PK ka Hangover !!

PK – one of the most anticipated films of the year released and there are a lot of conversations about it , some in support, some against, some saying its adapted  heavily from OMG while some say its good but more is expected from someone like Rajkumar Hirani.

While I personally enjoyed every bit of it, there were moments and music that had major hangover of Hirani’s previous works. But then every director has his signature style sense and style of film making that uniformly reflects in most of his creations.

As I was sitting in the theater like an excited child (which I generally get for a lot of films) I realized that this specific film is much more than what it looks from its face value, have briefly mentioned points that I felt have been beautifully presented in the film :-

• ·         Capability of questioning things: - PK was like a small child who questions things that are beyond his understanding, shouldn’t that be the case with all of us because that’s how one grows right. But with the passing time we tend to accept a lot of things without actually questioning them even if we don’t exactly know why we do it.

• ·         Concept of Clothing: - makes us think who invented the concept of clothing and why, how did people decide what should be worn by females and what will be different for males, we never know any of this but we just follow.

• ·         Stamp of God: - On learning that people on earth differentiate between humans as Hindus, Sikhs, Christians etc., PK tries to find out how people are divided or selected into these religions, ideally if this is done by God, god should be stamping them accordingly. The very fact that there is no stamping means he doesn’t want us to be divided. Super Thought Boss!! 

• ·         Value of Gandhi: - On noticing that people are bartering goods with notes having Gandhi Ji’ image on it , he collects every possible thing with his image only to realize that Gandhi’s acceptance is only limited to the currency notes .

• ·         Custom Contrast: - While Jesus is offered wine, its criminal to carry it in mosques, while white is considered as an auspicious color for Christians, it means mourning for Hindus.

• ·         Fashion:-a brilliant reference to the way we dress up and keep our facial hair creates a perception of a specific religion (beard with turban and Salwaar kurta is a sardar while he becomes a Pathan if you remove the turban)

• ·         Astrology: - on one hand people believe that God is responsible for everything that happens and we should keep the faith on the other hand they do stuff to change or rather better their future.

• ·         Theft: - The look on PK’s face is to look out for when his locket gets stolen as he is completely unaware from the concept of stealing.

• ·         Common Emotions: - Though PK was different in most of things what was common was that he undergoes several emotions from friendship with Sanju to love for Anushka which just reinforces that fact that our body, emotions and ability the express them are gift from god and is common and even for all.

• ·         Means to find God: - PK tries every possible ways and means to reach God through all religions but fails. Which makes us questions all the rituals and customs we generally undertake without really understanding them.

• ·         Telling lies: - PK never tells lies as people on his planet don’t know how to, sadly this is one of the things he picks up from earth while going back.

• ·     Battery Recharge Dance: - While most of us are aware that ‘dancing like no one is watching’ is a fail proof remedy for mood upliftment ,how many of us actually end up doing it:)

Some of you might feel why I have bluntly listed down pointers from the film like a school project, but the idea is to highlight the fact that there is a lot in the film than JUST religion.

While PK was about all this and more, OMG was only about God and questions on his very existence. While PK uses basic questioning & logic, OMG had the almighty appear himself in his defense. Thus it’s kind of unfair to call these films similar just cause both talk about religions and means to find god, especially when we are a nation that has been thriving on same (not even similar) love stories from Mughal e Azam to Diwale Dulhania Le Jaenge to Kuch Kuch Hota Hai to Veer Zara to Ram-leela or very recent 2 states where the leads fight against all odds to win their love.

PK was just an innocent pure human who after visiting earth just wanted to go back to where he belonged to and was ready to do whatever it takes. I wonder how will his  ‘Gola’(read planet) be like  where there are no thieves, no lies , no religion , no rules, no customs, ONLY the almighty with his creations the way they were made without any adulteration , with  lots of love and full of life !!

BUT WAIT isn’t that exactly how our Earth WAS when it was created!!  Just a Thought J

The Lunchbox - a treat for my Soul

It’s hard to believe that something has had an affect so strong that it made me pull out my old college laptop safely stored in a place that I hardly access on a regular day and write down an array of thoughts & feelings gushing within me after experiencing something from which I am yet to recover.

