Hyderabad Literary Festival ends, Literally!

Last week's Th Hindu carried a cover story on the Jaipur Literary Festival - making it out to be the biggest in Asia-Pacific of its kind. I was contented enough to just be at Hyderabad Literary Festival just for a day. The setting was impressive and Taramati Baradari was the perfect venue - quite and picturesque with vast spaces full of greenery and hillocks and tombs to comb. What was missing? Probably the buzz and the energy levels. JLF sees a galaxy of star writers and super-star agents but HLF is just beginning and you dont expect first year to be a tour de force. And in Hyderabad - you don't expect book-hungry loves to turn up like eager-beaver birds and hunt for autographs  or surround a much-published author giving tips on overcoming the writer's block. I was lucky to spend a few meaningful moments with long-time friends and better-published writers than me. We chatted up on books galore and publishing trends across the world in that brief session over a mild coffee. I figured out that most of those who turned out as audiences were retired teachers, literature students and academicians. Writers of reckoning were few to be spotted - the ones who came and went were Indraganti Mohana Krishna (director of "Ashta Chemma"- quite a reader and a sensible film-maker ), Saed Mirza, Vidya Rao, Gulzar Sahib and Pavan K Verma ("The Great Indian Middle Class"). I met an interesting lady who is a big gun at  one of the leading publishing houses of an MNC in India. We discussed the best books to read in 2011 and seemed to agree on the increasing trend of seeing Indians writing more about stuff that Indians love to read. We hit off a common note on quite a few trends shaping the Rs.10,000 crore big Indian Publishing Industry. My  acquaintance gave some dope on what are the new themes to work on in Indian Publishing. I mentioned that I anticipated this trend five years back - like in MTV, Indians want to see more of Indians. No wonder, you have more Indians writing on everything from business biographies, health mattes, spirituality, fiction and other matters of nonfiction that have a general appeal. Out of 80,000 titles published in India, the trend is still not reached a stage where Indian books outnumber foreign books - but it is desirably on the upswing. I was nevertheless happy to interact with some friends and new contacts to discuss bibliophilia - amongst other things why and where a mafia works in some capitals of the country, why Ayn Rand still sells more books than any living author today, how to write e-books that can be sold as downloads for the 50 million Amazon Kindle users worldwide. HLF, was not that bad and if only the venue was in the heart of the city, the turnout would have been impressive. I hope this is just the right beginning that will get Hyderabad literal, literally!

"Businessman" is indeed a hit!

Its now final - "Businessman" is a hit amongst the movies released for Sankranti in Tollywood.  ("Bodyguard" is also an average hit and has its supoort and patronage but thats not sufficient to upstage "Businessman"). And Mahesh Babu seems to be the New No.1 in Tollywood. Collections don't lie - from Rs.13 crs. gross +satellite rights of Rs.7.27 crs. It has already made money for the distributors and producers. Credit goes to both Mahesh and Puri for snatching a quick and cool hit - with tight schedule and tighter control on costs. If the trend continues this year, looks like Tollywood will be on a song because of more multli-starrers planned and faster rotation of reels between Superstars and technicians. If heroes like NTR, Mahesh, Prabhas act in 4-5 films per year and compete with the likes of Ravi Teja and Allari Naresh in more productions per annum - it is the best thing to happen for Tollywood desperate for more churnouts and more hits and more employability for its crew and cast. Last year, Tollywood saw a unique statistics. The no. of dubbed films in Telugu was 120 in 2011 whereas the no.of straight films in Tollywood were 118. That should tell how the technicians of Tollywood would have fared. Well begun is half the victory..So the tidings will be glad for another busy movie season coming up in February where many Star films are expected to release. Cheers Tollywood and Telugu Cinema.

"Fountain Ink" Magazine

My part-time interest in journalism leaves no stone unturned in ferreting out new magazines on stands. I have seen magazines come and go since the years I started identifying with print journalism. I remember "Illustrated Weekly of India", "Sunday", "Imprint", "Civil Lines", "Junior Statesman" (Jug Suraiya), "Target", "Quest" (the magazine brought out by Nissim Ezekiel before it bowed out during the Emergency days), "Mainstream" (by the late Nikhil Chakravarti - back now), "Caravan" (Vishwanath- again back) etc...Its sad to see a magazine close down for unviable reasons. I remember subscribing to a magazine published from Chennai - "Indian Review of Books". I even have some of my letters published in that respected monthly-IRB. It used to scour the Indian Book Market for the best reads. Sadly, it closed down too after a few years. It is difficult to find courageous publishers, publishers with a literary backbone to back new writers and exciting fiction and nonfiction these days in the age of e-books and online buzz.

Inspite of the heavy odds agaisnt niche literary magazines in terms of declining readership (Or is it?), there are people coming out with with highly readable prose and poetry - in magazines like "Open" (Manu Joseph), "Caravan" (the NRI son of the legendary Vishwanath). I am delighted to introduce a new literary magazine - "Fountain Ink" again brought out by Chennai. This is in the tradition of those high-quality magazines which cover narrative fiction, NewYorker-type of reportage and visual aesthetics. First three issues beginning November 2011 have been good reading material - and I have kept up with them in the car by buying two copies each. I like the format - it has about 120 pages each issue, good fonts, high GSM paper, and energetic and engaging fiction and nonfiction and mixed up well with high quality photographs and graphic novels that will appeal to the newgen. Their cover stories are good - the first cover story was on "Telangana", the second on "How today's facebook and twitter-crazy crowd live their daily lives" and the third on "How vernacular writers are finding it hard to make both ends meet." The January 2012 issue is a collector's special - rare art collection of Mario Miranda's best and some good graphic novels again.

I am shocked by the price Rs.20/-per issue - that is less than the parking fees you pay at GVK Mall or Big Cinemas. And they are offering the whole year's subscription of 12 issues at Rs.60/- in an obscenely tempting innaugural offer. Why are they under-selling themselves? Is this a bottom-of-the-pyramid pricing? You have "Forbes Life" which charges Rs.150/- per quarterly issue for maybe slightly better literary stuff...I really hope this monthly will succeed. Read it - and subscribe for a good cause - of reading quality writing. Let the folks survive. The magazine is aiming in that niche where an exciting thread of commentary is made on the media, socio-economic-political scenarios as well as the vernacular worlds  - the many microcosms that abound in India. I love the vast canvass "Fountain Ink" has attempted and wish and pray it succeeds. Hope springs eternal for things literary, to survive.

