Chilly Mornings

It was a warm winter afternoon and my mom had cooked her best Murgh Masala. It is on very rare occasions that she actually takes the pain to make something like this. Therefore, there was no way I was going to miss the opportunity to relish it. It was right in front of me staring at me in a seductive way. With love in my eyes, I looked back at it. Mom hates it when I eat without washing my hands. And that was exactly what I did. She came storming out of the room to give me a dose of cleanliness habits. However, to my surprise instead of words she yelped something that was irritating and sounded something like tring… tring…!

Just then, I opened my eyes and reality dawned upon me. Murgh Masala, my eternal love was no longer in front of me. Instead, there was an eerie looking alarm clock staring at me coldly as if in a way challenging me to break it into tiny pieces. For once, I did consider the thought. After all, it had deprived me of my right to relish the one dish I love the most. But that was too unrealistic for a option. Shutting that damn thing up was a much better option.  Slowly I took out my hand from the blanket to accomplish the very goal. But the moment I took my hand out of the warm blanket I felt the chilling cold air on my hand and instantly pulled it back inside the blanket.

For the next 20 seconds I thought of two hundred excuses to why I should not attend the lecture. Nothing helped. I did not have a choice. But the thought of stepping out of the blanket was scary. It is inhuman how teachers expect us to attend college early morning. I say there should be a law against this. But then again, I say a lot of things. Anyway gathering all my courage, I somehow managed to take one hand out of the blanket. It was tough. It was heart wrenching. But I had to do it. It was now or never. Determined I shoved the blanket off in one go.

In an instant the cold breeze directed itself towards me and chilled me to the core of my being. But I was firm. There was no looking back. I had to get ready. Slowly I stood up and walked to the bathroom. The tap inside was staring at me with an evil grin. At that moment it was the lion and I was the lamb. Gathering all my courage I walked up to it and opened it. The water, which was apparently coming directly from the Arctic Ocean, shred right through my skin. I closed my eyes preparing myself for the next 20 painful minutes of my day.

Now this has become sort of a daily routine. Nobody understands. It is a bad bad world, you see. But you know the one thing that is really refreshing and that charges me like nothing else is the hot cup of tea that my mom gives me when I am ready. And after that cup of tea I am ready to start off the day and meet my stupid friends in college.

The Much Hyped 'Love'

Often people ask me “Do you even have any feelings?” Because according to them I am that sarcastic person who hates everything and everybody. This BTW is not true. (Not to forget the question is wrongly framed). I am after all a normal human being with thankfully no psychological disabilities. I feel, I sense, I observe. The only difference is I prefer not to exaggerate.

Love is not that big a deal, really. It's just sensationalized, romanticized and commercialized. It is after all just a simple feeling. It is not that dramatic as they show in the movies. What they show in the movies is the exaggerated version, which is so perhaps to highlight the factor or the moment. However, it is amusing how the 21^st century’s fast, intelligent and forward generation is swathed away with the idea of falling in love. How they try to implement the reel life situations in real life and are then heartbroken when the consequences fail their expectations.

Moreover, the young girls out there need to understand this – “Fairy Tales Don’t Exist”. There isn’t going to be any prince charming. There won’t be any romantic songs. Real life is not reel life. If the guy who you like doesn’t like you back, leave it. Don’t fret and for heaven’s sake don’t try to find solace in those creepy heartbreak songs. Understand this – there is a lot more to life. Love is just a part of life and not the other way round. It is sad how everyone follows a standard line of thought when apparently ‘heartbroken’. There is forwarding of some horribly cheesy SMSs, liking of weird Facebook pages, status updates and tweets that practically don’t make any sense.

This is where parents come in. If there is good amount of understanding and the BFF kind of relationship then a lot of that drama can be avoided. I feel so. I haven’t experienced any of it but I share a bond with my mother where I can tell her almost anything. And that is a relief because for one I know that she will understand.

It is amusing how very few Indian parents are actually talking about this with their children. Most of them shy away from it considering it a social evil. Perhaps they are worried about the extreme consequences. Which I think will not happen if the trust factor is maintained. Parents need to understand and adapt to the changing scenarios. Otherwise, their fears might just become reality mocking them.

Friends are equally important but nobody can replace the two pillars of our lives. They are who they are and by no means can their presence be neglected. In addition, I have managed to compile 450 odd words up there that qualifies for a new post.

I think I really need to work on my beginnings and endings. Don’t you think?       

Marketing Simplified!

Only a genius can come up with something so insightful and interesting. Whoever came up with this must have had a tough time studying marketing or must have loved it dearly. A friend sent this to me as an e-mail.  Sharing it with you all. Enjoy!

You see a gorgeous girl at a party.
You go up to her and say, “I’m very rich. Marry me.”
That is Direct Marketing.

You are at a party with a bunch of friends and see a gorgeous girl.
One of your friends goes up to her and says, “He is a very rich man. Marry him.”
That is Advertising.

