On Petrol Prices

Petrol prices slashed again by less than a rupee. This is a rare event that must be celebrated by vehicular country like India. Note this day because it really makes for a Happy Adults Day. The statistical probability of such events recurring is usually rare - not as rare as Dev Anand movies but as rare as once in four years. Oil majors despite posting monstrous losses have many ways to make money - including petrol-tripping (each pump operator saves about 50 litres per week), rounding off etc. The point I want to make is: You can't assume deflation with such once-in-a-while concessions. Next four years will see crude oil jumping ahead of the curve.

On Airlines Industry

You know that old joke about making a million in Airlines Industry. Start with two million. What folks dont know is that Capt.Gopinath also ran an Airlines to ground after taking Rs.700 crs. from a UK-based businessman. Then he tried to sell it Anil Ambani. After that misfired, he found Mallya an easy bait. With that money, Cargo Jet services were launched before it teeters on the brink of bankru...ptcy. On top of that, he wrote a painfully long autobiography of how AirDeccan was formed. Never read a more painful book in my life. Mallya, on the other hand, is crying baby. This is like RajKapoor growing a stubble before meeting Censor Board members to spare censorship of sexy scenes that will rake in the riches. If only bankers realise to ask for pledge of shares of the other cash-rich companies - the ones that keep us in high spirits. Funny, how the best of the lot can get fooled. I am not just upbraiding any Airlines here, but Indigo and then Jet and then Spicejet are my pecking order of airlines to fly with on a clear day. As for Kingfisher, I guess this year there will be no Calendars for 2012 because the owner has become the new poster-boy and "shoot at site" orders may come marching anytime.

"Rockstar" Movie Review

"RockStar" by Imtiaz Ali is quite an effort by the writer-turned-director in bringing to screen how rustic folks end up at the starry end of the rainbow - with power to sway fans to do their bidding. Imtiaz Ali has picked the right candidate - a born actor with starry eyes- Ranbir Kapoor - to play the title role and he does it with tremendous ease showing multiple shades of how raw innocence, ins...tincts and impulsiveness combine with luck to give a solo Guitarist mega stardom and the pains that come with it - adulation and sympathy, allegations and affairs, success as well as tragedy. AR Rahman's BGM and soul-stirring Punjabi Sufi melodies enhance different moods - it comes naturally to him and he just goes ballistic with his sense of music. Nargis Fakr is quite a find and plays the role with consummate charms - she steals the screen sometimes more often than Rockstar Ranbir. Shammi Kapoor is seen for the last time on celluloid - and Director uses his soulful presence sparingly at every crucial point in the film - those pining eyes with subtle mist in Shammi Kapoor playing Shehnai in the last frame he appears gets to you forever. Imtiaz Ali, I think, is an honest film-maker who tells a good story with his groove of experiential and sometimes autobiographical interpretations - whether it is taking Rumi's poetry or taking lives of famous rockstars who lived it up with their idiosyncracies and couldn't care less for social norms of the day. To that extent, Rockstar will shock some of the conventions when an artist becomes obsessed with his muse at the cost of his own reputation and the marriage of the latter but thats what underlies many artistes' lives - there is a hero and there's irony, allergy and stupidity, naivette and tragedy. Imtiaz has brought out the creative process that shapes up superstars who connect with the masses and in rendering a plausible story of a credible superstar he follows some ibby-jibbies unique to Hindi and keeps the nativity of the North Belt core to his films. Thats why, I think it is tough for other language film-makers to re-make his films - its easy for "Teenmaar" director to miss the magic in the original "Luv Aajkal". Thats why Imtiaz Ali's films are special. Second half could have been shorter and less jerky while the first half was brilliant. Whether Ranbir becomes a real Rockstar or not, this movie will remain his finest hour. And Rahman also can now be dismissive of the initial criticism he received on the OST. The only reason you may walk out of this movie is if the music and its creation is not your cup of tea.

