"Mogudu" Movie Review

"Mogudu" is supposed to be a bible on how to be a good husband and all that by director Krishna Vamshi who is so creative that he doesn't take feedback from anybody while making the movie -maybe not even from his wife Ramyakrishna. If only he had listened to her, (and I don't know that)the movie would have turned out better - its the crappiest movie we have seen this year. Only Music is good l,... you have elderly starcast like Rajendraprasad, Naresh and Roja in same screen shots. Then what went wrong? Lazy and over-confident plot with ridiculous twists - marriage that ends in divorce in a week, then the same couple land up in Mauritius and land into each other's arms, re-marry inspite of a third factor, and re-unite the estranged families, there is drama of some sorts happening all the time on different planets as far as the audience is concerned. On top of it, dialogues dull as Dyanora TV, inconsistent and over-emotional characterisation, comedy thats here and gone, and so many censorable phrases that censors decided to mute almost ten minutes. The most interactive part is the audience is able to second-guess all those cliched tongue-lashing lines. There is an expression in the movie which brings Gopichand and Tapsi together as lovers - "When was the last time you did something for the first time in your life?" If only the director and his large-hearted producer followed the only memorable line in the movie, the movie 'd have been different.Whats more obnoxious is the length - 150 mins of civic nonsense. This doesn't look as venerable as what the director has made in 20 or more previous movies. Jarring and boring.

Savings Rates de-regulated

Savings Deposit rates are finally de-regulated. Whatever makes the common man excited to see full-page ads announcing 6% rate of interest- Beware! This is the season of peaking interest rates. There will also now come a time when your savings rate will slip below 4% - to as low as 1% or 1.5%! In one stroke, RBI has made savings rate an effective tool of monetary policy. Had RBI done this when inflation and interest rates are plummeting, nobody would have noticed. Perfect illusions of the mind! I think whats coming next are - small savings deposit rate freeing and diesel price deregulation.

On Rajat Gupta

Some prominent Indians like Deepak Parekh and Shekar Gupta lament the culmination of events leading to the arrest of Rajat Gupta. Its both fun and sad to see icons of Global Indiana get smattered like this. The jury is out on whether Rajat Gupta has a legacy that will outlive his (mis)deeds. We live in interesting times where bits and titbits about us in all spheres of life will make us or mar us. No more black and white - its all grey shades of a personality. It may be unfair to judge a person by what is alleged until proved. Even Steve Jobs, as I am reading his biography has had his share of felonies - but we just extol him as a God-send. Ultimately, your Karma - good and bad will work to redeem what is going to be the way you will be remembered for. If you read the obit column of Economist magazine ( I have all the obits from 1853-2003) they make it out as dispassionate as purgatory - judgement in totality. Thats the way to form an opinion not go by media reports - which make capital out of a transitionary phase of a public figure. People like me are happy to carry our crosses the way we want to live and die.

7th Sense Movie Review

7th Sense was a little short of fireworks at the movie hall but was worth a watch. To be fair, "7th Sense" has an amazing plot that has even got Aamir Khan interested (who doesn't repeat his director ever - AR Murgadoss). The plot has got Martial Arts, unbelievable stunts, a cuter Shruti Hassan and a variation of two characters... for Suriya. As Bodi Dharma - a Hindu King who emigrates to China in the 6th Century, saves folks from disease and injury from enemies, becomes a monk with unlimited powers and then adapts himself to Chinese good- Suriya looks strikingly handsome. Thats the utlimate paisa vasool of the movie. As a junior circus artiste, second role, he looks ordinary until the science fiction of Murgadoss feeds and realises on celluloid this bizarre idea of imbibing the DNA code of BodiDharma for tackling the modern menace in the form of the villain - again from China. The story is one-dimensional and the screenplay doesn't sizzle you with excitement because the director doesn't use flashback technique well - the first 30 mins. which forms the soul of the film runs like a documentary - it could have been more effective. Second half shows some dramatic scenes but the plot is out by then. What makes the film watchable? Undoubtedly, Suriya and his maginificent stunts composed by Peter Hein. And a few (very few) relief moments from Shruti Hassan's improving screen presence. A few songs by Harris Jayaraj also come out good especially the one in Chinese backdrop. But what could have been better? Violence (which was needed for the plot) is too graphic. Nil Comedy (atleast I couldn't spot any but the Elephant joke). The movie could have been a tad more dramatic given the 7th Heaven expectations I had - but thats how movies turn out sometimes. Is it worth Aamir Khan betting his next movie on? Needs more fleshing out by dir Murgadoss. I googled Bodi Dharma after I saw the movie - and didn't find any stuff thats closer to whats projected on screen. The movie could be renamed - The Monk who smashes Ferraris. Unlike Bodi Dharma - who is zen-like and peace-loving. Watch it once but not ga-ga.

