Year 2009 is coming to a close and for we Indians its closing with a BANG (quite literally). No I am not talking about the stock movements or the GDP growths or Industrial output figures etc etc.
I am talking of some shameful and disgraceful cases that have come to limelight at the fag end of this year. All these cases should force us to sit back and take notice of how things have been working in India. What is the kind of image we would like to project to the world?
The first one is Mr. Ajmal Kasab. This guy was caught on television, witnessed by many traumatized people killing so many innocents. It has been more than a year since this incident happened. The trial has lasted for so many months costing we tax payers more than Rs 30 Crores. He admitted his guilt in court in front of the judges. But no, we are a “democratic” law abiding nation that treats our prisoners really very well. Getting frustrated of the never ending case, this guy starts behaving mischievously. He first retracts his admission. Then he mentioned he is an Indian citizen caught by the police at least 20 days prior to the incident. He had come to Mumbai to become an actor and he resembles the terrorist in the pictures. Way to go buddy. You have now found out how Indian legal system can be played with. At this rate, the case can go on and on and on. And we tax payers will continue to foot your free accommodation and lunches as a privileged guest in our Incredible India.
Moving on is Mr N D Tiwari. We all had heard of stories of politicians and celebrities caught in compromising positions across the globe. But this is first instance that came to light in Indian politics (though I am very sure others are just as well hidden). That ways, Mr Tiwari, you should get the pole position. An 86 years old so-called freedom fighter is caught on camera. But still he has the guts to say that it’s not him. He has done nothing wrong and his entire life has been dedicated to the service of nation. Yes sir, you have been servicing the nation very well and I am again sure that it’s just a matter of days when this story will die like many other stories in the past and you might well be re-instated as the governor of some other state to continue your dedicated service.
Last and to top both of above is the case of Ruchika Girotra and the accused SPS Rathore (a high-ranking police officer having been given some of the highest honors in police service). I don’t even have to write any details on this topic because it’s getting sufficient media coverage already.
But just look at the way our legal system works. After 19 years of incident, 16 years post death of victim, the accused gets convicted for a 6 months sentence only to be released on bail the very next day at a bail of Rs 1000. (yes you hear it right… that’s Rs 1000 which is not even considered a respectable bribe these days). He comes out smiling and says that he will appeal back.
All these cases might not be remembered while I write my blog at the end of next year. Most of the people shouting, screaming and protesting at these cases including me will very soon forget everything. Well, we have very short memories not to mention that we have umpteen fresh cases coming up every month to keep us engaged. So who is bothered?
Way to go 2009!
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Rocket Singh....
This might not be the best of this year’s movies. Certain parts get boring and dull, they get unreal sometimes but inspite of all this, it is still worth a watch. The simple reason being it’s different.
So far I have not come across a movie being made on this subject. OK… I might be a bit biased. A salesperson myself, the movie does tend to engage me more than may be some other professionals. But the same reason makes the movie unreal to me as well.
So having given the verdict first, what is that I liked and disliked in the movie?
First is the subject. I don’t recollect movies been made on a salesperson in a tough hardware environment. Without going in too much about the business and profession, the movie is still able to capture the subtle nuances and challenges very well.
Second is the acting department. I suppose Ranbir has had a great year in 2009. After Wake up Sid and Ajab Prem, he once again comes across as a natural actor. All these movies have been aptly written keeping him in mind. His freshness, sometimes dumbness gives a nice feel to the movie. Though he doesn’t look like a typical Sardar. That ways, his grandpa played by Prem Chopra takes full marks.
All other actors are new but they still deliver excellent performance for their roles. Gauhar Khan (another model turned actor) is promising in her debut. Shahzahn (currently her fame is Alyqusee Padamsee and Sharon Prabhakar’s daughter) looks pretty and her miniscule role only expects that from her. I am not aware of names of other actors but as I said earlier they all fit into their respective roles.
Shimit Amin (who had earlier shot to fame with his directorial debut Chak De… ) once again proves that a good movie doesn’t need known faces to make it run. It’s created at a meager budget of Rs 5 Crores but still doesn’t look like the movie has made any compromises.
Interesting aspect of the movie is its Music. While the movie had possibilities of songs of every kind (drama, romance, revenge etc etc..), can you believe the movie doesn’t have a single song and yet you don’t miss them. The background number is just sufficient to keep the rhythms and notes alive.
Now what went wrong…As I started, the movie gets a bit unreal sometimes…Its hard to imagine that a person runs an independent company right under the nose of another company which is small and tightly managed. The movie also exaggerates certain aspects in the beginning which I will not like to disclose as I run the risk of disclosing the storyline.
So overall, you can go for the movie. Anyways there are not too many good movies in theaters these days… Enjoy!
By the way, after Ajab Prem, I did see a couple of movies but none were worthy enough to write a review. To top that list will be Kurbaan which was an ultimate disappointment and a waste of money. Guess, Karan should stick to his larger than life family and dreamy dramas.
So far I have not come across a movie being made on this subject. OK… I might be a bit biased. A salesperson myself, the movie does tend to engage me more than may be some other professionals. But the same reason makes the movie unreal to me as well.
So having given the verdict first, what is that I liked and disliked in the movie?
First is the subject. I don’t recollect movies been made on a salesperson in a tough hardware environment. Without going in too much about the business and profession, the movie is still able to capture the subtle nuances and challenges very well.
Second is the acting department. I suppose Ranbir has had a great year in 2009. After Wake up Sid and Ajab Prem, he once again comes across as a natural actor. All these movies have been aptly written keeping him in mind. His freshness, sometimes dumbness gives a nice feel to the movie. Though he doesn’t look like a typical Sardar. That ways, his grandpa played by Prem Chopra takes full marks.
All other actors are new but they still deliver excellent performance for their roles. Gauhar Khan (another model turned actor) is promising in her debut. Shahzahn (currently her fame is Alyqusee Padamsee and Sharon Prabhakar’s daughter) looks pretty and her miniscule role only expects that from her. I am not aware of names of other actors but as I said earlier they all fit into their respective roles.
Shimit Amin (who had earlier shot to fame with his directorial debut Chak De… ) once again proves that a good movie doesn’t need known faces to make it run. It’s created at a meager budget of Rs 5 Crores but still doesn’t look like the movie has made any compromises.