"Oh My Friend" Movie Review

Oh My Friend" is one more addition to the clean family fare DVD collection being built by Dil Raju since "Bommarillu" this time with Venu Sriram - one more Asst.Director turned Director Venu Sriram. This time, he casts Shruti Hasan and Siddharth as childhood chums who share a platonic love that confounds people around them, even their respective lovers. Is it possible for a man and woman who gro...w up to as thick friends to remain mentally close and physically un-attached? This theme was explored half-heartedly in "Nuvve Kaavali", and whole-heartedly in "Vasantham", "Iddaru Mithrulu" and in many recent English and Hindi movies. So, the story is not new but the director's take is cool and breezy and manages to get some good performances by Shruti Hasan and Navdeep and Tanikella Bharani. Frankly, I couldn't notice the screen presence of Siddharth (Hasn't he done these kind of roles since birth almost?). The good points of the film - Shruti Hasan- she is the soul of the film. Length of the film-it wraps up just about the time you want to get up though belabours the underlying message often and loud. Good Music by debutant and clean lyirics. Great BGM by Mani Sharma. Uncluttered characterisation. Quite a few heart-rending scenes- you may be tempted to cry. What are the faults? Intensity is missing - director takes a path of non-cinematic liberties to drive home the point which doesnt come out as effective as it should have - deserved greater thought and fleshing out as modern society evolves. Climax is weak and abrupt - he could have built it to a fault. There's average fun in the film with no comedy to laugh out loud. Its watchable once but will you remember it like "Bommarillu" - Never. I like to usually delve into the economic output of a film at the Box Office - will it click there - is this a gold-digger? Unlikely - it may be a near-miss. NRIs may love the film but college-goers and Sidhu fans expect more from Dil Raju.

"Margin Call" Movie is released

"Margin Call" is the latest movie on the perils of excesses unleashed on Wall Street. I am just awaiting the movie which has the fascinating actor Kevin Spacey ("The American Beauty"). Normally, such movies run for four days in multiplexes like Inox because non-finance audiences don't warm up to them. I always admire the script-writing skills of the Western writers in getting under the skin of th...e Street Pros in bringing pulsating movie plots out. Over the years and especially during our growing up phases, you just remember "Wall Street" as the old classic that gives you the goosebumps. Later, I have collected DVDs and seen movies of many more Wall Street theme movies. And for connoisseurs of this genre, only Hollywood made the best movies almost every decade. Bollywood makes once in a while but not that consistent. ("Rocket Singh"? "Game"?). In no particular order, dear friends, I recommend: "The Inside Job" (Oscar-winning documentary), "Wall Street-Money never sleeps", "Pursuit of Happyness", "Boiler Room", "Other People's Money", "The Bonfire of Vanities" (Tom Wolfe book), "Barbarians at the Gate" (Another thriller book on the RJR Nabrisco fiasco), "Rogue Trader" (On the life of Nick Leeson), "Trading Places" (again a book), "Rollover", "Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room" (another thriller book), "The Bank" (where a Financial mathematician writes an algorithm to predict stock market fluctuations), "Capitalism: A Love Story" (a documentary by the venerable Michael Moore), "Quants: The Alchemists of Wall Street" (a documentary again), "Nova: A Trillion Dollar Bet" (covering the holy trio of Fisher, Black and Merton and their modern finance theories), "Dealers", "Working Girll", and "The Corporation" (again based on a famous book by the same name. I just tried to give an illustrative list of what are must-haves in every finance professional's library. I will be happy to take additions to the list...

KBC Prize Winnings - How should they be invested?

So Susheel Kumar has won the KBC quiz lottery of Rs.3.50 crs. (Rs.1.50 crs. goes as taxes) and I saw a lot of excitement yesterday as we watched the golden moments amongst my own family members as if someone from our own tribe has won a big amount. I suddenly find lot of web content on how to invest that pot of money. Typical of Wealth Managers to track down a dollar millionaire instantly. Most im...portant thing is to have the mental maturity to handle such sudden riches. I remember a journalist friend of mine Aruna whose sister was a banker at Canara Bank; her sister won the KBC quiz prize money of Rs.18 lacs in the post-liberalisation new years of low inflation. She quit her bank job the next Monday after banking the KBC cheque and has never worked since. She bought a few pieces of real estate and blue-chip stocks and is happily living off dividends and rentals. She realised that replacing her earning capacity with the investments is the first thing she has to do. She handled the small pot of money quite well. The bigger the money you get through windfalls, the bigger is the risk of outliving that money due to unwise counsel. Thats why they say, a Fool and his money are soon parted. The biggest thing, I repeat, is our attitude to money and the mature way we handle them. You need not be a Rockfeller or a Cornelius Vanderbilt to act like one. What you get in a lottery when you are earning less than Rs.10,000 pm is just pure luck but still you gotta treat it as hard-earned money- don't think the money is to last forever. Thats when it stays. Rules of money haven't changed over the last several millennia... Money, like time, can either be spent or invested.

"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.