The last time I wrote something was when I was in college (2.5 years back) and had sometime on me to put down my thoughts & opinions. But things moved so quickly after , that in spite of having lonely evenings in Mumbai for more than 2 years now I never felt the need or desire to put my thoughts down .

It’s  the sheer power of cinema & story telling that makes you take notice of  things which you see, feel & indulge with on a daily basis can’t be appreciated or noticed just cause your mind is pre occupied with so many things to do, achieve , prove & re do the process to survive that you tend to give them a miss .

With thousands of advantages & special moments, one strong demerit of being married is that you get responsible & accountable for your mood, smiles, and expressions & conduct at home, but there are times you do not want the stream of thoughts n feelings to be broken or disturbed.

Well somehow I have managed to get into the room & type down all that I feel at a cost of my wife’s swollen cheeks for a while, guess it’ll be all fine once we get up tomorrow morning and I explain to her about why I decided not to  talk about anything but put everything down here.

As a human being and as a man (there is a reason why I mention this) , one hardly knows what would strike him & when , something that will make him stop & think for a while , something that will calm him down, something that will take him out of the daily routine  , even though all of this might be for a while , although all of this might be just momentary , although all of this might not mean anything to me tomorrow , this is what I feel & this is what I am RIGHT NOW  .

Just back after watching a film that had moments that would stay with me for life , moments that made me twist in my chair , sink low & wonder how on earth has someone managed to portray human emotions & more importantly means of their evocation in a way that is difficult to describe . 

With actors like Irfan Khan, Nimrat Kaur & Nawaz they just get more real, believable & arresting.

There are few things that have stayed with me & I guess will remain engraved within me forever, listing down few of them:-

Irrfan’s reactions when he gets the Dabba for the first time: - coming from a family that depends a lot on food & taste, irrfan perfectly depicts the feeling when he tastes delicious homemade food after a long time. Who would know that feeling better that someone who has stayed away from home cooked food & ate Tiffin’s & outside food for year and a half (used to get the same feel when some used to offer chapattis they used to get from their homes)

The invisible aunty: - one of the key characters in the film who is not seen throughout the film is probably a master stroke by the director .Wish we all had someone like her in our lives J , someone who gets restless if you are out without her knowledge  

 Irrfan’s travelling to office & back home: - Uff hats off to shoot those scenes in way that would make the viewer feel what the protagonists goes through on screen, with small nuances kept completely alive while her travels in the locals, bus , autos & taxis. The suffocation is transferred to the audience in these scenes 

Irrfans way of spending time at home in the evening :- an old man staying alone having hotel food with chapattis packed in a plastic bag & dal being squeezed out from a polythene into a melamine bowl , while he stares at a family in the opposite building having a joint dinner together .

Lunchbox-The Superman – there is a shot in the film where the Dabba is shown getting transported from one place to another, I felt it was projected like  ‘A Hero’ (with its handles flying in the air) who is responsible for all that is happening between  Nimrat & Irfan ‘

The topics of communications between Irfan & Nimrat :- they were such simple things of day to day that one would like to share with their partners , just because Nimrat dint get a chance to & Irrfan dint have anyone to they started doing it with each other .

Irrfans reaction was he is invited for a dinner: - it shows how empty & alone he has been from within & has been vying for someone to give him that importance to cal him over.

Irrfans treats himself:- I have been doing this all my life , being someone who hardly likes to spend on himself , on a day I am happy from within I would treat myself with things I wouldn't do otherwise , something as simple as having food of my choice with thinking of the price or treating myself by choosing taxi over walking down the distance to save that money.

Companionship over Love: - The most important take away from the film was that the protagonists were not attracted to each other physically or emotionally but to fill a constant void of a true companion , a  soul mate with whom we can just BE, share & rejoice … there is no aim or destination. It’s just the journey.