Interesting aspect of the movie is its Music. While the movie had possibilities of songs of every kind (drama, romance, revenge etc etc..), can you believe the movie doesn’t have a single song and yet you don’t miss them. The background number is just sufficient to keep the rhythms and notes alive.
Now what went wrong…As I started, the movie gets a bit unreal sometimes…Its hard to imagine that a person runs an independent company right under the nose of another company which is small and tightly managed. The movie also exaggerates certain aspects in the beginning which I will not like to disclose as I run the risk of disclosing the storyline.
So overall, you can go for the movie. Anyways there are not too many good movies in theaters these days… Enjoy!
By the way, after Ajab Prem, I did see a couple of movies but none were worthy enough to write a review. To top that list will be Kurbaan which was an ultimate disappointment and a waste of money. Guess, Karan should stick to his larger than life family and dreamy dramas.
Sunday, November 8, 2009
This week's flavor: Ajab Prem ki Ghazab Kahani
How do you review a movie whose buzz quotient is so high that for the first time in almost a year we had to struggle to get the movie tickets. Most of the shows across multiplexes were House Full. And then when you watch the movie, the expectations were so volley up that you end up not sure how the movie was.
Well, to be fair, Raj Kumar Santoshi’s Ajab Prem ki Ghazab Kahani is a good movie. Its just that its not worth the buzz it has created. Lets start about the pluses of the movie. Top of the list is once again Ranbir Kapoor. His acting is top-class. It’s good to see a refreshing change from the current trend of actors who are aging 40+. This year has been really good for him after the superb performance in ‘Wake up Sid’ earlier. Next is Katrina who for once plays her true age in the movie. She is sweet, innocent and needless to say beautiful. Then are Ranbir’s parents in the movie (Darshan zariwala and Smita Jaykar). Their chemistry and emotions are worth every presence in the movie. Most of the other actors except may be the “Happy Club” friends of Ranbir are ok and sometimes not required in the movie. By the way, do not miss Salman’s little cameo.
Music is another plus. Most of the songs are good and hummable even after leaving the theatre especially “Tera Hone Laga hun”. I also loved the choreography of the energetic no. “Prem ki Nayiya”. I am sure the movie tracks will be on the Top 10 charts for many weeks to come.
Also which town is this movie shot in... Ooty or just a plain set... whatever it is, it looks amazing and adds to simplistic flavour of this film.
So despite so many pluses, what went wrong in the movie... I think the biggest problem in the movie is its genre treatment : Comedy (It has many many comical moments; some of them almost copying Santoshi’s earlier and my all time favourite Andaz Apna Apna); Romantic, After all the movie is about Prem’s ‘Prem Kahani’ with many emotional moments weaved into it. The movie keeps changing its gear and thats may be where the movie errs.
Second problem which usually is also the problem of most Hindi movies is the length. The first half is too long and too stretched to the extent that by the time interval comes, I was almost wondering if there could be a second half. Some songs are unnecessary and stuffed into the movie.
Overall the movie is worth watching for its look, feel, simplicity and some real funny moments.
By the way, it might not have been positioned as a kids movie... but throughout the show, I could hear kids laughing out loud. The distributors can try changing the positioning and target the kids.
Friday, October 16, 2009
All the Best ... Paisa Vasool
3 movies releasing on Diwali long weekend. How do you decide which one to go after? Well after so much of marketing hype with each one claiming to be the best, you just make a pick. BLUE was simply not chosen because it was over-marketed. Also I had already burnt my fingers, sorry wallet, on a similar Akshay Kumar movie (Kambakht Ishq). Mr & Mrs Khanna was left for DVD viewing.
So we end up watching All The Best. Interestingly, the 9pm show on the first day was half empty. So we started the movie by wondering whether it was a wrong decision.
The movie is Ajay Devgn’s production (please note there is no spelling mistake. Mr. Ajay has dropped an “a” for good luck). And he sure has got it this time because this movie was certainly a sparkler.
Don’t bother about the plot, storyline, sense, logic because Rohit Shetty’s movies defy all of it. Rohit Shetty who shot to fame with the Golmal sequels (which by the way also propelled Ajay to comic league) has advanced this time. The movie is much better than his previous two. The movie revolves around the usual confusion, chaos, madness and too many characters intertwined for a common cause.
But that one thing that makes the movie clicks is its one-liners which in most cases are first-class. And they keep coming again and again and again making the movie a series of PJs, jokes and in some cases double entendres (though very subtle and unless heard properly might have gone unnoticed). Their timings are really good so the credit should be given to the editing team. The conversation between Sanjay Dutt and RGV (sorry don’t know his real name) on “Geeta ka Saar” is just one of the many examples.
Among the main star cast, Sanjay Dutt is the best with his low voiced perfect witty andaz. In fact the movie picks up only after his entry. He seems to have found his genre as he himself says in one of the dialogues… “comedy to abhi start ki hai … 30 saal se to action kar raha tha..”. Ajay Devgn does a classic Arshad Warsi while Fardeen Khan is his usual self. His role is ditto replica to some of his other multi-starrer comedies for instance No Entry. Bipasha is OK and Mugdha doesn’t have much screen presence. The real show stealers of the movie are the satellite actors, many of who are from Rohit Shetty’s earlier movies. Each one of them are perfectly cast for their roles and they all give their best.
The movie is shot in Goa and any paint company could have used it for in-branding promotions because the movie is full of vibrant colors.
Over all the movie is as people say “paisa vasool”. Just leave your brains at home and have fun!
So we end up watching All The Best. Interestingly, the 9pm show on the first day was half empty. So we started the movie by wondering whether it was a wrong decision.
The movie is Ajay Devgn’s production (please note there is no spelling mistake. Mr. Ajay has dropped an “a” for good luck). And he sure has got it this time because this movie was certainly a sparkler.
Don’t bother about the plot, storyline, sense, logic because Rohit Shetty’s movies defy all of it. Rohit Shetty who shot to fame with the Golmal sequels (which by the way also propelled Ajay to comic league) has advanced this time. The movie is much better than his previous two. The movie revolves around the usual confusion, chaos, madness and too many characters intertwined for a common cause.
