[1] At the time when the Shama group was at its zenith, the Dehlvi family was reckoned as one of the wealthiest and most influential in India, and its links to the Urdu-Hindi film industry as well as their political and literary connections earned them celebrity status.

[8] The magazine carried condolence messages from President Giani Zail Singh and Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi upon the death of founder Yusuf Dehlvi in 1985.

[5] A popular feature of the magazine was its literary crosswords called 'Adabi Muamma' which carried attractive prizes worth lakhs of rupees.

[6][5] The magazine carried a column 'Sitaaron Ki Duniya' (World of the stars) written by Idrees Dehlvi under the pseudonym 'Musafir', which gave access to the lives of actors and filmmaking, but avoided salacious content.

Bano contained content similar to the nineteenth century magazines, a mixture of practical knowledge and literature, but without Shama’s film focus and the risqué image.

Barely out of college, Khilauna editor Yusuf’s youngest son, Ilyas Dehlvi, enlisted highly reputed writers like Ḳhvajah Aḥmad Abbas, Krishan Chandar and Rajindar Singh Bedī to contribute children’s stories.

As Urdu readership slowly declined through the 1960s, the Dehlvis launched a Hindi version of Shama, called Sushama (meaning Splendour).

The event was traditionally held at the Ashok Hotel situated about next-door to the Shama Mansion, the iconic residence of the Dehlvis in Lutyens' Delhi.