"Focus" (English) Movie Review

The plot starts with the beautiful Margot Robbie getting trained by ace conman Wil Smith as a hooker who can pick pockets. Margot soon realises Wil Smith is not just the best conman or pick-up artiste in town but also the smoothest operator whose game sucks the wildest wits out of anybody. From running an empire of slick and artful pick-pockets who take the most prized possessions however skin-tightly worn, Margot Robbie is ensnared into the world of Wil Smith and his proteges all of whom interned in the art of subtle influence and subterfuge. The apprentice that Margot is, she falls into the honey trap laid out by Wil Smith as she falls in love with him. The feelings get mutual before Wil dumps her at New Orleans. Wil Smith's masterly art of deception plays out in the second half with a man who bets big on race cars but his self-forsaken love returns as an important lady in the overall scheme of things. Will will become Old Wily? Can he prime the pump yet again? Can he win it bigger than the last time he separated a Chinese millionaire off his millions  when betting changed from a superbowl game to predicting a section of the audience watching the game? 

As an action genre film enmeshed with a wacky plot of second-guessing and some maudlin Bollywood-style romance, "Focus" packs a punch in most of the 116 minutes with some good thrills of watching a trained persuader who makes gainful usage of everything that evolved influence into a science. Wil Smith is the self-trained Pro who uses subliminal subconscious programming, NLP, emotional "Atyachar" and ancient techniques of deception, auto-suggestions and reframing. The film seems predictable at times but surprises you on more than a couple of occasions in creating engima about what the schemer is out to achieve - you sometimes get tricked into believing that the memes are muted but the director gets you now, and lets you have your guess another time. The plot is a simple three-act story - romance, two episodes that get the hero's focus on parting fools of their monies, one of them at interval block and the other in the climax - and narrates itself easy. Though a notch below the stuff Wil Smith brings to the table, "Focus" brings old-fashioned tell-tale kind of screenplays back into focus. To appeal better with a story that can't be dumbed down for the discerning audience who love intelligent cinema, the film gives spectacular footage to Margot Robbie as the muse who moves the cheese for Wil Smith - they got some of the hottest scenes together on the same lines as "The Wolff of Wall Street" stuff that gets it an A-rating but the fun is not vulgar as in the former. While Margot looks stunning and adds much spice and substance to her role, Wil Smith takes backstage with a sloppy makeup and a terrible look - he seems to have pumped too much iron in the last few movies so looks tired. Hasn't lost his sense of humor and winky looks though. 

The film is shot in India, Russia, Japan, Argentina and of course parts of America and Europe. Watching the film however gets you a quaint feeling that directors in Bollywood, Tollywood or Kollywood are going to remake this interesting film into more dumbed-down version with massive doses of Masala. It has all the ingredients to make enough song and dance about it in Indian films. Though not compulsively engrossing, the opening sequence, interval block and the climax make it all worth it. 

Rating: 3.25/5

#Focus #WilSmith #MargotRobbie #Hollywood #MovieReviews

Dr D Ramanaidu - A legend among producers

D.Ramanaidu’s contribution to Indian Cinema in general and Telugu Film Industry in particular doesn’t end with his cremation. The man has played a major part in the evolution of films as a mass medium to growing their appeal and even profiting from their continuing appeal. On face value, the statistics of his achievements as a film producer are staggering: over 150 films in 15 languages including English, debut chances for 21 directors and a few music directors and several technicians. His life is an outstandanding example of how to choose a field you love and then grow in that field to dizzy heights and more importantly, stay relevant and be in the thick of action till the very end.  At the time of his passing, “Gopala Gopala” produced by his son is still running in theatres and a blockbuster called “Bahubali” is in production stages in which his grandson plays a pivotal role.The legacy created by Dr.D Ramanaidu is not just the negatives of those films or the studio but the values which are continuing with his sons Suresh and Venkatesh and his grandsons. His contribution and overall impact on the film industry is a nonpareil in the world of cinema.

He made epic films with superstars of the day, cast them in dual roles (“Ramudu Bheemudu”), made scripts out of top-notch novelists of the day (“Premnagar”, “Secretary”,”Jeevana Tarangalu”, “Agnipoolu”), created modern-day multi-starters with both heroes (Krishna, Sobhanbabu) and heroines (Jayaprada, Sridevi) and also several low-budget films once the budgets started soaring because of hero remunerations. He started productions in the name of his eldest son Suresh and created a decent-scale studio which allows film producers to walk out with the first copy of the film if they have a script in hand - it used to be the tagline in nineties itself before Ramoji Rao came and changed the mindset of thinking from small to big. Dr.Ramanaidu also remade his films into Hindi and created big hits which helped launch stars like Jitendra and gave a second lease to actors like Rajesh Khanna and Anil Kapoor. His model of film production is that he treated it like a sacred business where all the team members are treated well but expected to be professional. There were reports in trade weeklies of how Dr Ramanaidu used to return extra copies of video cassettes or prints to some distributors in north who didn’t budget correctly. Coming from agricultural background in Karamcheedu helped Naidu to count the pennies so that he won’t become a pound-foolish producer.