But that one thing that makes the movie clicks is its one-liners which in most cases are first-class. And they keep coming again and again and again making the movie a series of PJs, jokes and in some cases double entendres (though very subtle and unless heard properly might have gone unnoticed). Their timings are really good so the credit should be given to the editing team. The conversation between Sanjay Dutt and RGV (sorry don’t know his real name) on “Geeta ka Saar” is just one of the many examples.
Among the main star cast, Sanjay Dutt is the best with his low voiced perfect witty andaz. In fact the movie picks up only after his entry. He seems to have found his genre as he himself says in one of the dialogues… “comedy to abhi start ki hai … 30 saal se to action kar raha tha..”. Ajay Devgn does a classic Arshad Warsi while Fardeen Khan is his usual self. His role is ditto replica to some of his other multi-starrer comedies for instance No Entry. Bipasha is OK and Mugdha doesn’t have much screen presence. The real show stealers of the movie are the satellite actors, many of who are from Rohit Shetty’s earlier movies. Each one of them are perfectly cast for their roles and they all give their best.
The movie is shot in Goa and any paint company could have used it for in-branding promotions because the movie is full of vibrant colors.
Over all the movie is as people say “paisa vasool”. Just leave your brains at home and have fun!
Saturday, October 3, 2009
Wake Up Sid...A fine refreshing film...
No twists, no turns, no drama sequences. The entire movie moves in a straight predictable way, yet thoroughly enjoyable.
Both Ranbir and Konkona are brilliant. While powerful acting is expected out of Konkona who has created her own niche in cinema, Ranbir really brings life to the character of Siddharth Mehra (Sid). A confused teen, who is not sure of what he wants to achieve in life, is well portrayed by him. In fact by the end of the movie, you feel that this character couldn’t have been played better by anyone else. Supriya Pathak and Anupam Kher also suit their roles. Supriya trying hard to meet the expectations of a modern mother. Kashmira adds to the glam quotient. I don’t remember seeing her after “Yes Boss”.
There are very few movies made in Indian cinema wherein a hero will be shown romancing a girl who is above his age. This movie not just does that but does it in such a way that at no point in the movie, the relationship seems odd. The differences in their characters are accentuated by their varied lifestyles, their opposite aspirations and their own friend circles; yet their chemistry is appealing in its own way. After all as someone said opposites attract.
The movie also highlights the fact that at the end of the day one enjoys work only if it’s an extension of his hobby.
The music is another plus. I have always felt that a movie already achieves half its success if the music is good. Some of the songs, especially the title song and the “boond boond” number, are wonderful and grow on you. Just like the storyline, there are no forced songs, item numbers or even sad parting songs. There are a few songs and they all justify their presence. The background score also keeps pace with the storyline. While initially the tune of title song build up the confusion of the hero, it gradually shifts post interval to “boond boond” for the romantic angle and hero’s slow transformation.
The only drawback I felt with the movie was its duration. Somewhere in the middle, the story drags a bit and a 15-20 mins cut at that time would have made it much better. But as I started, the movie is different and has its own life.
With respect to rating / stars, do you really care how many I give... Its the worth the money you will spend so just go for it.
Just one last thing about the so called controversy. Mr. Raj Thakeray should have watched the movie once before raising objections. Whether the city is called Bombay or Mumbai, the movie well demonstrates its spirit and makes you fall in love with Mumbai again.
By the way, also saw the other movie released this week... David Dhawan’s Do Knot Disturb starring Govinda, Ritesh, Lara and Sushmita. I will only say - you need not disturb yourself for the movie. The movie is a typical David Dhawan (or may be even 50% of some of his previous ones) venture... loud noise with forced jokes at various intervals. The only saving grace being Lara looks absolutely stunning.
Both Ranbir and Konkona are brilliant. While powerful acting is expected out of Konkona who has created her own niche in cinema, Ranbir really brings life to the character of Siddharth Mehra (Sid). A confused teen, who is not sure of what he wants to achieve in life, is well portrayed by him. In fact by the end of the movie, you feel that this character couldn’t have been played better by anyone else. Supriya Pathak and Anupam Kher also suit their roles. Supriya trying hard to meet the expectations of a modern mother. Kashmira adds to the glam quotient. I don’t remember seeing her after “Yes Boss”.
There are very few movies made in Indian cinema wherein a hero will be shown romancing a girl who is above his age. This movie not just does that but does it in such a way that at no point in the movie, the relationship seems odd. The differences in their characters are accentuated by their varied lifestyles, their opposite aspirations and their own friend circles; yet their chemistry is appealing in its own way. After all as someone said opposites attract.
The movie also highlights the fact that at the end of the day one enjoys work only if it’s an extension of his hobby.
The music is another plus. I have always felt that a movie already achieves half its success if the music is good. Some of the songs, especially the title song and the “boond boond” number, are wonderful and grow on you. Just like the storyline, there are no forced songs, item numbers or even sad parting songs. There are a few songs and they all justify their presence. The background score also keeps pace with the storyline. While initially the tune of title song build up the confusion of the hero, it gradually shifts post interval to “boond boond” for the romantic angle and hero’s slow transformation.
The only drawback I felt with the movie was its duration. Somewhere in the middle, the story drags a bit and a 15-20 mins cut at that time would have made it much better. But as I started, the movie is different and has its own life.
With respect to rating / stars, do you really care how many I give... Its the worth the money you will spend so just go for it.
Just one last thing about the so called controversy. Mr. Raj Thakeray should have watched the movie once before raising objections. Whether the city is called Bombay or Mumbai, the movie well demonstrates its spirit and makes you fall in love with Mumbai again.
By the way, also saw the other movie released this week... David Dhawan’s Do Knot Disturb starring Govinda, Ritesh, Lara and Sushmita. I will only say - you need not disturb yourself for the movie. The movie is a typical David Dhawan (or may be even 50% of some of his previous ones) venture... loud noise with forced jokes at various intervals. The only saving grace being Lara looks absolutely stunning.
Monday, August 24, 2009
We Hindus are a bit colorful in nature...
We Hindus are a bit colourful in nature. Sample some of the points below:
We have approximately 330 million Gods (and Goddesses). Yes the no is right; in fact the list keeps increasing because we also keep including our family Gurus in this list. So we see people worshipping Baba Ramdev, Yogdev, Somdev and so on and so forth. By the way, Hindu population is 885 million. So almost 1 God for every 2.5 Hindus…Now that’s called focussed attention.
