Agneepath

Well... this is my comparison between the movie Agneepath (2012) and the cricket series b/w India and Australia dubbed as "Agneepath series"(actually Border-Gavaskar Series) by some add agencies to rake in some big bucks. Unfortunately, both of them turned out to a BIG DUD. Here’s my take on the salient points - some analogies and some reverse analogies ;-)

1. The score line "0-4" - The cricket followers know what that is, for other people's benefit, it’s the series result, well in the opposition's favour. For the movie this represents the days on which the movie shall have its moolah, after the 4th day, it shall dry up.

2. The "overall" performance - There were cracks in the wall and the absence of very very special class on thee cricketing pitch and on the other stage, there was too much "noise" on the screen without much sound to it.

3. The "Spotlight" - Everyone wanted the elusive 100th ton but got some shots and awes and similarly, "Vijay Deenanath Chauhan" was missing

4. The "opposition" - Clarke might be the man of the series but its Siddle for me that might just give the reinvented Kancha Cheena a run for its money.

5. The "Resistance" - He was back with a vengeance, took the early wickets, bowled with venom and was the only tooth visible. A certain gentleman wouldn't mind these compliments in 1973 when he was romancing girls with miniskirts. The movie portrays him still hooked on to the business of young girls but albeit in a meaner version.

6. The "Sequel" - Lets just give it a rest. Don’t think that the players we always talk about will stay on (who knows) but let’s not attempt make another money making venture without sense.

The Return of Sam

Truly speaking, the talk around the movie's homosexuality and the Sean Penn's wanting more scenes in the movie than the original script made me uncomfortable and I delayed watching it for quite sometime. Maybe my judgements are still biased.
If playing a homosexual is worth winning an Oscar then the supporting actor should also have won it but if the case is not this then I feel Michael Rourke's acting was at par with Sean's. The movie was a piece of history and a quite hair-raising one at that and though it may have been nicely written, its not quite extraordinarily portrayed other than the fact of being a gay. Overall, it might be revolutionary and an emotional movie for a community or an area, its certainly not a pick for an Indian and certainly not for me. My Rating (6/10)

em rof hguone suoiruC

That plain English, just backwards - Curious enough for me.

The story is just too vivid to imagine until F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote it way back in 1921. Along with modern technology, make-up and visual effects, this movie is a treat to watch. Like any other drama, it has a steady beginning, even a hint of boredom but soon engrosses the viewer and at no point in the next 150 minutes it gives a feel of sheer excellence. Leave alone the weird topic, the portrayals all equally authentic and for once I know why Brad Pitt is so adored by ladies. His looks as a 16year old Benjamin are stunning and full credit to the make-up artist for making him look that young. If Brad can do it, so did Cate Blanchett. She at least deserved a nomination for this role alongside him. The movie, as all narrative ones, truly catches the viewers off guard.
I think after the Indian debacle, PWC needs to count the votes again, at least for this movie... (My rating - 8/10)

Wrestling the way through

I am a fan of WWE, but I dont know what happens to the stars after 20years of their retirement. If what is shown in "The Wrestler" is true, then I think they deserve better.
I have absolutely no idea about who Mickey Rourke is except that he played 'Marv' in Sin City (that too found out after seeing his filmography). The movie has a major part of shooting with the cameraman on foot around the actors giving a feeling of a home movie. The injuries shown in the movie from the glass, barb wire and staples are said to be really sustained by Mickey in the movie and all credit to him for going through it, after all he was a professional boxer and had to have his face reconstructed. Giving him a nomination, well thats debatable but he has done a fine enough job well worthy of credit. As for Marisa Tomei, no offence but what did she do do land a nomination alongside Meryl Streep and Kate Winslet. She's seen hardly in the movie and sometimes pole dancing or lap dancing.
All in all a decent movie to watch. Nothing in it that you will miss if you dont watch but do watch... (My Rating - 6.5/10)

81st OSCAR - The Great Indian Rope Trick

DISCLAIMER - Views are personal
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I consider myself a decent enough connoisseur of movies having watched about 1000 odd of them in the last 8-10 years and almost 400 during MBA itself. First I started watching just for fun and then soon landed among friends who like to dissect movies critically.