You see a gorgeous girl at a party.
You go up to her and get her telephone number.
The next day you call her and say, “Hi! I’m very rich. Marry me.”
That is Telemarketing.

You are at a party and see a gorgeous girl.
You get up and straighten your tie. You walk up to her and pour her a drink.
You open the door for her. Pick up her bag after she drops it.
Offer her a ride home and then say, “By the way, I am very rich. Will you marry me?”
That is Public Relation.

You are at a party and see a gorgeous girl.
She walks up to you and says, “You are very rich…”
That is Brand Recognition.

You see a gorgeous girl at a party.
You go up to her and say, “I’m very rich. Marry me!”
She gives you a nice hard slap on your face.
That is Customer Feedback.

You see a gorgeous girl at a party.
You go up to her and say, “I’m very rich. Marry me!”
She introduces you to her husband.
That is Demand and Supply Gap.

You see a gorgeous girl at a party.
You go up to her and say, “I’m very rich. Marry me!”
She turns her face towards you ----------- She is your wife.
That is Competition Eating into your Market Share.

P.S. – This will be very helpful to all the Marketing Beginners. :)

Ra.One, Marketing and Hysteria

Marketing is that one technique that can either make you or destroy you! Ra.One can be a very good example for the same. The movie was what it was. Some may call it a complete dud while the SRK fanatics still drool. But what made the movie work for me is its marketing. Don’t get me wrong. I haven’t seen the movie yet but I very clearly saw all the intense and well planned marketing Eros International, Red Chillies and SRK had been doing so far.

They key factor ensuring a movie’s success is marketing and Ra.One took very good care of that. Their marketing tie-up went up to almost 50 crores which included approximately 15 crores for online production. The movie changed the face of marketing in India and created new records for Bollywood.

Looks like King Khan just didn’t want anything to go wrong this time. And nothing really went wrong except that Ra.One did not please the critics and the audience (here, I am referring to the audience who likes good cinema and not SRK fanatics).

It’s safe to say that SRK shouldn’t try these experiments especially now that his “awe-inspiring” career graph is not pointing upwards. At this time, he has only two safe options. He should either take a grand retirement or just stick to movies like Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, Kal Ho Na Ho, K3G, etc. that’s where people actually like him. Anything beyond that fails miserably.

Also, the kind of audience that watches Salman Khan and Shahrukh Khan is a tad different. Since everyone is comparing Ra.One with Bodyguard, why should I stay behind? The point is Salman Khan is the hero of the masses. But when we talk about the Badshah, the audience that watches him is a bit on the upper side. You will not see SRK become play the role of a Bodyguard in any film. That is something Salman does and is appreciated for it. But when we talk about Shahrukh, his audience is different and has expectations. Which proves why the audience was disappointed with Ra.One. We all like the romantic Shahrukh. But the superhero Sharukh, not so much.

Coming back to the marketing aspect, the hotch-potch entertainment by King Khan is a huge marketing success. The 5-day weekend collection is anticipated to be around a hundred crore, as rivalled to Bodyguard’s 82 crore.

But one should not miss the wood for the trees. It is not the geeky tale or Akon’s Chammak Challo item numbers or the Shahrukh magic that made the movie. It is all that and much more. The selling is the secret of its success.

The two-year project had a marketing window of 10 months starting January 2011, wherein the release of the music, the gaming and merchandise, and Shah Rukh’s road shows followed a detailed time-table. For gaming, the producers tied up with Sony. Similarly, they had a tie-up with YouTube for promoting trailers. And if that’s not enough then they teamed up up with as many as 25 brands ranging from Videocon, Western Union and Star TV to Cinthol and Gitanjali Gems.

Seven months before its release, SRK kicked off the promotions with a 10-second trailer during the World Cup semi-final match between India and Australia, while Ra.One's first look was revealed by the star on his Twitter page on January 2011 along with an ad in a leading daily.

According to brand whizzes, the marketing blitzkrieg for Ra.One is a classic case of integrating a film into every aspect of people's lives. For instance, be it clothing, automobiles, games, sports, merchandising, there will be a part of the film involved.

Cause We Live To Eat

One of the most happening phenomena in a youth’s life is fast food chains. Yummy food and variety in the same is all they ask for. In this fast paced life, a person desires tasty and pocket friendly food which fast food joints offer. Unlike many Indians who still carry their lunch along, others now prefer grabbing a bite at McDonald’s or Subway. It satisfies their tummies and is tasty at the same time.

Western chains of fast food like Domino’s, KFC, McDonald’s when first entered the Indian market, they had to compete with the spicy Indian street food and the much adored home-cooked repasts. Adding more spices and a little tadka to the traditional menus, creating more vegetarian options made these restaurants more accessible. The youth now prefers the new fast food chains than the old Udipi restaurant because a burger tastes better than vada sambar.