Our Gods come in all shapes and sizes: Gods with 10 heads; Gods with 3 eyes; Gods with a trunk as their nose; Gods who resemble a monkey; Gods who have a river flowing out of their hairs and the list goes on. To top that, most of these Gods will have an animal as their rider. So we end up worshipping cows, snakes, peacocks, rats etc…
We have Gods for everything. So I have full choice. If I want wisdom, I goto one and if I want money, I goto another. In fact, we even have a God for love and Sex. Kamadeva is our own handsome Hindu love god. His attributes are quite similar to Cupid; difference being Cupid is not a God in Christianity. Kamadeva rides a parrot. By the way, he is supposedly son of Lakshmi who represents money (wow so there is a connection between love and money afterall)
Adding to the color, Hinduism as a religion have promoted alcohol (You don’t believe me …remember all the devtas used to have “madira” flowing through their parties). In fact that reminds me we also do not have any objections to “nach ganas”. So we read about beautiful females seducing Rishi munis in our “granthas”.
Ours might be the only religion where we have allowed polygamy and polyandry. (please refer to Arjuna having two wives and Draupdi having 5 husbands).
We also enjoy the “leelas” of Lord Krishna which is nothing but healthy flirting in modern terms.
We have multiple festivals. In fact going by the Hindu calendar, I might end up celebrating every day. While talking of this, no festival is complete without a proper show. So we see firecrackers, colors, “nautankis”, rakhis etc.
Our mythology has talked about every invention that has come in this era. So we see aeroplanes, modern weapons (brahmastra), “door drishti”, in our Ramayana and Mahabharta etc.
By the way, does anybody know who founded Hinduisum? For every religion, there is a founder but Hinduism as far as I could study doesn’t have any founder.
So what do you think…aren’t we a colourful race?
We have approximately 330 million Gods (and Goddesses). Yes the no is right; in fact the list keeps increasing because we also keep including our family Gurus in this list. So we see people worshipping Baba Ramdev, Yogdev, Somdev and so on and so forth. By the way, Hindu population is 885 million. So almost 1 God for every 2.5 Hindus…Now that’s called focussed attention.
Our Gods come in all shapes and sizes: Gods with 10 heads; Gods with 3 eyes; Gods with a trunk as their nose; Gods who resemble a monkey; Gods who have a river flowing out of their hairs and the list goes on. To top that, most of these Gods will have an animal as their rider. So we end up worshipping cows, snakes, peacocks, rats etc…
We have Gods for everything. So I have full choice. If I want wisdom, I goto one and if I want money, I goto another. In fact, we even have a God for love and Sex. Kamadeva is our own handsome Hindu love god. His attributes are quite similar to Cupid; difference being Cupid is not a God in Christianity. Kamadeva rides a parrot. By the way, he is supposedly son of Lakshmi who represents money (wow so there is a connection between love and money afterall)
Adding to the color, Hinduism as a religion have promoted alcohol (You don’t believe me …remember all the devtas used to have “madira” flowing through their parties). In fact that reminds me we also do not have any objections to “nach ganas”. So we read about beautiful females seducing Rishi munis in our “granthas”.
Ours might be the only religion where we have allowed polygamy and polyandry. (please refer to Arjuna having two wives and Draupdi having 5 husbands).
We also enjoy the “leelas” of Lord Krishna which is nothing but healthy flirting in modern terms.
We have multiple festivals. In fact going by the Hindu calendar, I might end up celebrating every day. While talking of this, no festival is complete without a proper show. So we see firecrackers, colors, “nautankis”, rakhis etc.
Our mythology has talked about every invention that has come in this era. So we see aeroplanes, modern weapons (brahmastra), “door drishti”, in our Ramayana and Mahabharta etc.
By the way, does anybody know who founded Hinduisum? For every religion, there is a founder but Hinduism as far as I could study doesn’t have any founder.
So what do you think…aren’t we a colourful race?
Monday, August 17, 2009
Shahrukh's detention at US airport
Recently, Shahrukh Khan was detained at Newark airport for approximately 2 hours. The problem, his name cropped up as a potential terrorist on US immigration system and hence taken to a separate room for questioning. This resulted in major hue and cry in India with condemnations coming in from all flavours of people ranging from bollywood celebrities to cricket stars to our 'beloved' politicians.
Our Information & Broadcasting minister Ambika Soni even suggested that India should do a 'tit-for-tat' towards Americans (And I always thought politicians are supposed to be diplomatic in matters pertaining to two countries)
Anyways I don’t want to debate on what happened there... I also feel it was inappropriate. 15 minutes of reasonable questioning / internet search would have eased the authorities anxiety on his indentity. This only highlights the inefficiencies in US immigration system. But my blog questions the justification of the reactions of us Indians post this issue.
My first comment on what happened: Let me put back an alternate scenario. Let’s say someone like Tom Hanks or Eddie Murphy lands here at Indian airports and face immigration enquiries by someone who is least interested in Hollywood movies. Their name crops up as a “suspect”. What do you think would have happened? Don't you think Indian authorities would have questioned them as well? Wouldn't the Indian officer complete all possible investigations and release them only after he is 100% sure that the person he is allowing inside India is definitely not a terrorist. Please note I am not even talking of celebrities from other countries like China, Europe etc... God knows if anyone would be able to recognize them.
Second thought on the reaction: Every year, thousands of people are questioned extensively at immigrations by US authorities. I know lot of my friends whose visa has been denied. Even in Bollywood, recently Kabir Khan and John Abraham were questioned extensively because of their trips to Afghanistan for their movie “Kabul Express”. I am sure all those who have travelled to US will agree that the authorities work on a “robotic” basis and are totally dependent on what steps their system suggests (I will reserve my personal experience of entering US for a later blog). Well no one raised issues then. Why is it that someone like Shahrukh Khan’s case has to prompt this kind of national ? Also does it justify a diplomatic channel to expect an apology?
Will end this blog with a question? Is it because we worship our celebrities to such an extent, that they are not considered as normal human beings and are a part of different league all together?