Makara Sankranti and its Significance in India

Happy Makara Sankranti to all my Telugu friends, Happy Pongal to my Tamil friends. May you all have the best of the harvest in the coming year - of meeting your personal and family goals, and successes and joys. Even though all in my family get our status and livelihood from service economy activities - Sankranti is one festival we treasure coming together. There is something of this agricultura...l festival thats pure joy and bliss to us - something thats closer to our family roots and rich heritage and culture. Love the Rangoli, the kites, the sonorous sounds of Haridasu, the salutation to the only God who goes "live" - Sun God - for a bountiful year of crops, the assortment of dishes for Sankranti, the sweet dishes, the Bommala Koluvu, the Kanuma and the Bhogi festivals, the usage of cowdung with both hands as an anti-pollutant, the reverberations on top of the terraces with mike boxes and latest songs amidst "Kaate" and "other sirens", the new clothes, the exhibition or fairs and site seeing with the biggest gang of cousins and elders and brothers-in-law, the new movies, the works... Except for the last two generations, my family has always been agrarian in its pursuit of economic activities - but Sankranti is an annual reminder of where we come from and where we finally belong to. We may be a remittance economy and a tertiary superpower, but Sankranti is a pure lifestyle-charging festival thats a package of many worlds in three days. No wonder, Andhra Pradesh which comes alphabetically first in every listing - never mind the boos for the time being- sees a bird-migration of sorts where folks everywhere go back to their villages for 3 days. In Hyderabad alone, it is rare to see a "bird migration" of almost a crore. I hope and pray nothing in the world can take away the pleasures of celebrating this unique lifestyle festival with a God that we see everyday - Sun. And to top it all with the movies. The Sun transits every month into a new Zodiac sign but its transit into the Northern hemisphere is always an auspicious beginning and a special moment in a year - a sign of things waiting to get into momentum mode, to get serious, to wake up and smell the coffee. I hope the same momentum is gathered and seen by everybody who believes in this festival and even by those who do not believe in this festival.

"Sherlock Holmes: The Game of Shadows" Movie Review

"Sherlock Holmes: The Game of Shadows". Rarely do you find an English film running in metros in 3rd or 4th week. Mind-blowing film about the ace detective and his famed Dr Watson by Guy Ritchie. Director must be someone who has soaked up on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's works and he shows his knack and craft in bringing the story set in 1891 when France and Germany go to Wa...r and one of the fiercest adversaries of Sherlock Holmes - Professor Moriarty - is nailed and polished off. The film has got impeccable performances by the Robert Downey Jr. (Sherlock Holmes), Jude Law (Dr Watson), Jared Harris (Prof.Moriarty) and others and probably the best mind-blowing action sequences with a new edge. I am sure these will be the new norm to copy by Indian film-makers. There must be about six or seven of them - and those sequences will make movies like "Matrix" look amateurish. 129 minutes of high-octane action adventures and mind-blowing mind antics by Holmes and his Doctor. Excellent BGM and period costumes and some of othe best one-liners written in proper old-world British style. You get the laughs heartily. Even if you are not a detective film buff, one or two viewings of this film will take you closer to Mensa IQ Club memberships. How I wonder these Warner Brothers continue to get scripts out of the closet into pulsating movies!

"Bodyguard" Telugu Movie Review

“Bodyguard” is the last of the films made under the same title in every language in South India and also in Hindi. Venkatesh plays the role of “Bodyguard” in Telugu – bodyguard to Trisha Krishnan. The movie’s main weakness is lack of depth in the storyline itself – not much romance can spring up between a bodyguard and his subject, so a romance gets built up out of thin air – Trisha (Her name is “Keerthi” for the third time in this Venky-Trisha combo) keeps calling Venky as a mystery caller and makes him pine for her. The story then goes through the twist in the last half-hour which is the most convincing part of the film. Venky seems to have changed the rules of bodyguard a bit - to induct more of his brand of humor and get more sympathy which is commonplace. I have watched both Hindi and Telugu versions now and can say but for some more humor introduced through Venumadhav, the Hindi version was better because of Salman Khan’s diginified performance – he had the body and the stoic stature. Even Kareena’s characterization was more consistent and justified. In the Telugu version, Trisha’s character is weakly etched and lacks justification at the point where she falls in love with her bodyguard. Venkatesh, is no doubt, a fine performer always but this role doesn’t suit him and however much he tried with his tired looks and trite melodrama, he looks more like a homeguard than bodyguard. Somewhere, he has failed to improvise on his performance over the last several years – goes for minimum risk family fare. He should take more risks at this stage of career or invest heavily into better storylines which families will anyway come to watch because he has the niche – in that sense, the movie’s cleanliness and family-friendliness is intact. (Unlike the other movie “Businessman” which caters to the under-30 segment with its adult fare).


There is a scene after interval where Venky and Ali sneek into the ladies ‘ hostel with lady attires. Only difference, unlike Ali (who can dress to kill like a lady), Venky doesn’t take his moustache off but still creates a laugh riot with a “Dookudu” number. The impact would have been magnified if he has taken off his moustache. That’s what I call risk-appetite - which is missing. Nag, Balakrishna, Pawan, Mahesh, NTR, even Chiranjeevi experimented with their face and removed moustache even if for one scene but not Venkatesh. Not that it would make a difference but I feel its high time for Venkatesh to think of something dramatic to re-invent himself. If he is doing “Swami Vivekananda” role, why couldn’t he be clean-shaven for a fleeting pause?



Forget this excursion, but back to the movie, “Bodyguard” is barely watchable because the story lacks depth and variety without a scope for getting more bang for bucks –and appears long because you can feel some sequences were inserted only for Venky flavor. But it will get the votes for better songs (atleast three melody numbers), clean family fare, and some good laughs. There are some needless stunts which drag on with excessive slow-motion and threading work – the make the movie that bit unbearably long. The pace and the plot was such that I went snoozing a couple of times. I may have missed Nagarjuna movies often in the last five years, but family always insist we watch a Venky film – afterall Venky gave so many Sankranti hits in his career except some famous duds like “Devi Puthrudu”. My family said they felt they have seen this movie before – it was that old, not that it is a remake of Hindi film but a rehash of Venky films itself. Venky has more potential and talent and a better personaility than plots like this. Even if the movie makes money - which I am sure it will because of the mutual exclusivity of the audience it caters to than the other Sankranti blockbuster "Businessman" - I hope Venky takes bold steps to re-launch himself and take more risks.