The 74th Academy Awards were my first and only that I have watched till date and to me they provided the best competition with movies like- A Beautiful Mind, LoTR, Molin Rogue, Training Day, Ali, I am Sam, Monster's Ball, Bridget Jones diary, Iris, Black Hawk Down, Memento, Shrek, Harry Potter, Pearl Harbour etc.; certainly one of the best lot in a single year. 'twas the first after 9/11 and had more of a political drama attached to it which came to light when the top honours went to African-Americans. No offence to the community, I was not alone to say that there were better actors in the same year.

The Oscars had been troubled by sagging viewership for the past 3-4 years. The new director Sid Giddens had the responsibility to revive the lost sheen. How to do that is a "Million" dollar question or i should say a"2 Million Rupee" question. Nominated in 9 categories and 10awards was according to me a perfect stunt. I dont know how many people of Indian origin live in US but they would be less then those glued to TV sets today morning and with each award the viewership only increased.

I have not watched all the nominations of this year and will update my views shortly. As of now, "SM" is a nice movie having emotions, good story telling, nice technicalities and music. First things first, A.R. Rehman did a very good job but there are better works of his(maybe its the first time the Award Committee got to hear him). I dont know the technicalities of sound but as a layman couldn't see how "SM" had even been nominated in the sound editing category(maybe they were only thinking of songs). With condolence and due respect to the family members of late Heath Ledger, his award was more of emotional gesture than a critical one. But why was the film missing from the Make-up category, I am still kind of amazed.

With 8 wins its hard to get off from "SM". Its cinematography was commendable but beating "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" in best editing and best picture is a bonus. On the other hand "TCCoBB" beating "The Dark Night" and "Hellboy-2" for "makeup" is highly surprising. "The Duchess" truly had amazing costumes and no doubt deserved it.

Well, as you can see there are still some categories I have left out since have not watched the movies but as of now, Slumdog has truly become a millionaire.

Just another "BRIC" in the wall...

A quarter decade old terminology is coming of age. Though it has witnessed the rise and fall of some nations like Argentina, Venezuela, East-Asia etc. but there have also been those which have shown promise. The famous Goldman Sachs report coining the term BRIC is now used interchangeably with emerging economies even though there are some more notable countries which I shall be describing later on. The emerging economies have suddenly become more prominent because of the global downturn and the US financial crisis similar to the post dot-com bubble times. But, a lot has changed since then and the picture that was being painted is now becoming more picturesque. The world has closely monitored BRIC’s and other possible emerging economies and tried to relate to them to gain the maximum out of the situation.

All four nations have grown in their own goods ways, trying to capitalize on their strong points or at least the world focusing on certain things making them core to the countries growth. ITeS in India, Manufacturing in China, Commodities in Brazil and Energy in Russia can be the major distinct realities that have come across. Even during the recent global crisis, these have been inherently sustainable and look to be growing even more. The fact that all are consumer driven economies makes them sustainable.

But, together the BRIC nations are facing the same common problems –
- Mobile telephony - increased in numbers but not coverage
- Electricity, health and sanitation and potable water provision
- Women empowerment for tapping the complete growth potential
- Environmental concerns even though they are not a high contributors
- Financial inclusion
- Development of the Banking sector
- Regulatory measures are needed

The economic muscle is truly visible in China’s perspective having a more than sound GDP(≈USD 3.45trillion) and largest foreign reserves. Even though China’s trade exposure to US is very high, still its growth is stable on the face of a downturn. Its industry is ≈50% contributor to its GDP with strong private enterprises fuelling ≈70% of its national output. Its low English speaking population is the only bone of contention to an even larger growth in its service sector which it can capture due to its provision of cheap labour.

The political inclination of the world towards India is striking from the fact that the NSG waiver was swift on the backdrop of US’s inclination to enter into a contract with India. Also the internal political is passing a relatively stable phase with two governments completing nearly full terms in office. Though there are internal disputes but on a macro level, the political position of the country looks stable especially with strong young leaders. But a striking paradox in the agriculture sector nullifies a greater growth of the country which is ≈60% of the population accounts for ≈25% of the GDP mainly due to poor agrarian practises and non-consolidation of holdings.