Our Information & Broadcasting minister Ambika Soni even suggested that India should do a 'tit-for-tat' towards Americans (And I always thought politicians are supposed to be diplomatic in matters pertaining to two countries)
Anyways I don’t want to debate on what happened there... I also feel it was inappropriate. 15 minutes of reasonable questioning / internet search would have eased the authorities anxiety on his indentity. This only highlights the inefficiencies in US immigration system. But my blog questions the justification of the reactions of us Indians post this issue.
My first comment on what happened: Let me put back an alternate scenario. Let’s say someone like Tom Hanks or Eddie Murphy lands here at Indian airports and face immigration enquiries by someone who is least interested in Hollywood movies. Their name crops up as a “suspect”. What do you think would have happened? Don't you think Indian authorities would have questioned them as well? Wouldn't the Indian officer complete all possible investigations and release them only after he is 100% sure that the person he is allowing inside India is definitely not a terrorist. Please note I am not even talking of celebrities from other countries like China, Europe etc... God knows if anyone would be able to recognize them.
Second thought on the reaction: Every year, thousands of people are questioned extensively at immigrations by US authorities. I know lot of my friends whose visa has been denied. Even in Bollywood, recently Kabir Khan and John Abraham were questioned extensively because of their trips to Afghanistan for their movie “Kabul Express”. I am sure all those who have travelled to US will agree that the authorities work on a “robotic” basis and are totally dependent on what steps their system suggests (I will reserve my personal experience of entering US for a later blog). Well no one raised issues then. Why is it that someone like Shahrukh Khan’s case has to prompt this kind of national ? Also does it justify a diplomatic channel to expect an apology?
Will end this blog with a question? Is it because we worship our celebrities to such an extent, that they are not considered as normal human beings and are a part of different league all together?
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Role of Luck in Freida's success?
Recently, on my flight from Dubai to Mumbai, I had the privilege (at least I initially thought so) of sitting next to Ms Freida Pinto. That girl (and an overnight star) displayed oodles of attitude (you can safely read it as arrogance).
Her behaviour prompted me to think what role luck plays in today’s environment. All those who would have seen Slumdog Millionaire would admit that Freida’s role was miniscule as compared to her co-stars and even to the little slum kids, Rubina and Azhar. She hardly had any dialogues to speak or scenes to act in. Yet, she was hailed as a huge find of the film to the extent that some of the world’s best directors including Woody Allen have cast her in their supposedly next venture.
Her popularity these days is more than some of Bollywood’s top actresses. She was recently included in the World’s Top 20 most beautiful actresses much above some of the prettier faces of Bollywood. She has won some of the most plum modelling assignments which so far only Ashwarya Rai could boast of.
So what do I call of this success?
Is she really that beautiful (I will leave this to debate as most of the times people say that beauty lies in the eyes of beholder)? Did she display a power performance in the movie? What about some of the more talented actors in the movie like Irrfan, Anil Kapoor, Mahesh Manjrekar etc. They all had roles much larger than her. In fact her co-star Dev who had the entire movie to himself is also not much talked about as compared to her. All the little kids have hardly got much in return as compared to the success/revenues the movie has generated.
This blog is not to pick upon her. I hope she will definitely be worth the hype that she has generated and the next few movies will prove that. I am just trying to use this as an example for the role sometimes luck play in somebody’s life.
And we all continuously try to convince ourselves with the traditional quote “Hardwork is the key to success”.
Her behaviour prompted me to think what role luck plays in today’s environment. All those who would have seen Slumdog Millionaire would admit that Freida’s role was miniscule as compared to her co-stars and even to the little slum kids, Rubina and Azhar. She hardly had any dialogues to speak or scenes to act in. Yet, she was hailed as a huge find of the film to the extent that some of the world’s best directors including Woody Allen have cast her in their supposedly next venture.
Her popularity these days is more than some of Bollywood’s top actresses. She was recently included in the World’s Top 20 most beautiful actresses much above some of the prettier faces of Bollywood. She has won some of the most plum modelling assignments which so far only Ashwarya Rai could boast of.
So what do I call of this success?
Is she really that beautiful (I will leave this to debate as most of the times people say that beauty lies in the eyes of beholder)? Did she display a power performance in the movie? What about some of the more talented actors in the movie like Irrfan, Anil Kapoor, Mahesh Manjrekar etc. They all had roles much larger than her. In fact her co-star Dev who had the entire movie to himself is also not much talked about as compared to her. All the little kids have hardly got much in return as compared to the success/revenues the movie has generated.
This blog is not to pick upon her. I hope she will definitely be worth the hype that she has generated and the next few movies will prove that. I am just trying to use this as an example for the role sometimes luck play in somebody’s life.
And we all continuously try to convince ourselves with the traditional quote “Hardwork is the key to success”.
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Should our country be run like a corporate?
In the current scenario, every 5 years (most often earlier), a general election is held in which almost 50-60% of the population doesn’t vote. A bunch of 500+ MPs are selected. Most of them old, uneducated, corrupt and inexperienced. To top that, many have criminal backgrounds. Ministries are allocated based on the muscle, financial, political power (read vote bank / seat share power) to individuals who would have NIL experience and background of the responsibilities entrusted upon them.
Why not consider an alternate and hypothetical scenario?
The various ministers should be selected based on their extensive experience and educational qualifications within their required fields. For instance, the Finance Minister should be atleast a CA/CS or an MBA in Finance. He should have a min of 15 years experience in either a financial institution or in finance organization of an enterprise. Let’s say someone like D Subba Rao (RBI), Bhatt (SBU fame) Deepak Parekh (HDFC fame) and many others.
Minister of external affairs should be run by someone who has spent his career in corporate communications and political affairs. IT ministry by someone who has been a pioneer in the field like Murthy, Nilekani, Premzi etc. Same goes for other ministries like tourism , energy, education etc.
A proper background and financial check should be conducted prior to their appointment. They should sign a character certificate.
Every year, there should be 5-10 focus areas for GDP growth. It can be anything based on country’s potential, political climate, industry trends, global climate, economic scenario and most important internal capabilities. So we focus on areas like IT, Agriculture, tourism, and so on.
KRAs should be set for each area which are quantitative and measurable. They should be achievable with sufficient efforts put in.
Each department should carry a fixed budget that can’t exceed their costs. Salaries and perks should be comparable to any industry standard (which will help counter the need for corruption). The compensation for each of the Ministers and their ministries should be divided in Fixed and Variable components. The Variable component should be paid only if the quarterly or annual targets are achieved. So if the Tourism department fixed a KRA of increasing the number of tourists by 50% (and revenues by 25% yoy), then they get their variable compensation only if the increment is achieved.