"Businessman" Movie Review

“Businessman” has opened to unprecedented fanfare and release with some 1600 prints and 134 theatres in Hyderabad alone. Being a Mahesh Babu-Puri Jagannath combination, its naturally on the cusp of heightened expectations. To a very large extent, the movie delivers with extra-ordinary entertainment in the first half and almost into the second half just on the basis of terrific screenplay, dialogues and maverick story-telling ability of Puri Jagannath with the magical screen presence of Mahesh Babu shows his natural knack of being an angry young man under tight leash and delivers a stylish performance with uninhibited looks, surprising close chemistry with Kajal (heroine) and dances that show him in better light than in recent times.


Most of the improved trappings of “Dookudu” in terms of better eye-contact, body language and finesse are what makes this movie mostly watchable except some portions of the second half which drag and sometimes bore. Fans will be delighted to hear so many mouthful and height-of-manhood dialogues in one movie – if there’s a soundtrack of dialogues – I probably will buy one – Puri’s pen shows sharpness and wit – this movie will probably have more one-liners than all his previous movies and don’t get misled by the cheesy advertorials of the hero vowing to make Mumbai piss in its pants – there are much more. Kajal is perhaps shown in more skimpy clothing and this is her boldest look after “Dhada” (Nag Chaitanya). Atleast two songs are well-choreographed and well worth – “Saarosthara” and “Chaavve”.

Even though the first half is under-fed on graphic violence, Puri compensates well in second half – the violence of “Pokiri” fame and even a liplock with Kajal. What mars the movie is this violence in the second half and the flimsy grounds on which the hero justifies it saying that since we kill so many mammals and amphibians daily - even this is justifiable - is ridiculous. Mahesh has shown so much restraint and responsibility in filtering out violence in “Dookudu” embraces it with both hands and plenty of guns in this movie – this can put anybody out of mind. The other bane in the movie is lack of a single-card Villain of the piece. Who is it? Not Prakash Raj. Not Nazar. Not Shinde. Not Subbaraju.

Nobody successfully contests Mahesh as a villain for too long – and nobody gets the lines or attention that’s worth their salt. And comedy – none of it in the second half. Most of the comedy, if you notice it, is in the first half and comes as fleeting in bits during the way the romance gets built up between the hero and his muse. Story-wise, there are many shades that resemble most of Puri’s films even though he gives a new extra-constitutional, legalistic license to create arson and loot by the hero who acts like a Robinhood- a law unto himself – in a bid to correct corrupt politicians and ill-bred criminal elements in the system. No Brahmanandam, No Ali (surprise) and No Jeeva – no comedy track at all but still the movie sustains very well until the 9th reel *(out of the 14 reels). With so much analysis for and against the movie, is the movie good to watch? It is mostly watchable– because of the narrative speed and story-telling of Puri Jagannath and Mahesh’s magical presence. Music by Thaman is good in BGM and atleast three songs. Some experiments in the movie are breaking a pattern – like no song till 30 minutes of the movie, no formal comedian, no villain of identifiable length – will have to see whether the fans lap it.

Film Production Costs and Satellite Rights of Movies

"Businessman" is releasing on 13th and "Bodyguard" on 14th. Good for both. But there's a new twist in "Businessman". For the first time, it seems, the satellite rights of "Businessman" are sold on a revolving basis instead of being sold for a longish period of 5 yrs or so. This time, Puri Jaganadh, the maverick director who worked non-stop for 77 days schedule of the movie has done what smart Bollywood producers are doing. He bought the satellite rights of the movie for a whopping Rs.7.7 crs - Rs.5 crores as his remuneration for the movie (Wow!) and Rs.2.7 crs. as "Eduru Katnam" making it an unheard of figure for satellite rights for any Tollywood movie. For the first round of limited period - MAA TV gets the rights. Interesting times for Tollywood producers and directors - satellite rights are fetching good monies.


"Sri Rama Rajyam" has fetched its benevolent producer Saibabu Rs.4.50 crs. and so on. In times of yore, you had none of this - I remember once "Shankarabharanam" producer Edida Nageswar Rao was flying with me - and he told me that most of his classics were sold to SunTV for a song - as long as Rs.5 lacs or so. Times have changed and even Directors are thinking like a "Businessman"!

The onus shifts to Satellite TVs to make money - MAA TV holds the rights of almost all the top ten all-time grossers of Tollywood in the last five years, Gemini and Zee come up with occasional movies which get the eyeballs still, while ETV goes for the ever-green mix of vintage movies with high family entertainment. I was once educated by a Respected Media Advisor on how TV Channels like MAA TV made huge money by betting on movies which nobody guessed would become "multi-baggers" like "Pokiri" and "Simham" - that is what I call scientific betting. But when the stakes get higher like Rs.4 crs to Rs.7 crs. it becomes difficult to make money unless you show the movie atleast 20 times within the period the rights are bought for - say, five years and so on.

There is another game in this whole buying - and most often, it appears to me, the smart producers and directors will create a story to pump-prime the winning bid. They will say, "this movie cost us Rs.40 crs." It will not always be true. OR, it will be hopelessly true sometimes. For example, in "Srirama Rajyam" movie, the opening shot of the movie shows Rama and Sita ushered in at Ayodhya with flowers. That shot - remember? Originally, Bapu Uncle wanted rich quality flowers costing Rs.5000/- for them. Producer SaiBabu wass not available on the shot and the Production Controller said "Sorry Sir, that is not possible because we dont have sanction beyond Rs.500/- for this shot." Bapu Uncle said, "Okay, whatever, let us have it for Rs.500/-". When the director and the producer were reviewing the shots, Producer Saibabu wanted a richer look for the shot and asked Bapu uncle why costlier flowers were not used. Bapu uncle said, "Your man didn't allow us to buy costly flowers so we made do with flowers worth only Rs.500/-only. But we can digitise the effect to reflect higher quality." Saibabu gave a go-ahead. The final bill - from what should have been Rs.5000/- for flowers came as a shock to Saibabu - it was Rs.5.96 lacs!