While these fast food chains adapt to the Indian food chain, they face another obstacle - real estate which is difficult to find in over-crowded Indian cities. While the international joints face this hurdle, the fast food chain stalls in the Indian cities settle themselves on the nooks and corners of the streets giving us our favorite dishes that we resort to when we are short on cash and when that’s the only thing our stomach hankers for.

The market of fast food chains in India is competitive. Indians are food lovers. The chain of fast food in a way binds them together. A new fast food joint implies new savor and variety. Apart from being foodies, status symbol also plays an eminent role.  Teenagers might pick up Subway compared to a local vada pau stall because eating a sub is cooler than eating a vada pau.

So, one shouldn’t be surprised to see the remarkable augmentation of the fast food chains in India. 

Never. The. Less.

My dad who usually doesn’t do this, today, while munching some cucumber suddenly asked me about my new blog post. I thought the kind of posts I was posting these days wasn’t really his genre. But since he asked, I had to answer which I didn’t because I didn’t have any. Even this isn’t supposed to be a post considering I am not writing it for that purpose. These are just words which because of the technological advancement are getting typed instead of flowing out of a pen. A fountain pen precisely. I personally feel the posts that are the most random and are absolutely unplanned are the most effective. They in a way define your thinking which in turn defines you. The world outside is judgemental and so it shall judge you.

And mind you, these judgements can be based on anything. Use a few vulgar or abusive words in your statement and those words will be the basis on which you will be measured as a person. A judgement is formed and no matter how hard you try you cannot escape it. Social media makes you handicap that way. You can’t really go out there and be open and bland with your views because “what will others think?” it’s pretty obscure how this world functions. Whatever you do is implicated in ways beyond your imagination. You have to express your anger in words that do not hurt other’s sentiments and still make an impact.

The mere point of the whole situation is lost. Okay, here’s an example for you. Judge yourself.

Example : Gaddafi was a f****ng B*****d. Glad he’s dead.

And
Gaddafi was a bad man. Glad he’s dead.

Well the first option makes an impact for me. Could be anything for you. Depending on how you perceive things and people.

These are just a bunch or words that will make for another blog post. Was trying to write something on the lines of stream of consciousness. Don’t know if this fits the bill. 

How Much We Understood Cinema

What an immense day it was! But before I describe The Day, let’s have a peek in the flashback. It was the evening of 4^th October, 2011. Everyone was constantly changing their DPs. There were constant status updates expressing the excitement and nervousness for the next big day. Each and every KC SYBMMite was making sure that every single thing was in place to avoid any eleventh hour glitches. I was literally begging everyone to like the Facebook Page of MilegiNa? and at the same time was thinking of statuses to put up and keep the page active. I was also tweeting about the same and failing at the same time to get retweets. All of this was happening when I got a text from my team member. It read, “We have to be in college tomorrow early because the editing is still left.” Tsunami, earthquake and volcano occurred at the same time. WHAT!!! But there was nothing much that I could do at that time, so I agreed.

Bas. Flashback khatam.

Now let’s come to 5^th October, 2011. What a mammoth day it was. I reached college at 07:14:56 A.M. Simran and Hiten came in around 8:00:02 A.M. and at 8:00:004 A.M. we started with the remaining editing. (Wondering why I am being so specific about the time? Know this, BMM students are very particular about time because we waste that a lot in the beginning and that is the only thing which we don’t have later.). There was a virtual chaos and I was absolutely clueless about the happenings. As time passed, everyone started coming in wearing confidence, excitement and nervousness. All of them were ready with their CDs and PDs and we still had 25% editing left to do.

Since the clock is known for not stopping, that damn thing didn’t stop even yesterday in spite of knowing how desperately we wanted it to stop. The screening started at the scheduled time and everyone settled in their seats. We were still downstairs, editing. Our teammates were constantly SMSing us giving us the countdown. 1^st movie over. 2^nd movie over. 3^rd movie over. Ugh! I don’t know about others but I was losing out on my patience but still tried to keep my calm. (Is this a paradox or an irony here?) When the 4^th movie was playing on the 4^th floor, we were wrapping up on the ground floor. Next movie was Milegi Na? and we were ready. *Phew* Just like the rest, we too were wearing confidence, excitement and nervousness.  And the movie began. Incierto Productions Presents…

That's My Team

What happened after that is difficult to put in words. That feeling, that moment, it was all magical. Everyone was cheering and clapping and encouraging. Hiten had proved it again. Milegi Na? managed to grab the Best Director and Best Screenplay award. Hiten, Rinky, Aishwarya, Simran, Navreen, Alisha Bhimani, Fatema, Hesha, and Vinod made up for the best team. All the fights, clashes, frustration, everything vanished amongst the applause. And then we went to Mc Donald’s to celebrate Milegi Na?. After all Food is what Indians usually think of when they think about celebration.