Every foreign visit has to be justifiable and a complete report presented with action items immediately after the visit. At the end of the trip, a detailed expense report should be submitted and should have proper channels for authorizing any expense which is non-standard and above threshold.
At the end, awards and bonuses should be given to the Ministries who outperformed others.
There are so many similar scenarios possible if we start seeing around our own corporate environment. The above is just a teaser.
Will this lead to a more efficient and transparent government? Will this enable faster reforms and economic growth? I don’t have ready answers. But why not give it a shot (even if it has to be in phases)?
Why not consider an alternate and hypothetical scenario?
The various ministers should be selected based on their extensive experience and educational qualifications within their required fields. For instance, the Finance Minister should be atleast a CA/CS or an MBA in Finance. He should have a min of 15 years experience in either a financial institution or in finance organization of an enterprise. Let’s say someone like D Subba Rao (RBI), Bhatt (SBU fame) Deepak Parekh (HDFC fame) and many others.
Minister of external affairs should be run by someone who has spent his career in corporate communications and political affairs. IT ministry by someone who has been a pioneer in the field like Murthy, Nilekani, Premzi etc. Same goes for other ministries like tourism , energy, education etc.
A proper background and financial check should be conducted prior to their appointment. They should sign a character certificate.
Every year, there should be 5-10 focus areas for GDP growth. It can be anything based on country’s potential, political climate, industry trends, global climate, economic scenario and most important internal capabilities. So we focus on areas like IT, Agriculture, tourism, and so on.
KRAs should be set for each area which are quantitative and measurable. They should be achievable with sufficient efforts put in.
Each department should carry a fixed budget that can’t exceed their costs. Salaries and perks should be comparable to any industry standard (which will help counter the need for corruption). The compensation for each of the Ministers and their ministries should be divided in Fixed and Variable components. The Variable component should be paid only if the quarterly or annual targets are achieved. So if the Tourism department fixed a KRA of increasing the number of tourists by 50% (and revenues by 25% yoy), then they get their variable compensation only if the increment is achieved.
Every foreign visit has to be justifiable and a complete report presented with action items immediately after the visit. At the end of the trip, a detailed expense report should be submitted and should have proper channels for authorizing any expense which is non-standard and above threshold.
At the end, awards and bonuses should be given to the Ministries who outperformed others.
There are so many similar scenarios possible if we start seeing around our own corporate environment. The above is just a teaser.
Will this lead to a more efficient and transparent government? Will this enable faster reforms and economic growth? I don’t have ready answers. But why not give it a shot (even if it has to be in phases)?
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Mumbai Waterways
Since ages, Mumbai has been plagued with traffic chaos. Mumbai being a linear city and most of the offices confined either to South Mumbai (Nariman Point, Fort, Colaba) or Central Mumbai (BKC, Andheri SEEPZ), traffic literally flows in one direction. Cheaper housing available only in Northern suburbs adds to the traffic woes as majority of the residential community is now based at Kandivali and onwards.
Mumbai is also surrounded by water everywhere and is actually a 3-sided island. What I could never understand why this is never used to its advantage? I have stayed in London for some time where water is used as an effective and efficient transport medium and could never comprehend the reason of not using it in India as well?
Imagine someone who has to travel from Borivali (W) to Nariman Point. He first takes a local bus to the nearest railways station (Borivali) – journey time can be anything between 15-30 mins depending upon traffic. Then he takes a local train to Churchgate and then a cab from there to Nariman Point. Total journey time would be a min 2 hrs. Even if the person belongs to upper middle class and above and drives to work, he would still take anywhere between 2-2.5 hrs. On top, add the stress level due to traffic jams, overpacked local trains / buses and excessive noise and air pollution.
Vice versa, if a water transport is available, he just neads to reach the nearest jetty, take a catamaran or ferry service to Nariman Point (journey time can be anything between 45-60 mins).
A similar case can be built on Harbor line for people travelling between Vashi and Nariman Point.
But so far, this medium has never been explored. Interestingly, there are ferries available to take you to Alibaugh, Mandwa and Rewas which are 4 hrs by road but 1 hr by ferry.
I strongly feel that water transport should be explored as a medium to decongest the roads. This can be further sub-divided into two: First, normal ferries which can accommodate upto 100-150 passengers every 3-4 mins and priced low for daily local wage passengers. Add local stops at all key places like Versova, Bandra, Juhu, Dadar etc. The second would be to have stylish water boats which can accommodate 25-30 passengers and offer comfort for business travelers and tourists (price can be same as first classs train ticket). This will surely reduce the number of cars on the roads. Even if we make this sector private, it has huge potential.
Mumbai is also surrounded by water everywhere and is actually a 3-sided island. What I could never understand why this is never used to its advantage? I have stayed in London for some time where water is used as an effective and efficient transport medium and could never comprehend the reason of not using it in India as well?
Imagine someone who has to travel from Borivali (W) to Nariman Point. He first takes a local bus to the nearest railways station (Borivali) – journey time can be anything between 15-30 mins depending upon traffic. Then he takes a local train to Churchgate and then a cab from there to Nariman Point. Total journey time would be a min 2 hrs. Even if the person belongs to upper middle class and above and drives to work, he would still take anywhere between 2-2.5 hrs. On top, add the stress level due to traffic jams, overpacked local trains / buses and excessive noise and air pollution.
Vice versa, if a water transport is available, he just neads to reach the nearest jetty, take a catamaran or ferry service to Nariman Point (journey time can be anything between 45-60 mins).
A similar case can be built on Harbor line for people travelling between Vashi and Nariman Point.
But so far, this medium has never been explored. Interestingly, there are ferries available to take you to Alibaugh, Mandwa and Rewas which are 4 hrs by road but 1 hr by ferry.
I strongly feel that water transport should be explored as a medium to decongest the roads. This can be further sub-divided into two: First, normal ferries which can accommodate upto 100-150 passengers every 3-4 mins and priced low for daily local wage passengers. Add local stops at all key places like Versova, Bandra, Juhu, Dadar etc. The second would be to have stylish water boats which can accommodate 25-30 passengers and offer comfort for business travelers and tourists (price can be same as first classs train ticket). This will surely reduce the number of cars on the roads. Even if we make this sector private, it has huge potential.