Whose fault is it? Not Bapu Uncle - he is known for strict budgeting and cost control. It was the mistake of the Production Controller who should have checked with Executive Producer or the Main producer for not cutting corners with a crucial scene like that. Fifteen or more of such special effects, and you will easily incur a few crores more. Thats how film costs go up - but as I said not all costs are genuine - they could be marketing ploys to cough up higher satellite revenues. Thats the main point of this story - not to poke fun at anybody.

Sankranti and Tollywood Movies

Tollywood movies this Sankranti are likely setting the tone for what to expect in 2012. Two reclusive Babus are releasing movies whose titles start with "B" and have the same music director. The same Babus are later starting work on a multi-starrer to be produced by Dil Raju. How the fans of each other behave now will cast a shadow on the way the multi-starrer later is received. The situation is ...so upbeat between the movies - "Businessman" and "Bodyguard" that "Nippu" that Ravi Teja's movie got postponed beyond Sankranti. The only movie with village backdrop is Nandamuri Tarakaratna's "Nandeeswarudu" but I am not sure it will grab the eyeballs between two reclusive Superstars. Sankranti is not for the fainthearted and only established heroes test their appeal at the Box-Office for this season - the rest try their luck during "safe periods" - December, Diwali-Dasera and Summer holidays after EAMCET when chances of assured student audiences abound. Since we come from Village background, my family revels in Sankranti season - we watch all movies in those 3 days - back-to-back almost - and have usually found the Sankranti winner is usually a Surprise packet - the "Pandem Kodi" is actually the one you haven't bet on. But for those who feel happy about it, Mahesh Babu has beaten the record of Allari Naresh in getting a movie out within just 100 days of his previous movie "Dookudu". I hope 2012 brings out more such welcome developments where stars act in more movies, take on experimental films, co-star in multi-starrers, and take Tollywood to greater heights. Last year, we had dubbed movies like "Rangam" usher in the Sun's transit into the Northern Hemisphere. This year, its Telugu all the way - hope the year will be the best for Tollywood.

Most Volatile Asset-Class in 2011?

Which is the most volatile asset-class in India? Not Gold/G-secs/Art. Not Equities even at 25pc.volatility or minus 24pc in 2011. Not Real Estate. Easy- Its Indian Cricket. You can lift world cup, trump team no.11, get trounced by teams below in 1 yr.

Flipkart

Flipkart was the person of the year for book-lovers in 2011 and they are doing great service by delivering books at your doorstep and even offer cash on delivery for those who dont use internet or wary of netbanking. But how long will they bleed? Two things are going against them. A tirade against them by the publishers and a backout by Amazon - the big boys of books. Second thing first, Amazon ha...s now categorically denied any interest in buying flipkart or infibeam in India - they will enter on their own. This means, flipkart will now have to manage on their own despite a One Billion dollar valuation. They have hired their own courier, outsourced cash on delivery, and branched out into mofussil and non-metro locations in the scramble to get volumes that will interest buyers. Lastly, to talk about the tirade by publishers - a few weeks back, all the publishers from Hachette and Random House to Rupa etc. have summoned the owners of flipkart to stop bleeding them and retailers by giving discounts upto 35 per cent. In some cases, the publishers are giving 35 pc discount to Flipkart while they in turn pass on 40 pc discount. Nobody is complaining because the book-buyers are benefiting. But there has to be a sustainable model - and book distribution is not such a lucrative business. While there is boom on one side, there is gloom at the retail side - which I will address separately. Thats a little update on flipkart. In Hyderabad, they do now average 2500 deliveries a day. But sustainability and cash flows will sooner or later be called into question. Thats the point any PE Investor or Suitor will ask. As far as I know, close to Rs.4000 crores of receivables is getting stuck in Educational Institutions who order books but dont have money to pay - I am talking about the Engineering/Technical Institutions who are seeing a massive payment crisis which is actually a scam in disguise. Those who wish to know can PM'me...

New Year Greetings

"Past performance may not be repeated", say fund advertisements. All the more reason, why, for enduring a tough year 2011, I believe, 2012 is going to be our most memorable year even if the Mayans believe the world will end. Mahesh Murthy rightly said - if indeed the world will come to the end - more reason to live it as your last. Forget future babble (I don't believe these predictions just as s...omebody said the world war-3 will happen in 1999), hope you have a timeful mastery over present tense happiness, lots of gratitude for things already had, self-realisation, success at work and home, health and creative satisfaction, and lots of non-facebook fond memories and good news your way. May you get drunk in 2012 on matters that dont need endorsements from Liquor brands like Smirnoff, or Chivas Regal. 2012 is already an exciting special year - Olympics in a pound-foolish nation, Elections in dollar nation, all months having minimum 29 days, food inflation at 0.42 pc (Pick your cherries tonight for free!), stock markets and real estate more likely to go higher (after hitting where they want to go lower), tax-free rates of 8.25 pc, multi-starrer movies in Tollywood and movies which have Aamir Khan as villain, super-fine books and e-books in 2012 (and I will release my list of 2011 tonight or tomorrow) , Parliament getting tested at the lowest base by the commons, and Rupee and Reforms needing new filip.Exciting to be alive into the waking hours of 2012 - the pendulum of time keeps swinging back and forth, rarely pausing at the "sweet medium" of arc. Its for us to live life fully every moment. Happy New Year friends and Have an Year that gives a good account of yourselves!