Irrfans realization: - this is the part that tore me apart. Probably it’s a guy thing & a girl might not be able to relate to it but I have experienced it myself. The moment that made him realize was that the bathroom smelled like it used to smell when his grandfather used to come out of the shower. Smell of an Old man!! This gives you creeps within that irrespective of what you feel from inside, your body starts decaying & aging from inside & nothing in this world can stop, pause or reverse that.

Guess I might not have appreciated it all to this length had I not lived & experienced Mumbai before the way I have till now. The connect & portrayal of the protagonist just got me arrested in the frames of the film. Wish I am able to connect with more often with myself & next time due to an inner persuasion & not just due to the sheer magic of cinema.

Not sure whether even Ritesh (the director) thought that all the above emotions could be evoked in someone with what he has made J and what can be more filling that the fact that I have my name included in the presentation credit when the film starts … This easily will remain my MOST favorite story on COMPANIONSHIP !!

Generation 'F'

Well the topic of this write up in itself indicates that it’s all about the attitude, mindset and quality of intellect that would take the charge of our nation in the next 15-20 years. My friends and others of similar age group would understand this better if they have someone in their family falling under the age between 8-16 yrs.

It was initially surprising for me to see my little Cousin who is in 5th standard to comment on one of my Face book pictures by saying ‘Bhaiya you looking HOT’. I am assuming she meant I was looking nice.

When I went on her profile, my surprise turned to shock on seeing her  list of friends and also that she likes pages like designer brands of bags, jewelry, image makeover, benefits of dumping boyfriends, girls  school of power etc..Majority of children get access to mobiles, internet, wifi, psp, Xbox   from the moment they start to understand their surroundings .Vooof, I know majority of you would think, ki haan yaar times have changed and it’s all normal these days .what’s wrong in it??

Well to look at the positives, the development of the brain has multiplied and children have become smarter, things like what to find where, how to hide surfed sites from their parents, which is the best mobile in the market and its features etc. Hats off to the grasping and application capabilities of the Gen F s.

While saying this , somewhere down the line I feel concerned about the values ,seriousness,  respect and the commitment factor in them .

I feel that a while our generation is ready and in fact has almost taken over, the next generation is already in the making, and the process is undoubtedly rapid.

 I call this generation F as all it has in its mind is Fantasies, Fancy gadgets, Fun, Friends, Face book and some other F’s too ;-) A lot of you (of my age group) might feel old after reading this but guys, just see the difference, its crazy 

Having said this, I strongly feel proud n lucky to be a part of the generation that I belong to, as we are the ones who have seen the best of both the worlds,

We have also seen how things were when we used to call friends up at a specific time on their land lines to ask doubts in homework to smsing them now, we have experienced playing ‘Stappu’, ’Chor Police’ out in the sun to PSP and X boxes indoors, from making projects on charts all by ourselves in schools to googling them in colleges, from having silent crushes on teachers and girls in school to having girlfriends in high school & colleges ,from eating golas, peanuts and ‘BER’ after school to parties at Mc.donalds and Chilling sessions at CCD ,from the innocent tinkle and panchatantra to Harry potters and Sidney Sheldon, from watching jungle book on Doordarshan to Power rangers and emotional Attyachar on Bindaas .

 

Kids born in today’s time are exposed to the 2^nd part of the story while we have witnessed the transformation ourselves!!

For those who still haven’t interacted with this GEN – F... High time boss, its worth experiencing

JUST a Thought!! 

Re-branding Revisited

Being truly passionate about branding, I completely believe in the fact that branding does more to a product that anything else.But on the other side, some things also make me ponder on whether there should be a limit to the expenditure made on branding and most importantly RE branding. With the new ‘Airtel’ Logo being the talk of the town and discussions in all B-Schools and otherwise, It really makes me think that has Airtel achieved what it wanted to by rebranding itself?

This brings us to a completely new dimension on how should the success of a branding exercise be measured. Being aware about a couple of these techniques myself, I still feel that branding is too abstract an action to measure on a scale. Right from the definition of branding that says,’ to occupy a space and position in the mind of the consumers ‘ to everything that is known, learnt and written about branding is quite abstract and difficult to measure .