From a wholly socialistic to a semi-capitalistic economy, Russia has come of age in the recent years. High crude prices, increased consumption and investments have fuelled growth to a large extent. With ≈99.5% literacy, its boasts of highest amongst its peer BRIC’s, its education sector is quite robust. Huge possibilities lie ahead in the investment areas post the 1998 financial crisis. Its high oil and gas reserves put it in a formidable position for future earnings. But it faces an aging population with a declining growth posing a serious question on the future consumption levels and the human asset availability.

I think Brazil, in comparison, is quite suited to be a future leader, maybe not in terms for highest GDP, but an overall inclusion. It has a diverse population with strong demographic components in working population percentage ≈68%, youth literacy ≈93% (15-19years), a robust service sector ≈65%, high agricultural growth ≈8% (vis-à-vis GDP growth of ≈5%) on the back of exploding commodity demands throughout the world, the inflation has decreased to acceptable limits in the decade from a high of ≈12%. The reforms have allowed decrease of overall debt. Even though the GDP growth rate of the country is slow, yet it has a benefit that its economy is quite decoupled to US and more spread out in terms of export with only ≈5% total trade. There are positive steps being taken to ensure a total growth of the country and more so can be taken by promoting higher savings, reduction in social benefits which will increase the working population, higher trade liberalization for higher gains in the both the commodity market and services sector, privatization of energy sector etc.

Beside these there are many emerging points to ponder from the rise or BRIC’s. Some of them which catch the eye are: -
- Momentum to outsourcing outside the developed world
- Increasing demand and thus prices of steel and cement
- Increased oil guzzling esp. by India and China
- Focus on Bio-fuels esp. Ethanol
- Importance of banks outside US/Europe like CITIC
- Growth of retail sector outside US and Europe
- Increased focus on savings
- Higher focus on agri-yield improvement due to lack of tillable land

BRIC's may be the Fab-4 of the emerging economies but there is anther term gaining momentum among the nations – the N-11 or the NEXT-11 comprising Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Korea, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, Turkey and Vietnam. Together they are a formidable bunch with high growth prospects, comprising ≈7% of the world’s economy and ≈9% of energy consumption. They are the gen-X for urbanization and human assets and envy to BRIC’s combined in per capita healthcare expenditure ($152 vs $117, Source:World Bank) and technological adaption. Mexico and Korea can be the countries to watch in the next 10-15years among the lot and can boast of joining the niche club of the BRIC’s.

Entrepreneurship in B-schools

Entrepreneurship – a topic that can give rise to a lot of discussion among the B-school students majorly revolving around the need, the development and the involvement. But when it comes to being an entrepreneur there are a very few takers at least in the initial years or graduation mainly because of ease of alternate jobs. Though there are various schemes initiated by institutes which allow the students to come back for campus recruitment if their start-ups are unsuccessful after 2-3 years but still the numbers are very less.

Even though organizations like TiE are present to support some of the budding entrepreneurs but the important thing lacking is grooming. There should be a greater faculty involvement to identify B-school students with potential and provide grooming in a structured format of the period of time. It is very easy for a student, however brilliant to be entangled in process of job search that he may not devote his time to something that he better at. A Mentorship programme can be initiated for such cases.

Also, nurturing of ideas require a lot of time and a B-school curriculum doesn’t spare the student much so a revamp in the course structure needs to be initiated. The common course offerings are general management, financial management, marketing management etc but there are no few offerings like entrepreneurship development which also are present like cramped subjects instead of full fledged course offerings.

The family is an integral part of life and cannot be overlooked. Sometimes, the lack of support of family can shut the door for a possible entrepreneurship development even when there are faculty to groom and VC to invest. A thorough counselling of the family members by the faculty is the best remedy. Teachers have a very high reputation in front of parents and their session with the family members can help a long way in gathering a support that is still the cornerstone of the Indian society.