Politics - Always in Flux

In politics, things are fluid and mood swings are quite sudden. I would have voted for BJP as many times as I have voted for Congress-I. But my soft corner for BJP is turning out to be sympathy for them. They seem rudderless, leaderless and unable to come with strategies that will fire the voters to root for them in the upcoming elections anywhere else. Any other opposition party will seize the opportunity that Congress has given in the last two years- but BJP is clueless, shrinking and diminishing its voter base with mindless antics, needless oppositions to bills in the form of flimsy amendments, and stalling Parliaments with the very bills that they once supported - in Pension, Insurance and Banking reforms let alone LokPal Bills. They are becoming anachronistic in a system and in the danger of getting alienated once again in 2014. As it is I see that their bastions will significantly over-turn e.g. Karnataka. Congress-I, on the other hand, has fired a master stroke in Food Security Bill - when 75pc of the population live on less than $2 per day, what they did will be heart-warming to the masses - even if capital markets and rating agencies don't like it for the fiscal woes it brings on. Forget that, I get a strange feeling now that Congress-I is smelling chances of comeback in 2014 because of a disarrayed opposition - and they may leave no stone unturned in the 5 state-elections coming up this Feb. I always had this theory that no matter when the elections are held -even tomorrow, lets say, - Congress-I with its massive history and vintage will always garner a minimum of 10 per cent vote-share pan-India- so what they need to tweak up is the balance 10 or 15 per cent - which can be for or against them. This is what they successfully do in states like AP where the oppposition is divided and votes can be split any time with a "third" force or the balmy announcement of a second state. That is its greatest strength - and now they are at half-time and with elections in UP, Punjab, Goa etc., they will gear up better. I guess for Congress-I, TINA factor is back to work once again. And their hundreds of man-years' experience helps Congress-I more than any party. Don't mistake me or my take with love and admiration for the party - far from it. I am trying to see things as they are - hard truth for our dear opposition. Customer Feedback again is the key to learn this and not Raspberry-quoted surveys of polls. I guess everybody will want to grasp the message in the title of a popular book by Ram Charan: Know What the Customer (Voter) wants from you. The incontrovertible truth is that there has been so much of fire and litmus tests thrown at Congress-I in the last three years from scams to Anna to venom in Parliament to embarrassments for their ministers and MPs that they have seen criticism stark nakedly - hence they will be more reflexive, adaptive and hopefully, move on with greater preparedness. Look at BJP or the Left. The left has not learned the lessons from debacles in WB or Kerala and still talk like GoP politicians on matters which affect common man. The BJP, again, and let me nail this for the last time, seems to have lost its appreciation of what is good for the country. They are oppposing Good Economics and playing Bad Politics. The GST Act would have done wonders to the pricing of essential goods in the country - but everybody knows that it is Narendra Modi which is oppposing the bill and in cohort with other non-Congress-ruled states in the country. Yashwant Sinha, who leads the Standing Committee has struck down most of the bills that will generate new employment, get us FDI and eventually lift more out of poverty - but he has struck down most of these bills. This only makes them more unpopular with the Industry and the middleclass who see more danger coming from a malfunctioning parliamnent which doesn't discuss bills necessary for our good. Actually, come to think of it - the parliamentarians and the politicans in the country need a basic grounding of Economics - so that they understand the costs of decision (and indecision)! And the voters - that include the 60 per cent of the voters who exercise their right to vote and the balance 40 per cent (who don't vote and have coffee-table discussions on voting) - all should understand basics of economics. It will do wonders to their overall well-being and may increase besides the GDP their gross domestic happiness! Believe me, I can explain this later.

Amar Chitra Katha - Alive and Kicking!

Do you know about Amar Chitra Katha? Those two-dimensional multi-color comics brought out by IBH and Uncle Pai? If you were born in the 70s or 80s, you wouldn't have missed reading ACK comics or its offfspring - Tinke Comics. My boyhood dreamsof "owning" all the ACK comics ever published was realised a few years back only. Thats about 240 comics in all out of 800 comics due to a fire mishap which destroyed the artworks of the original comics. Finally, those who followed the phenomenon of ACK would recall IBH sold off the perpetual rights of the comics to a Pune-based company called Geodesic for some Rs.22 crores. That is still a low price for a priceless heritage. Now, for all those who outgrew those comics, it might please you to note that ACK P Ltd - the new publishing house for these comics is trying to restore some of the comics lost in the fire and also bringing out titles every month over the last two years. So far, they have brought out 60 odd titles anew last few years which takes the complete list of ACK comics to 300 or 315 - though the volume no. is additive and counting above 800. So, the latest volume is no.831 and is on TENZING NORGAY - the man who climbed Mt.Everest. Amongst the new titles they brought out this year - "Lord of Seven Hills", "Ganesha and the Moon", "Tales of Indra", "Vaishno Devi Temple", "Chittagong Revolution" etc. are all racy reads and still evoke that nostalgia of the old comics. I have many friends who want to acquire the collection of these books again for themselves and for their wards. I have been acquiring some of these comics with an eye to resell for profit (they are as pricey as Art works of stature) or imbue them to a library of my choice over the past few years. I must say, I now have most of the 831 comics ever printed - maybe a hundred less - but I know I will get them all sooner. What sets the new titles beginning No.780 or so from the old titles is the different approach to comic design - it combines the new techniques of graphic novels with age-old narrative style fitting into 30 pages. Hopefully, it should appeal to the Harry Potter/Tolkien-reading generation next. Which means, you will be through in 15 minutes - faster than what it takes to swallow Nachos in multiplexes. At Rs.50/- per issue, I always bet that owning an Amar Chitra Katha title beats the bat out of inflation fears - I used to buy it at Rs.1.00 or Rs.1.50 per issue. Since 1977 or so, it has gone up 50 times, higher than the CII factor of inflation used for tax calculations. I have firm belief that Amar Chitra Katha comics will live on like any other nation's story-telling comics for several thousands of millieu in India. We don't have a Smithsonian Museum equivalent in India - but ACK comics fit the bill nearly well in that slot. Ananth Pai - the creator of those comics also passed away this year - but his legacy will live on. My family and a group of friends close to my heart share legions of experiences with Ananth Pai and his wife - I will share them separately some other time. Long live Amar Chitra Katha!

