It’s a coincidence, a happy one, that a superstar who gave this newspaper a public shoutout yesterday is someone that readers associate this brand with instinctively. In a survey Mid-day conducted in 2018, when a group of Mumbaikars who had been exposed to both, this newspaper and its competition, were asked, “If Mid-day were a person, who would that be?”, the top answer was “Ranveer Singh”. That the shape shifter embodies talent and joi de vivre meant that Mid-day’s editorial team came away beaming. 

At a press conference held earlier this week, Singh gave print publications the much-needed thumbs up, when he said, “Sab kuch digital ho raha hai, but vintage Mid-day abhi bhi hai. Wah yaar! It’s a publication with a great legacy.”
 
A Bombay boy, Singh went to Bandra’s Learners’ Academy, and it’s possible that like so many city kids of the ’80s and 90s, he grew up reading the paper. Singh’s query, “Mid-day mate abhi bhi hai?” reflects the relationship the city’s top tabloid has had with Mumbaikars, growing into a free-from-favour platform of information, views and entertainment they trust.