Kaminey is awesome! That is my 1 word review.
***** (out of 5*)
I know it is a bit late but it would be incorrect to not praise Vishal Bharadwaj for this one more gem. Indian cinema is coming of age. A thriller that matches any other from any part of the world.
Bharadwaj does not take the easy way out (the one typically used in Hindi double role movies) of the brave guy replacing the simple one. He makes sure he does not go that way by fimply creating a fituation where one pronounfef 'fa' af 'fa' and the other s....s....stammers. So no chance of swaps.
I am not going to say much about the movie. You folks go and watch it in a movie theater that has a good sound system. The music, the chases, the songs, the dialogue, everything....everything is top class. The background of rain, the gaps in story left for you to fill in your mind and many such things are new to our cinema and they work well. The director is respecting you.
Shahid is fantastic as the crazy derby gambler Charlie who cannot fay 'fa' and Guddu as the stammering NGO worker. Priyanka Chopra is mindblowing as the Marathi mulgi Sweety. She spouts fire ...literally. Her Marathi is almost impeccable. There are those loud and mean Bengali brothers, much feared Tashi, 2 crooked cops and other kamineys who are all very good in those characters.
One character that stands out is Bhope Bhau by Amol Gupte.
Though there are a lot of good scenes in Kaminey, I loved the hotel chase and the final climax. The dialogue during the climax are the most enjoyable ones.
When I saw movies like Shawshank Redemption and Usual Suspects, I always felt that our movie makers should also make similar stuff that is original. Well then...here is Vishal Bharadwaj's Kaminey for you.
Aug 23, 2009
Aug 22, 2009
Nortel - History of a Giant - Part 1
2 stock charts comparing Nortel with Alcatel-Lucent and Research in Motion using Yahoo finance. See how Nortel never recovered from the dot-com bust.
Look at the similar movements over the late 90s, dot-com boom and bust. Then in 2003 watch Nortel's fall as the accounting scandal unfolded after October 2003. Except for one spike at 2004 end, the stock has been going down.
Also note how ALU has picked up in the last 5 months or so. Nortel is obviously just there for being there.
RIM is obviously a different product company so we cannot compare it directly to Nortel or Alcatel-Lucent. But as the mobile subscriber base has increased, RIM has picked up. There is a similar "W" shape in the 2008-2009 timeframe.
Look at the similar movements over the late 90s, dot-com boom and bust. Then in 2003 watch Nortel's fall as the accounting scandal unfolded after October 2003. Except for one spike at 2004 end, the stock has been going down.
Also note how ALU has picked up in the last 5 months or so. Nortel is obviously just there for being there.
RIM is obviously a different product company so we cannot compare it directly to Nortel or Alcatel-Lucent. But as the mobile subscriber base has increased, RIM has picked up. There is a similar "W" shape in the 2008-2009 timeframe.
Aug 18, 2009
Auto Rickshaw strike in Delhi
Delhi is a place where many things happen arbitrarily. One of them is the very Indian phenomenon of autorickshaw.
The autorickshaw-walla from Delhi is an entrepreneur at heart. He is the model of rational human being that the Microeconomics text book talks about. He perfectly understands not only his well-being, but also that of his tribe of autorickshaw wallas.
Just go to India Gate and try to get an auto to anywhere. It starts with 50 Rs. even if the place is 1 kilometre away. Then you bargain, feel angry, cheated and humiliated when every auto walla asks for the same 50 Rs. You say, "Lets go by the meter" and they just walk away.
And why just India Gate, go anywhere in Delhi, the autowalla is just the same, "Your money is mine" attitude.
Alright, that is one part of story, now the next - they don't go where the passenger wants to. They go where they want to.
And now, they bring the city to the halt. I just hope no one gives in to them. Make them run on the meter. Make them follow the rules. Impound those vehicles whose drivers refuse to ply passengers. And yes, start good public transport (especially safe buses) that make sure that autowalla starts following rules. Incentivize good behavior and penalize bad behavior.