Ash Chandler Show

Before "Don 2" my wife and I sneaked into the much-revered show of Ash Chandler - standup comedian and occasional singer at ITC Grand's Black Dog evening. What a show! Ash Chandler is outstanding with his lines and singing. We were proccupied with showing up at SRK's premiere and hence I missed making shorthand notes but Ash Chandler is quite a find for us with his unadulterated and rambunctious act of 90 minutes of laughter. He started the show with an attire of a Spanish singer and started giving yarns about men, marriage, women and comedy that talks below the belt. Yes, strictly for adults but Ash carried with class and consummate ease. The gags were well-rehearsed and the targets in the audience who bore the brunt of his repartees were polished off well. A few gags I remembered: 1.He asked how many in the audience were married - only nine hands went up and one of them- a lady raised both hands. Ash said: "I can tell you most of you in the room are fucking lying or you are embarrassed to admit you are married. And the lady who raised both hands - what the hell do you have in mind - madam? Do you have two husbands or what?". 2. He starts the show with a request to the audience to ask him anything in Telugu and he will reply in Telugu even though he didn't pick up the language but you have to tell the object around the stage in Telugu. So, somebody in the audience said - microphone. Ash said: microphone lu (as in plural sense of Telugu). Speaker lu, chair lu and so on. Get it? 3. He polled the audience where they come from - some said Bglor, Kolkatta, Delhi, Mumbai - He picks up Kolkattans and repeats the old joke about Chatterjees, Mukherjees, Banerjees - and said if there's a flood in Bangladesh, they will be "Refugees". 4. He adds that women are the most beautiful part and the creative part of the world and God has created them with reason and care. He then quips that there is nothing called male intuition. Everything thats intuitive is called female intuition. Which is why, when you are driving down in a car with your wife, and you are suddenly lost in thoughts, he says, only your wife can come up with a question: "I know what you are thinking." (lol). The wife seems to have a perfect premonition as to what is happening with you - and second-guessing your motives. He builds it up: If you have trouble deciphering what the lady says and asks of you - oftentimes, you will end up confessing something you never wanted to or did in the first place. (l.o.loudest). He then adds that the ladies want someone who can just listen and not understand. Which is why, if two males think about meeting - at 7.30pm- it is a short message - we will meet at 7 pm and click ok thats about it. But when you meet a lady- its more exciting - and doesn't end in half-hour. First, you have to listen to what the lady has to say about her day - how it went. How the day of her best friend went. And then her reaction to how the best friend has to say about her day went. Until then, you can drown your glasses without batting an eyelid and giving a scent of a feeling that you are not listening...you know those old jokes about women and listening, that kind..4. He has a joke or two about Hyderabad. At the outset, when he asked how many are from Hyderabad, and not many answered in the affirmative, he said, " Forget it, the guys are thinking, we are not sure whether we are from Hyderabad or not, because we are not sure which state it is the capital of? Once we know, we will let you know?". That kind. The show was non-stop funny and outrageously hilarious - there was the occasional song which the audience participated in - Ash also mimicked George Bush, Osama Bin Laden and how Stings would perform a Kolaveri Di. As a limited public speaker but an aspirational writer, I note that Ash Chandler (who has a galaxy of tabs in youtube on his video performances) knows his lines well, rehearses them painstakingly and connects with any audience superbly. Its been one starburst of an evening that we were privileged to get regaled. Both of us felt many highs even if Ash's favorite animal Black Dog was not consumed by us. Great Find and Great job! Ash.

"Don-2" Movie Review

"Don-2" is Shah Rukh Khan's second film for 2011 and could do better than "Ra.One" despite low-key publicity. Farhan Akhtar's films and scripting caliber are always something to look forward to - he rarely loses his mojo. After the success of Don, he and chum Ridesh Sadhwani seem well-determined to enhance the franchisee value of "Don" - and they do reasonably well in capturing the original mo...od of Don in this sequel. Shah Rukh Khan looks comfortable in his skin - and swagger and swashbuckle come naturally to him in the movie as he mouths many pithy one-liners - he packs a punch in many of the garbs he puts on in the film - first as a Thai prisoner (in an adorable hermit-like Samurai) and later as the metrosexual and suave Don. Treatment of the film is the same as that of the first - slow-moving but steady and slick action sequences and the song numbers that burst out lately. Bomman Irani doesn't get a role he deserves but others like Kunal Kapoor and Nawab Shah do better. Priyanka Chopra gets as meaty role as possible as a cop out to nab Don while for Lara Dutta - she doesn't get anywhere even if she shows more skin than Priyanka Chopra. The plot of the film is a little less multi-layered than "Don" as the scene shifts from Asia to Europe where Don wants to rule now. I wonder if thats what all Dons are thinking right now - Don's job is to get the plates to print the Euro in Berlin from a German Bank DCB. I wonder if thats true again - I thought Brussels office of the ECB prints the Euro - but lets leave that. The scene then shifts mostly between Zurich and Berlin for the rest of the movie and shows how the heist is performed with perfect execution by Don and team. No twist in the tail here unlike the original - and thats what leaves the fans with a uni-dimensional flavor - an uber cool James Bond project disguised as Don-2 with car chases and fights that get the gut minus romance. 146 minutes of boyhood adventures minus "real" girl stuff is what Farhan Akhtar dexterously weaves with superb help from Editing, Cinematography (someone called James West who is truly outstanding) and music. Shankar-Ehsan-Loy score magnificently on BGM but their songs are not that hummable as "Aaj Keee Raaaaat..." (Don). The surprise thats worth the movie's weight in gold is Hrithik Roshan's brief cameo before the interval. Watchable once for the effort and the scale of execution but repeated viewing I doubt. Shah Rukh fans can atleast rejoice he is ending 2011 better than what he struck you in the middle with.