Friday, March 20, 2009
Slumdogs meet politicians
I usually refrain from writing blogs on politics but this one forced me to abandon the rule. Recently Congress claimed credit for some of the country's recent achievements which included guess what “Slumdog Millionaire's success at Oscars”. The party spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi said "All this has been possible because of the conducive environment and good governance of the UPA”.
Wow.. what a statement? Isn’t this a laughing matter? To top it, the two kids from slums who acted in the movie (Rubina and Azhar) met Sonia Gandhi at her house in Janpath and also sang "Jai Ho" for her (which incidentally is Congress's election anthem now). They even suggested campaigning for Congress party in the coming elections (by the way they both are single digit old else Congress would have made them candidates from their slum constituency). Just before meeting Sonia, the two kids just had a small request “When we meet her we will tell her that we need a roof over our heads”
This last request from the two little ones is enough to summarize the irony of the situation, the sorry state of our political affairs? After 60 years into independence, the slums are only increasing; in fact so big, that a hollywood producer depicts them in full nakedness to the whole world and wins credits left right and center. The party who was providing their “good governance” for most of these 60 years claims credit for it – I guess credit for glorifying India’s poverty and highlighting the majority of population who struggle to make even their basic necessities meet. Yes Sir, this is definitely a “conducive environment”
There was so much criticism when the movie went on to win Oscars. Why hasn’t no one come forward now? Everyday, the two kids meet some political leader or some bollywood star or do a ramp walk on a fashion show (yes they walked on the ramp as well in designer clothes) but at the end of the day, they still come back to their same old slum wherein they share their parched hutment with so many others in poor unhygienic conditions. Imagine the mental trauma those two might be going through everyday? At such a tiny age, they are living a dual life every 12 hrs (a dream life in a day and dropping to the stark realties in night) hoping that the political parties will do something to rectify the situation, something that can make their dreams last a bit longer.
Wow.. what a statement? Isn’t this a laughing matter? To top it, the two kids from slums who acted in the movie (Rubina and Azhar) met Sonia Gandhi at her house in Janpath and also sang "Jai Ho" for her (which incidentally is Congress's election anthem now). They even suggested campaigning for Congress party in the coming elections (by the way they both are single digit old else Congress would have made them candidates from their slum constituency). Just before meeting Sonia, the two kids just had a small request “When we meet her we will tell her that we need a roof over our heads”
This last request from the two little ones is enough to summarize the irony of the situation, the sorry state of our political affairs? After 60 years into independence, the slums are only increasing; in fact so big, that a hollywood producer depicts them in full nakedness to the whole world and wins credits left right and center. The party who was providing their “good governance” for most of these 60 years claims credit for it – I guess credit for glorifying India’s poverty and highlighting the majority of population who struggle to make even their basic necessities meet. Yes Sir, this is definitely a “conducive environment”
There was so much criticism when the movie went on to win Oscars. Why hasn’t no one come forward now? Everyday, the two kids meet some political leader or some bollywood star or do a ramp walk on a fashion show (yes they walked on the ramp as well in designer clothes) but at the end of the day, they still come back to their same old slum wherein they share their parched hutment with so many others in poor unhygienic conditions. Imagine the mental trauma those two might be going through everyday? At such a tiny age, they are living a dual life every 12 hrs (a dream life in a day and dropping to the stark realties in night) hoping that the political parties will do something to rectify the situation, something that can make their dreams last a bit longer.
Friday, March 13, 2009
Influence of media
One of my first blogs was how media can make or break an institution.
Today, I would like to extend this to individuals. Every morning when we wake up, the first thing we read is the headlines from our local daily. Does it determine our mood, our outlook for that day?
Take for instance, a sample of gloomy headlines that fill our newspaper these days:
- Recession reports: 1300 firms file for bankruptcy
- Asian stocks go for a free fall
- Industrial output fells sharply
- Consumer confidence at a decade low
- A NY broker commits suicide because of losses
How does it make you feel? Even though your job might be perfectly fine, your company might be doing very well, your personal life is in full balance; yet somehow these news creates a negative impression in your mind and we all know negativity creates a vicious cycle taking you further down.
Just last week, I came across a forward email in which a person has a small lunch takeaway in the heart of Wall Street. His business is going great (after all whatever be the market condition; every one is going to have a quick bite at lunch). Suddenly his educated son appears and advises his father to reduce his production as there is recession in market. His father does so; Now the takeaway shop runs out of food earlier and lot of customers have to return hungry. The word spreads and people start refraining from going to the shop fearing they might not get lunch. This reduces demand and the father reduces production further thus creating a cycle. In the end… demand is low and lower is the supply (Impact of recession????)
Well the story might not have any linkage to what I started blogging about; but the bottomline message is same and very clear. Simple things like your daily newspaper; your dinnertime news channel influences how your day shapes up. Though its good to know the facts and whats happening in the world; its even more important to project them in a balanced manner; An individual should assimilate information to the extent he is impacted by the same…
Thursday, January 15, 2009
'The White Tiger': My two cents
I just finished reading ‘The White Tiger’, the first novel by Aravind Adiga. The novel had won Man Booker Prize in 2008 against a stiff competition from Amitav Ghosh’s Sea of Poppies and 4 others.
Though the novel is a fast read and starts involving you once you have crossed the first 50 pages of the book, I must admit I was not impressed with the writing style. The novel is a series of letters written to the Chinese premiere with a continuous use of ‘Sir’. A similar style was in the book ‘Reluctant Fundamentalist’ by Mohsin Hamid where the narrator keeps addressing an unknown foreigner ‘Sir’ in almost every alternate sentence. I feel this is an unnecessary respect granted to a person of a different nationality considering him to be of superior race than people of South Asian descent.
Moving on to the second issue with the style, is what I see with most of the other Indian authors appealing to international audience – showing extreme poverty, people defecating in the open, children in torn clothes bathing in open black sewage, malnutrition, corrupt political and legal system etc…basically the so-called real exposed truth behind the modern India which we have been trying to project to the outside investor world. Now I am not saying it’s not true. Every Indian will admit that whatever these guys have written is absolutely true and can be seen in any slum prevalent in every city of India. But somehow it has become a habit of authors to exploit it. Why does books exposing such realties are the ones which win awards? It should also be noted that the author emigrated to Sydney in mid-90s and spent the rest of his life outside India. So the entire experience has been written by someone who has hardly lived in India.