Also, improve financing to them through usual banks. It is said that loanshark's extorting skyhigh interest rate is the cost that they pass on to the customers. They certainly deserve more credit lines on normal rates.
BTW, during the strike, there was no increase in bus frequency to ease people's problems. Autowallas know this and they are right in thinking that people are in trouble.
Just like Delhi, Nagpur is another place where autowallas run the show. Mumbai, Pune, Aurangabad, Ahmedabad on the other hand have generally disciplined autowallas. Here is a Freakonomics article that attempts to explain the difference:
Why is the Delhi autowalla so different from Mumbai autowalla?
The autorickshaw-walla from Delhi is an entrepreneur at heart. He is the model of rational human being that the Microeconomics text book talks about. He perfectly understands not only his well-being, but also that of his tribe of autorickshaw wallas.
Just go to India Gate and try to get an auto to anywhere. It starts with 50 Rs. even if the place is 1 kilometre away. Then you bargain, feel angry, cheated and humiliated when every auto walla asks for the same 50 Rs. You say, "Lets go by the meter" and they just walk away.
And why just India Gate, go anywhere in Delhi, the autowalla is just the same, "Your money is mine" attitude.
Alright, that is one part of story, now the next - they don't go where the passenger wants to. They go where they want to.
And now, they bring the city to the halt. I just hope no one gives in to them. Make them run on the meter. Make them follow the rules. Impound those vehicles whose drivers refuse to ply passengers. And yes, start good public transport (especially safe buses) that make sure that autowalla starts following rules. Incentivize good behavior and penalize bad behavior.
Also, improve financing to them through usual banks. It is said that loanshark's extorting skyhigh interest rate is the cost that they pass on to the customers. They certainly deserve more credit lines on normal rates.
BTW, during the strike, there was no increase in bus frequency to ease people's problems. Autowallas know this and they are right in thinking that people are in trouble.
Just like Delhi, Nagpur is another place where autowallas run the show. Mumbai, Pune, Aurangabad, Ahmedabad on the other hand have generally disciplined autowallas. Here is a Freakonomics article that attempts to explain the difference:
Why is the Delhi autowalla so different from Mumbai autowalla?
Aug 17, 2009
Fifth P of Marketing - Psychology
Borrowing this "fifth P" term from my friend Paddy, some more thoughts. My flight to Mumbai was a lesson in this aspect.
The flight takes off, water bottles are distributed. After 30 minutes or so, the air hostesses announce opening of snacks counter. This is a low-cost pay-per-snack airline. The air hostesses quietly and efficiently ask with the nicest smile on their faces, "Sir would you like a sandwich or a cup of tea or coffee". Guys remain guys, many say yes.
One chap, who does not seem hungry, still buys the sandwich. He says his wallet is in the bag and with great difficulty (he is tall) tries to draw his wallet out of his bag which is in the overhead bin. From my seat, he looked more and more like a filmfare award trophy as he bent his elbow. After about 30 seconds, he gives up. The attendant, then tries the same, but in vain. Next, she climbs on the seat side, but is not able to draw the wallet.
Her colleague, with an even larger smile, says, "Its ok Sir, please pay after the snack." The passenger is on cloud nine. Such care, such friendliness.
Passengers on my adjacent seat were thinking of coffee, when suddenly one of them says, "I will have sandwich, I am hungry".
Then, suddenly, one of the passengers started feeling cold. He beeped for the attendant. The attendant comes along and shows the fellow how to reduce the fan on the top. Yeah, right, it is quite incredulous to see 40 something year old man not being able to turn down the speed of the AC wind. That was followed with another 2-3 beeps...someone wants water, someone has a question if he can turn on his laptop...Attendant responds, "Sure sir" , "Yes sir, but please turn it off when landing".
More sandwiches....not that it has any apparent connection to the politeness.
Amazing, how much we people want to behave like babies when allowed to. A flight is the best place to be a baby. I want water, sandwich, it is too cold, too warm, my bag does not fit, can i have aisle seat....sure sure sure...is the answer most of the times.