Business Magazines and Business Journalism

Like pigs sniffing truffles from afar, I chase down any book on stockmarket or a magazine that claims to know the "secret". Sadly, then, I chronicle the rise and fall of stockmarket magazines in India. Of course, you always had magazines like "Business Today", "Business India" (can you believe it is still there?) and "Business World" with occasional banter about the markets but magazines and tabloids on stockmarkets were always springing up from nowhere and capsizing in bad times. "Fortune India", "Intelligent Investor" (now known as "Outlook Money"), "Shree Profit", "MoneyTimes", "Kompella's Portfolio Advice", and one magazine brought out by RR Capital, New Delhi-"Investment Portfolio Watch" or something like that - the list goes on...There are few which survived like "Dalal Street Journal" and "Capital Market" but amongst those which came with fanfare there are few which are edging up sales - "MoneyLife", "Money Today", "Wealth Insight", "Mutual Fund Insight" and "Investor India" (mainly captive to Bajaj Capital). Outlook group started "Outlook Profit" a few years back but now they have closed down with December issue in the same month that saw the release of Vinod Mehta's autobiography "Lucknow Boy"- I keep wondering what led a group with deep pockets like Outlook merge "Outlook Profit" with "Outlook Business". I guess what undid "Profit" was reliance on mostly research reports - in the guise of covering company profiles and market views - sourcing reports by CLSA/Motilal/MS/GS etc. Sourabh Mukherjea was probably the only writer I used to follow in "Outlook Profit" - the rest is ho-hum and below-par or external research content. It was hardly original even if its is informative. Another magazine I suspect is Valueresearch's "MF Insight" - it reeks of paid advertorials - between the mutual funds recommended and the ones advertised. Except for Sanjiv Pandya and Paronjoy Thakurta, there's nothing worth reading really that makes a difference to Advisors. I always treat any report from Research desks released to public with suspicion - if somebody is leaking such reports to public, it means they want to find suckers on the moon. If your research is really that good, you should share with your clients and make them money - or else, it tantamounts to front-running. Amongst the newspapers - my best and foremost is always "BusinessLine"- Investment World - I have not missed an issue since 1994 and it has the best legacy of objective views on the stockmarkets. The fact that IW is edited by my friend is no excuse for not picking a bone with it - it is still a trustworthy source of opinion and analysis on the stock markets.iA leaf out of Businessline's "Investment World" is more than all the future babble that permeates the business & money magazines. There is ET, BS , Mint, DNA Money, and FE but more drivel than insights except the occasional columnist pieces - a'la Ruchir Joshi or Madan Sabnavis or Sanjay Prakash. Almost no magazine covers stock markets with independent thinking and unbiased opinions - except maybe "Capital Market" and to some extent "MoneyLife". Equity Master - the group that runs Quantum Fund is good - but they are trying hard to garner assets and clients in a world dominated by distributors. They send good newsletters but appear like teaser ads for baiting your subscription money for multi-bagger stocks. Instead, rediff.com gives you better insights on markets and asides.The best way to read any of these magazines is to use their data and process through your own prisms of analysis, interpretation, reasoning and conclusions. It is easy for anybody to do that if you see what I mean - ask your searching questions and have "contrary" thinking approach. But I subscribe to all these mags and papers and journals - they keep us anchored to the tenets of filtering the "flat earth news" through your mind. They tell me that in hearing views and news about the markets - you can stand out and go against the grain and still make money. I welcome if anybody has to share any other sources of markets that is different and reliable.

"Journey" Movie Review

"Journey" directed by M.Shravanan and originally produced by AR Murugadoss is another feather to divvy up the golden year of Tamil dubbed movies into Telugu. Wonderfully crafted and innovatively shot - "Journey" is a story of what happens before and after a major collusion of two buses coming to and fro Hyd-Vijayawada. (Trichy-Chennai in original). Two love stories of which one is almost of impro...bable origin (like a Black Swan) are enchantingly woven by M.Shravanan with lots of cuteness and credibility. A story like this which ends in a fatal bus collusion killing 50 pc of the people deserves a rich screenplay toggling past and present quite easily. Director achieves that too and succeeds in giving a few messages, inter alia, on organ donation, choosing a life partner and of course, reckless and speedy driving on roads. The entire sequence of the two buses ramming into each other is shot in outstanding slow motion that brings out the brutality and fatality of such accidents in a telling fashion - you will shudder to hit road like that after seeing the havoc that follows a moment of lapse. Its remarkable how bold and evocative these Tamil movies are and what a mix of class and variety they have. This year, I was lucky to spare a dime to see half a dozen movies of Tamil dubbed into Telugu- "Rangam", "Vaishali", "Vaadu-Veedu", "The Gambler", "7th Sense", and now "Journey" - all of them have a tale that sets each of them apart from one another. Of course, there were notable must-misses like "Sega" and "180" but by far, despite movies like "Kandireega" and "Dookudu" and "Sri Rama Rajyam" methinks 2011 belongs to Tamill dubbed movies in Telugu. They are bold, imaginative, different and refreshingly evocative despite being hauntingly closer to reality. No wonder, Tollywood producers who don't have the guts to make different films are hell-bent on raising the entry barriers to these dubbed movies. Tollywood is 90 percent formulaic, only 10 percent is experimental -thats not enough to launch a renaissance of new wave cinema. Come Sankranti- you have half-a-dozen Telugu films which will again have tons of bizarre violence, obscene dances, and dialogues that sound like " I will make you piss" or something like that. We have to watch because there is no choice. I hope we have more films dubbed into Telugu from sensible film-makers. This started off as a movie review but became something else- year-end outpourings of a mad Tollywood fan who expects the industry to grow-up and make mature films. Otherwise, we will continue to make films that are atavistic but commercial hits.

How to React in a Bear Market?

A Bear Market can do more damage than a bull market if you react in two ways- 1. Are u surprised? 2. What do you think is going on? If u think, its end of the world, U will panic out. Will you bail out before being bailed out? Ask yr Advisor or yrselves..