Happy Diwali!

Ralph Waldo Emerson, my all-time favorite essayist (ok, besides E.B.White) remarked in one book: "Money, which represents the prose of life, and which is hardly spoken of in parlors without an apology, is in its effects and laws, as beautiful as roses." He could be referring to the week-long celebrations of Diwali-India's festival of big money which will begin literally from today. Ahmedabad wil...l be inactive till Nov.10. Mumbai will work with maximum "leavers". Rest of India will barter sweets, buy goodies and gifts, GoldLate-night card-playing will be on the cards. Priests with three mobile phones will charge their bonus-outstripping tariffs. More than twice GDP output of Greece and Portugal will go up in smoke in India in the form of crackers. Stockmarkets will celebrate Diwali and fair-looking men and fairies on CNBC, etc. will talk alongside their experts that Optimism is the only realism at this time of the year and dizzy levels of Sensex are round the corner.Eighty per cent of sugar, jaggery, kaala jamun, kova consumed in India will be amalgamated in orgy of sweets- liquid and solid. Pigeons and cats, dogs and sparrows will be moving helter-skelter thinking the sounds of fury is the sign of the world coming to an end. Meanwhile some 6000 screens all over the world and India will watch "Ra.One", "7th Sense" (and its Tamil Suriya Original) over the coming week. It aint getting bigger than this. India knows how to celebrate with style and I am throwing my hat in the ring from today. Happy Diwali to all in advance! Safe and Sure-fire!

On Wealth Management, RMs and Fees

This is my seventeenth year in Advisory profession. "Trust" is a critical element in any relationship between a Wealth Manager and a client and that is a function of three, no infact, four variables - Credibility (which comes from giving you advice thats not short-term but what counts for you), Reliability (in which the RM has to be there all times - in bear and bad times as well and more importantly service-oriented), Intimacy (the level at which you connect and like the RM). All these three build up the trust but what divides the trust is another factor - Self-Orientation. If the RM is selfish, or works for his goals at the detriment of your goals, you will have the same experience as what you outlined. Its when this trust gets depleted because of the interplay of these four variables (of which self-orientation is the most undesirable component) that the experience gets soured. If the charges are not disclosed upfront, it is more "self-orientation" and hence lower trust. According to me, a good Advisor is one who doesn't distinguish between advising his client and his father, in the sense of giving advice that works well and honestly for his circumstances. My last point, I want to drive home, is that in my experience of over 17 yrs, I find that the HNWI as a group, across the world, expect returns without risk - which they don't expect in their business or profession. The best way is to build market portfolios aligned with one's financial planning goals with least outgo as expense/charges. Do not believe anybody who says they can time the markets well. If the Sensex this year is down 25%, no way any Mutual Fund can return even 5% (I am generalising). Failing to recognise this sets them up to fail or get disappointed in more ways that makes the experience itself self-fulfilling. You often get what you expect. And in the process, they move advisors - Advisor swapping also erodes the wealth - because the timeline from now till retirement or investment horizon, if it is so long, would make enough money provided we are patient and make those tactical and strategic changes periodically. Everytime we think there is money to be made from a new advisor, than what the market is offering, we eventually lose out - in fees, in charges, in commissions, in brokerage, and then taxes. There is no statistical evidence for persistence of performance - in life or markets - why then make our portfolios gyrate with advisors? But I hope I have made some points that make sense. This is my individual take - and I am passionate about this profession and have been sincere and diligent about these points before any moon and six pence is promised.

Nobel Prize for Economics

I await the Nobel Prize for Economics most after literature and peace. The remaining interest me as much as Pluto interests anyone in Solar System- but more out of ignorance not borne of irrelevance or irreverence. (How the paneer will I understand what are two-dimensional quasi-crystals, for example, object of this year's Chemistry winner? My Chemistry cousin in London will decode it far better ...and hopefully also win a Nobel one day). But back to it, Economics may be a dismal science and the pecking order of Nobel Prize for Economics also keeps it last for announcement. Btw, the Economics award is the only one instituted by the Swedish Central Bank but handed out as part of the "Nobels". As a student of Economics, I am thrilled to note this years' winners: Prof. Thomas J Sargent (Columbia university) and Prof. Christopher A Sims. (New York) for their work in cause and effect theory of macroeconomics using VAR models and forecasting. Although it is funnily lamented that the economists have predicted nine of the last six recessions - the drivel is used to forecast. Michael Spence, Paul Krugman and Amartya Sen are the last of the Economics winners I think should be seriously read as they make lot of sense. But from whatever I could google, these guys' works looks promising and should be top-of-the-tree reading in months to come. Maybe a new book from Columbia University. Congratulations! Long Live Economics - for anything to do with money or lack of it.