Well, the airlines thrive on such passengers who value-add to their services.
Coming to the mathematical part -
So the sandwich in focus here may be described as follows:
3 slices of bread = 3 Rs.
2 small cube of butter= 5 Rs.
Cheese slice (maybe , I don't know) = 5 Rs.
4 pieces of tomato and cucumber each = 4 Rs.
Ultra Clean kitchen = 10 Rs. (guesstimate)
Qualified chef doing what a 7th standard student can do = 40 Rs. (I am generously taking 10 minutes for assembly of this simple item and Rs. 240 per hour which is quite expensive for this job anyway)
Ketchup sachet = Rs. 5
So this adds up to Rs. 72 per sandwich without building economies of scale into this.
Folks pay upwards of Rs. 100 for this item... this is the magic of the fifth P - psychology.
The 5th P - Psychology is well understood by industries like aviation, hotels / tourism and these days even banking, real estate etc.
(Link to Paddy's article - Consumer Insight )
The flight takes off, water bottles are distributed. After 30 minutes or so, the air hostesses announce opening of snacks counter. This is a low-cost pay-per-snack airline. The air hostesses quietly and efficiently ask with the nicest smile on their faces, "Sir would you like a sandwich or a cup of tea or coffee". Guys remain guys, many say yes.
One chap, who does not seem hungry, still buys the sandwich. He says his wallet is in the bag and with great difficulty (he is tall) tries to draw his wallet out of his bag which is in the overhead bin. From my seat, he looked more and more like a filmfare award trophy as he bent his elbow. After about 30 seconds, he gives up. The attendant, then tries the same, but in vain. Next, she climbs on the seat side, but is not able to draw the wallet.
Her colleague, with an even larger smile, says, "Its ok Sir, please pay after the snack." The passenger is on cloud nine. Such care, such friendliness.
Passengers on my adjacent seat were thinking of coffee, when suddenly one of them says, "I will have sandwich, I am hungry".
Then, suddenly, one of the passengers started feeling cold. He beeped for the attendant. The attendant comes along and shows the fellow how to reduce the fan on the top. Yeah, right, it is quite incredulous to see 40 something year old man not being able to turn down the speed of the AC wind. That was followed with another 2-3 beeps...someone wants water, someone has a question if he can turn on his laptop...Attendant responds, "Sure sir" , "Yes sir, but please turn it off when landing".
More sandwiches....not that it has any apparent connection to the politeness.
Amazing, how much we people want to behave like babies when allowed to. A flight is the best place to be a baby. I want water, sandwich, it is too cold, too warm, my bag does not fit, can i have aisle seat....sure sure sure...is the answer most of the times.
Well, the airlines thrive on such passengers who value-add to their services.
Coming to the mathematical part -
So the sandwich in focus here may be described as follows:
3 slices of bread = 3 Rs.
2 small cube of butter= 5 Rs.
Cheese slice (maybe , I don't know) = 5 Rs.
4 pieces of tomato and cucumber each = 4 Rs.
Ultra Clean kitchen = 10 Rs. (guesstimate)
Qualified chef doing what a 7th standard student can do = 40 Rs. (I am generously taking 10 minutes for assembly of this simple item and Rs. 240 per hour which is quite expensive for this job anyway)
Ketchup sachet = Rs. 5
So this adds up to Rs. 72 per sandwich without building economies of scale into this.
Folks pay upwards of Rs. 100 for this item... this is the magic of the fifth P - psychology.
The 5th P - Psychology is well understood by industries like aviation, hotels / tourism and these days even banking, real estate etc.
(Link to Paddy's article - Consumer Insight )
Aug 12, 2009
Marketing insights summary
My friend Paddy has been writing some very interesting marketing related articles. Easy reading and great summary of about all of our marketing subjects. And no exams at the end :D
Know your audience
Consumer Insight
Credit Cards
- Sid
Know your audience
Consumer Insight
Credit Cards
- Sid
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