"Twirly Men" Book Review

Even though my interest in cricket waned after the new high Indian cricket hit on April 2nd and subsequently its lows in England and the yo-yo series in West Indies., I go to ridiculous lengths to read good writing on cricket. I still re-read the works of Neville Cardus - that masterly writer of Manchester Guardian - and the occasional PG Wodehouse stories based on cricket. In India, Rajan Bala had his style of writing but I was a big fan of R.Mohan who wrote for THE HINDU. He was the reason to read about Cricket in any sports newspapers those golden years of 1980s-1990s until he was sacked following an investigation by THE HINDU in the infamous Azharuddin betting scam. After that, R.Mohan wrote but the halycon days were behind him as he never found the same sweet spot of THE HINDU. I used to follow Peter Roebuck almost regularly until his shocking suicide jump - I never really understand what makes anybody jump the gun, I mean, buildings in reacher upper echelons of heaven - for whatever reason. But lets leave that - I feel that Cricket Writing has not improved so much and even Nirmal Shekar and other writers for Wisden don't have the flashes of brilliance that earlier writers used to have. Until, I found a fascinating new writer whose book I strongly recommend - AMOL RAJAN. He writes for THE INDEPENDENT newspaper in London and has written the singularly best book ever on the history and craft of SPIN Bowlers of cricket. Titled "Twirly Men", the book is a masterpiece on the art and history of spin bowling - and must be a treat for all connoisseurs of cricket. For those who missed the golden era of Indian spin trio of Bedi, Prasanna, and Chandraskar or the spin bowlers of yore like Graeme Swann, Larry Golmes, Abdul Qadir,Swanton, Richie Benaud, Zaheer Abbas, Len Hutton Amol Rajan weaves a fascinating and almost read-out-loud, delightful and gripping account of those masters of deception who rarely get their attention like Percussionists of a Carnatic music concert. What amazed me is that Amol Rajan, I googled to find, used to be a spin bowler in English county cricket before taking to writing about the game due to failure from injury and half indolence. If you love books on cricket and revel in reading about WG Grace by Sir Neveille Cardus, TWIRLY MEN deserves an ovation for a rollicking read. Rajan not only traces the craft of spinning through the game's greats over the years, he weaves tales of drama and gets you inside some of those pitch-turning battles that made the spin bowlers heroes of the day - including today's Muralidharan, Warne, Kumble. The book also has a chapter each on a variety of balls that the practitioners have used over the years - the "doosra", the carrom ball, the arm ball, the zooter or slider or nothing ball, the flipper and the googly - each of this ball is illustrated with drawings too. Can't miss this book if you love the game and a writing thats worthy of the game. I will be turning out my best reads of the year category-wise shortly - but having finished this one sooner - cannot resist the read. Take it like Geoff Boycott's commentary on spinning with R.Mohan's literary flourish and Neville Cardus's lyrical beauty of language. "Twirly Men" - best book on Cricket in 2011.

Stockmarkets

When it comes to stockmarkets, fear leads to panic, panic breeds the inability to distinguish between temporary declines and permanent losses. That, in turn, leads to the well-documented propensity to be massive sellers of good investments near market bottoms. We seem to be getting there if you see Equity Mutual Fund inflows have recorded a 31 month lows. Some never learn.

India's Triple Transition and Work-in-Progress

We are seeing a colossal work-in-progress in India's next-level transition in three areas - Social, Political and Economic - that it is easy to see the ongoing flux as turmoil. I am fully convinced that this is India's second or third-greatest inflection point before we get back into the world orbit of adulation. Parliaments are challenged, ministers are getting jailed, Judges are impeached, peopl...e pose questions to Prime Minister that should have been raised elsewhere, Gandhian incarnations re-enter the national consciousness, business icons are getting milched. I don't bother if the stock markets or currency or gold markets or bond markets take a beating from here - thats the bye-product of bellweather reactions. I am more concerned with what the "cause" is, not effects. I am 500 per cent convinced that these transitions on many counts are going to cleanse India more and make our future brighter for all of us. I mean it and can smell it in my blood as someone who knows India since the 70s that this phase is going to do multiple good to our country in many ways that historians will extol. You can deride India or ride this wave - and the opportunities it provides in many ways.

Hyderabad Book Fairs and Book Reading Culture

Hyderabad Book Fair opens for the 26th year in Necklace Road. In the last 26 years, I would have missed only once when I was abroad. What pains me about this book fair is that the quality of book fair has been only deteriorating over the years. Shifting of venue from Chikkadpally to Nizam College grounds to Necklace Road hasnt done wonders to the book-reading culture nor improved the Society's thi...nking level. The tragedy of Hyderabad is that people here don't read books or read books as much as a Book Fair Organiser feels encouraged. The footfalls are good but many stall owners tell me not many buy at the Fair. I just had a cursory round - the customary first round and was apalled at the quality and the vision of the Fair. The entry ticket is priced at Rs.5/-. That tells how diffident the organisers feel about footfalls. Five Rupees is not even inflation-adjusted since 1990s - might as well open the doors for free. The parking and pop-corn and chat items outside the Venue of Book Fair actually fetch more than the price for entry. Jewellery Fairs and Career Exhibitions fetch higher entry charges. Besides, the choice of stalls has always been unimaginative. This time, you even have a stall sellilng Pirated Hollywood DVDs apart from Handwriting Analysis workshops and Multi-color Web offset Printers and Maps and White-board markers and Games. How the hell are all these related to Book-Reading and Book-lovers? In one of the book-shops, the owner was haggling with a Distributor at what discount to sell a book that's exclusively marketed by them. Its titled: "Tragedy of Hyderabad". I didn't even bother to look at that book. Might be an apt description of the book-culture in Hyderabad. This is a city where parties are thrown to drown beer, play pool, brag about the acres of land in Vikarabad and Gandipet, and of course, the latest political and filmi issues. Books? A Big No. I have been to International Book Fairs in New Delhi, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Mumbai and dream of going for Frankfurt one day - and wished that Hyderabad will have a Fair thats worthy of world renown. Now, I am reconciled that the city will get the Book Fair it deserves. Even the Vijayawada and Vizag Book Fairs get more book volumes according to the organisers - and atleast people there are starved of good books to see and read and buy. Hyderabad Blues for book-lovers!

"Solo" Movie Review

"Solo" starring Nara Rohit is another year-end rounding-off error we could have made if we missed it. Thoroughly entertaining and more satisfying to watch than even "Pilla Zamindar". Director Parasuram is a disciple of Swami Puri Jagannadh ("Pokiri" fame) but hasn't imbibed shades of gang-war violence and eve-exploiting sleaze. Quite a neat film with great performances by Rohit, Kajal Agarwal's... sister- Nisha, Prakash Raj, Jayasudha and yes, comedian Srinivas Reddy - this is his finest hour. The storyline: Rohit grew up an orphan and yearns to love and marry a girll who has a huge family. Prakash Raj - the girl's father - on the other hand, wants to bring in a son-in-law who is anything but "Solo". Sounds like another Dil Raju production but there ends any comparison because the director weaves a right combination of comedy, family drama and love-story with heart-tugging dialogues that linger on. Except for one Mumaith Khan's item song, "Solo" is a great film to watch. Mani Sharma has given high-quality music - both songs and BGM scores. Quite unsurprisingly then, when we trooped into a theatre and were wondering if we made a right choice when we saw but ten people including us, we saw the hall almost filled within ten minutes of movie. Is this movie better than "Pilla Zamindar"- in entertainment and neat family fare? Heart says, "Yes".