of stars”, but by highlighting his substandard beginnings as an actor, readers are now intrigued by his sudden rise to fame, compelling them to read further to uncover the reasons behind his ascent to stardom. Moreover, by mentioning Khan’s “natural recklessness almost became his nemesis”, Roy beautifully illustrates and reflects the classic idiom of ‘becoming your worst enemy’ into Khan’s “unfettered” personality, providing a coherent and simplified rendition of Khan’s rise to fame through adept references to classically and culturally ingrained expressions, aiding readers in understanding and interpreting the “moral of the Saif success story” - encouraging them to read on.

Furthermore, Roy adopts a ‘know-it-all’ tone, warning Khan about the risks of stardom and the impacts it may have on ego and arrogance. By assuming such a tone, Roy manages to create an ambience of subjectivism, reflecting the features often found within gossip magazines. For instance, Roy encouragingly cautions Kahn to stray away from the dangers of fame, emphasizing how he should avoid “the demons of smugness” that “corrupt[s] good actors”. By adopting a mentor-to-mentee tone and providing Kahn with advice garnered from years of professional reporting, Roy highlights the importance of Kahn in retaining his wholesome carefree attitude. Through this ‘know-it-all’ tone, Piyush’s credibility is reinforced, as the development of ethos not only builds trust between the reader and writer, but helps engross Khan’s fans to read onwards, intrigued by the biographical lessons from Khan’s life. Roy’s convenient confections of advice are also bolstered through his detailed depictions of Khan’s initial debut, where he discusses how Khan, who initially struggled, is now as good as his brothers, “constantly experimenting, reinventing, and breaking new ground”. Roy’s opinionated discussion- contrasting more objective articles - reflects the sensation often seen in gossip magazines, while the use of the tricolon list grasps the reader's attention through rhetorics. Still, Roy warns Khan about how he “shouldn’t repeat himself or short change his following”, creating an informative and sensational tone throughout the article.

Moreover, Prince of Tides grabs the audience's attention through the sensational effect formed by the plethora of stylistic devices used, whether it be alliteration, anaphoric catch phrases, vivid imagery, or the use of colloquialism. For instance, through alliteration, Roy describes Khan’s “strive, strife and style”, forming a flashy and upbeat tone. This is also reflected through the anaphoric parallel structures used, where Roy mentions that Kahn’s “catch is to remain imperfect, remain humane, remain vulnerable, remain unsatisfied, remain unpredictable – remain Saif”. Through the anaphoric catchphrase, Roy envelops his writing with rhythm and style, while simultaneously developing suspense through his clever use of repetition, which ultimately culminates through the coinage of the term “remain[ing] Saif'' - fully engaging the target audience of Saif’s fans, who love the raw unadulterated features preceded by “remain[ing] Saif”. By suggesting that Saif’s rise to stardom is due to his vulnerable and imperfect persona, a more relatable and humane attitude is formed, juxtaposing the glitz and glamor of Bollywood stardom. Moreover, the use of imagery further develops the sensational and emotional feeling formed throughout the article. Roy states how Khan has “tasted blood”, “played second fiddle”, and has had a “mixed palette of roles”. Through figurative speech, a sense of excitement is used to appeal towards the reader’s pathos. Likewise, the choice of vocabulary creates a sensational and colloquial tone, as seen through Roy’s use of language with words like “cool dude”, “Gen X storytellers”, and “in-sync-with-the-times”, spotlighting Khan’s presence as the epitome of modern Bollywood’s era - inspiring youths. Additionally the use of colloquial terms allows the readers to easily follow, fully encapsulating the interactive, reader-to-audience focused, gossip magazine nature of the text.

Interestingly, Roy’s descriptions of Khan’s sensationalism isn’t just depicted through his literary approach, but also through his visual and structural techniques. For instance, Roy immediately relies on the title’s format, “the PRINCE of TIDES”, as a symbol for the flowing waves of an ocean. This coupled with the initial format of the title with capital letters helps easily grasp the reader’s attention, increasing engagement. Moreover, the large subheading quote is not only eye-catching, but also acts as a presentation of Khan’s “fatalistic attitude”, reflecting the topic of the whole story. Additionally, the hyperbolic use of the word “prince” further emphasizes the themes of rising stardom - reflecting Khan’s struggles with a prince ascending into a king. Moreover, the title, which is anchored to the text as well as a portrait image of Khan posing for the camera, allows readers to fully associate “the Prince of Tides” with the photo seen. The mystique of Khan’s portrait reflects the eye-catching nature of gossip magazines, while the allure of Khan posing with an unbuttoned shirt emphasizes and encapsulates the glamor often found in Bollywood films: shocking and surprising readers who may be unfamiliar with Khan, as the portrait contrasts Roy’s initial description of Khan’s “funny face”. Thus, by cleverly utilizing effective eye-catching visual designs, while feeding into the gossip magazine-esque nature of the text and contrasting the initial literary depictions of Khan, Roy manages to hone into the target audience of Bollywood fans, creating a more intimate and personal connection with the readers.

In conclusion, Roy utilizes numerous stylistic devices and structural conventions, adopting features of gossip magazines in order to create a personal and engaging relationship with the readers, incentivising them to read onwards and learn more about the “moral of the Saif Success Story”. By specifically targeting Indian readers who are intrigued by the lives of Bollywood stars, Roy manages to explicitly use such sensational devices and conventions to effectively achieve his purpose of explaining Khan’s rise to stardom while reflecting his unadulterated and uncontainable carefree attitude.

Criteria	Mark	Feedback
A	5	The essay demonstrates a clear understanding of the text and its themes related to Saif Ali Khan's rise to stardom in Bollywood. It recognizes the intended audience of Bollywood enthusiasts and analyzes how Roy effectively engages this audience through his portrayal of Khan's persona.
B	4	The essay effectively analyzes the language of the text, identifying stylistic devices and structural conventions. There is a good evaluation of how these language choices contribute to engaging the audience and conveying Khan's persona. However, some explanations could be more detailed to fully explore the effects of language.
C	5	The essay is well-organized. There is evidence of clear structure, with each paragraph focusing on different aspects of the text.
D	5	The language is appropriate, with effective use of vocabulary and style to convey the analysis.
19 / 20