The agency who designed the new logo for Airtel got ’12 crore’ rupees for doing so, How on earth did they come with a price like that, I mean it could have been less or more, How did airtel come to a conclusion that 12 crore would be worth investing which would be then followed by a 300 crore plus campaign to ensure that the ‘NEW IDENTITIY ‘gets registered in the MINDS of the consumers. 

It is justified in some cases when companies need it to reposition themselves and look young and global, re-branding helps them to do so, thus all the past grievances and concerns about the firm is erased and the consumers look at the company in a new light .for e.g.:- Bank of Baroda, union bank, BSNL, Air India and even lifebuoy for that matter that were growing, expanding and moving to new market segments, re-branded themselves. Recently even UTV changed their logo after their new CEO took over.

But what about companies like Airtel who were already doing quite well. They re-branded themselves as a preparation to enter the International Market.  Is it not better if they focus more on their offerings and services in order to make a splash in the International market as they could have shown literature, facts, photos and videos as an evidence of their service quality, customer satisfaction and  likeability to the brand back in India (with the old logo) .

What about companies like Coca cola and Mc Donalds who have been continuing with the same logo and have created a strong affiliation towards it from its consumers. There is some kind of an attachment that goes with it. In fact in some cases people might stop purchasing a brand if its logo is changed as they are so used to it.What about the strong worldwide association of the golden arches (Mc Donalds) , or the swoosh (Nike) or the fonts in which coke and Cadburys is written , can we imagine these things done or presented in some other form , by rebranding a successful product aren’t we losing out on the basic objective of branding. Instead of a quick recall, a consumer would get confused with the brand and it would not in any case be in its top of the mind recall .

So is Re-branding or repositioning important, or is it just one of the measures to either:- 

·         Motivate one’s own workforce by giving them fresh atmosphere and feel at work,

·         Make its consumers forget the grievances and the bad experiences they had with the company,

·         Or most importantly to Satisfy the EGO of the newly joined CEO who wanted to bring a fresh change in the organization.

I say,

Re Branding is important and can put life back into a dead organization but doing it for an organization that is doing well?Think about it :-) 

RGV on FIRE

I am sure the title of this post itself would have made you feel, ‘GOSH, are all the topics in the world exhausted that he is writing on none other than the popularly unpopular ‘RAM GOPAL VARMA’

But this is exactly what my motive is to write this. Why is RGV being criticized so much by both insiders and outsiders of the industry?

Agreed he make some horrible flicks like GO, Agyaat, James, Darna Mana Hai (phir Zaroori bhi tha) and not to forget the historical ‘RGV ki AAG’ that still gives us night mares..

But with Rann and Rakth Charitra he seems to getting back to things he is good at.

How can we forget that he is the same person who has given us movies like, Satya, Company, Rangeela, Shiva, Bhoot, Jungle, Sarkar with some memorable characters like Bhiku matre, kallu mama, The adorable munna of Rangeela and the power full duo of Shubhash Nagre and Shankar Nagre .

He was one of the first directors in the Indian Cinema to try their hands at genres like horror, multi stories rolled into one , psychological thrillers, underworld gang warfare, politician-criminal nexus, and in multiple languages—Telugu and Hindi. The most recent being Rakth Charitra being released simultaneously in Hindi and Telugu and in two parts one after the other (first of its kind in Bollywood)

ATLEAST he still has the balls of trying out new genres and newcomers  unlike big banners and producers like karan Johar , Yash Chopra who still prefer playing safe by collecting big star casts , arranging foot tapping music and larger than life characters speaking dialogues that one would speak in day to day lives .

The genre of film and even music that he has touched with in Rann and Rakht Charitra is commendable and there is no one else who is experimenting in that genre. And then the Indian Cinema boasts to the world about supporting people who experiment and try out new things. 

Though I feel bad for him for the way he is being treated, but with the encouraging response to his last two films I am sure audience would accept him soon again given that he meets the expectations we have from him.

 Best of Luck Ramu ji .Think Hatke but be careful, the Indian audience and their tastes are changing (read improving) more rapidly than the movies in their quality and content.