This reminds me of Sanjeev Bhaskar and his BBC documentary on India’s call centers in which he shows some of the worst possible environments for the industry. Once again an extreme projection of India by someone who would have hardly witnessed the emergence of this industry…
The novel also has a lot of disparaging remarks about Muslims; yet somehow hasn’t invited any controversy… Sample this: “Have you noticed that all four of the greatest poets in the world are Muslims? And yet all Muslims you meet are illiterate or covered head to toe in Black burkas or looking for buildings to blow up?” Another one: “Full of things that the modern world forgot all about – rickshaws, old stone buildings and Muslims”.
Having said above, I don’t want to be only a critic of the book which I said earlier was a fast engrossing read. It has its own plus points. The book, I believe, has been successful in its objectives of creating awareness on the plight of servants in Indian households… I for once had never thought what a driver goes through sitting in an AC car waiting for his master whole day outside his office…a 24*7 house worker on seeing his employers enjoying the luxuries of life while he sleeps in either a kitchen or some sort of shabby servant quarters… when the kind of leverage the servants have on our daily lives, when they have the easiest access to the house wealth and its owners, still the proportion of crime committed by them is almost negligible… most of them are loyal to their masters throughout their lives… So all in all the book is a good and recommended read and leaves a sense of skepticism and suspicion in you...
Though the novel is a fast read and starts involving you once you have crossed the first 50 pages of the book, I must admit I was not impressed with the writing style. The novel is a series of letters written to the Chinese premiere with a continuous use of ‘Sir’. A similar style was in the book ‘Reluctant Fundamentalist’ by Mohsin Hamid where the narrator keeps addressing an unknown foreigner ‘Sir’ in almost every alternate sentence. I feel this is an unnecessary respect granted to a person of a different nationality considering him to be of superior race than people of South Asian descent.
Moving on to the second issue with the style, is what I see with most of the other Indian authors appealing to international audience – showing extreme poverty, people defecating in the open, children in torn clothes bathing in open black sewage, malnutrition, corrupt political and legal system etc…basically the so-called real exposed truth behind the modern India which we have been trying to project to the outside investor world. Now I am not saying it’s not true. Every Indian will admit that whatever these guys have written is absolutely true and can be seen in any slum prevalent in every city of India. But somehow it has become a habit of authors to exploit it. Why does books exposing such realties are the ones which win awards? It should also be noted that the author emigrated to Sydney in mid-90s and spent the rest of his life outside India. So the entire experience has been written by someone who has hardly lived in India.
This reminds me of Sanjeev Bhaskar and his BBC documentary on India’s call centers in which he shows some of the worst possible environments for the industry. Once again an extreme projection of India by someone who would have hardly witnessed the emergence of this industry…
The novel also has a lot of disparaging remarks about Muslims; yet somehow hasn’t invited any controversy… Sample this: “Have you noticed that all four of the greatest poets in the world are Muslims? And yet all Muslims you meet are illiterate or covered head to toe in Black burkas or looking for buildings to blow up?” Another one: “Full of things that the modern world forgot all about – rickshaws, old stone buildings and Muslims”.
Having said above, I don’t want to be only a critic of the book which I said earlier was a fast engrossing read. It has its own plus points. The book, I believe, has been successful in its objectives of creating awareness on the plight of servants in Indian households… I for once had never thought what a driver goes through sitting in an AC car waiting for his master whole day outside his office…a 24*7 house worker on seeing his employers enjoying the luxuries of life while he sleeps in either a kitchen or some sort of shabby servant quarters… when the kind of leverage the servants have on our daily lives, when they have the easiest access to the house wealth and its owners, still the proportion of crime committed by them is almost negligible… most of them are loyal to their masters throughout their lives… So all in all the book is a good and recommended read and leaves a sense of skepticism and suspicion in you...
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Awards - Once again are they worth it?
in Nov 2008, I had written a blog on CMMI appraisals and whether they are worth it.
Let me extend a similar thought process to something most talked about these days – Satyam’s ‘asatyam’ saga - One of the biggest corporate frauds in Indian history.
Satyam’s books were internally audited and then externally audited by an auditing agency of repute (in fact considered among the Top 4). The corporate governance of Satyam was considered second best to Infosys to the extent that it was awarded the Golden Peacock Global Award for Excellence in Corporate Governance 2008 by World Council for Corporate Governance (WCFCG). It was also awarded Golden Peacock Award winner for Excellence in Corporate Governance in 2002. The irony being these are the same two years (2002 and 2008) between which Mr. Raju has admitted committing fraud and guess what ‘for corporate governance’ only.
So I am back to my original blog on CMMI… are these audits and governance awards really worth it or have they lost the purpose for which these were created. Audits are performed to ascertain the validity and reliability of information, and also provide an assessment of a company's internal processes & control. Wikipedia says: In financial accounting, an audit is an independent assessment of the fairness by which a company's financial statements are presented by its management. Please note the highlighted words in the definition.
Golden Peacock (IOD) website states: The Golden Peacock Awards are now considered as the holy grail of corporate excellence and its guidelines provide a checklist for improvement and self-assessment in areas of quality, Innovation, training, governance, environment management and corporate social responsibility. This is the only award, which has meticulously defined and transparent selection criteria and is determined by highly elaborate and independent assessment process. Again please note the last three words: independent assessment process.
So once again, we see things been done just for the sake of it losing the spirit and the purpose for which they were defined. If a company as large as Satyam can get away from not just internal audits but from external audits and can go ahead and win one of the most prestigious awards, do such things really serve purpose or are we just trying to get some extra mileage by having them listed against our name…
Do firms from now on still carry ‘Golden Peacock’ mention in their marketing materials? Would clients be satisfied when we say that our books are externally audited by the Big 4? We are slowly loosing the marketing gimmicks and who knows might get back to what works best ‘word of action’.
By the way, Satyam had also won: Award for Best IT practices, Entrepreneur of the Year award, Golden Peacock Award for Innovation and many many more in the controversial aspects…
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