If you study the careers of the people who preceded Dr Ramannaidu, it appears Naidu learnt his lessons from them too. The most famous example is Dr Raghupati Venkayya - in whose name the most famous and prestigious award for contribution to Telugu Film Industry is given - an equivalent to Dada Saheb Phalke Award. Dr Raghupati Venkayya made the first talkie in Telugu and started a production company with his son R.Prakash. But where Dr Venkayya erred was in not entrusting the financial affairs of the studio to his son. Subsequently, Dr Venkayya’s company was mishandled due to staff ineptitude and financial mismanagement. His company ran into debt and Dr Venkayya became bankrupt. In many ways, Dr Ramanaidu’s life is a mirror reflection of the very opposite of what Dr Venkayya did; Dr Naidu gave his first son free rein in running the production house and the staff were treated well but with rewards for performance and stick for slippages. Which is why, when a few years back one of the foreign production houses came to Hyderabad to buy out Ramanaidu Studios, lock stock and barrel, the offer came to a staggering Rs.1400 crores. Dr Naidu shot down any proposal to sell the studios while he is still alive.

Dr Naidu may have well had a point in holding out. He has little reasons to sell - unlike Padmalaya Studios which had elephantine debt before selling to Zee or Annapurna Studios which had been constructed on land pre-leased from Government. Dr Naidu’s family has ensured that they are a formidable force not only in film production and post-production but also in distribution. Towards the end of the last decade before 2000, they have started cornering the exhibition trade after tasting blood in distribution and production. Lease Rentals were hiked by 200 per cent which allowed several hundreds of theatre-owners to become part of the distribution chain of Suresh Productions - this was soon to become a trend that made many distributors lament but it created an apple-pie of a fabulous business model that dictated the content that is exhibited for the last decade. Even the most talented film-makers had to seek the powerhouse distribution chain controlled by Dr Naidu’s family whether it is “Eega”, “Ashta Chamma”, “Uyyala Jhampala” or the upcoming “Bahubali”. Very few production houses in the country wield so much influence at the box-office as D.Ramanaidu’s family did. Which is why, offers will never cease to pour in. Ramanaidu’s son Suresh has not only consolidated the family business towards safety but also towards a stronghold status in the way the rentals prop up a revenue model which was not even funded by banks until a decade back. Today, even working capital finance is given to his company and a few other companies. Venkatesh, his second son, went on to become the producer’s son who remains always a producer’s hero - he belted many hits in his career, became a safe hero, helped deliver one-sixth of his career hits in his father’s production banner and helped create many multi-starrer movies. Venkatesh and Suresh together held the flag aloft and created the most successful film business family in South or North India. Only Yash Chopra films comes close to what Ramanaidu’s family achieves but Yash Chopra hardly made films in South.

Despite a cult status and a towering influence, Ramanaidu never shied from public service and his recognition as a TDP MLA is proof of his love for politics and achievements as the best Parliamentarian in 2003. Many swear by the support and moral strength given by Ramanaidu in their personal struggles and careers, for many Ramanaidus’ business acumen and discipline in fiscal affairs was a guide and pathfinder. Producers like VB Rajendra Prasad, Murali Mohan, Achi Reddy, KS Rama Rao, MS Raju, Dil Raju and now Bandla Ganesh sought his advice on making successful films and staying solvent - many listened but few benefited from Naidu’s sage counsel. But despite the many highs of Ramanaidu’s career and filmography, if one must objectively assess the man’s impact on Indian Cinema, there are few facets that glare out. By treating film business as much like any other business of trading/speculation/profiteering etc, Ramanaidu has been an exemplar of seeking risk-adjusted returns. So, we find that except for a few at the initial phase, mid-phase and some in the last decade of 90s, most of his films were forgettable hits which didn’t have the class appeal of some of the other producers and makers who made fewer than one tenth of the films that Ramanaidu made - like Murari, Krishnamraju, Krishna Reddy, Aswini Dutt, ANR, NTR, Bapu-Ramana, Edida Nageswara Rao, etc.). His films had the most formulaic content and represented a hackneyed mishmash of the hollowest content which also had the stigma of obscenity, truth be told. Except in occasional films when a classy actor like Kamal Hassan starred in “Indrudu Chandrudu” or a Suresh Krishna directed “Prema”, Naidu’s films after ANR and NTR era were lackadaisical and hardly classics. Loud dialogues, crazy stunts, socialistic and anachronistic themes and puerile songs with belly-dancing and hip-shaking item songs were the mainstay of his films - until son Suresh and Venkatesh changed most of that since they took centrestage. The films he re-made in Hindi with Jitendra, Rajesh Khanna and Anil Kapoor and even those with Venkatesh were intensely feudal and mascochist which merely perpetuated the male chauvinist appeal of the audiences. Towards the last decade, he virtually moved out of production scene and tried to salvage the catalogue value with arty films and message-oriented films. The last good film from his involvement was “Madhumaasam”. 

Despite the flaws which are natural in any film personality’s colossal career, Ramanaidu is a life that will be revered and respected as long as indian Cinema stands. The man gave us a volume of output that will remain forever unsurpassed; he made films as a career and as a business more lucrative than any other film-maker. He had a well-lived life, long enough to deeply impact Telugu film industry as it stands in Hyderabad today with wings spread strategically to wherever it can next re-locate or consolidate itself. Yes, there are regrets too - that he never bought more land than the sprawling acreage of Ramanaidu Studios where you get the best vantage view of the city, that he never directed a film, that he never made a multi-starrer with Rajinikanth and Kamal Hassan, that he never got a superstar after Chiranjeevi to act, that he couldn’t make a remake of “Ramudu Bheemudu” with NTR Jr. The list may go on like a litany but the legacy he left is richer than what the unfinished business could have achieved. Respect, for Dr.Ramanaidu always. R.I.P

#Ramanaidu #SureshProductions #DRamanaidu #DrRamanaidu #Tollywood #FilmIndustry #Bollywood #Indianfilmindustry #MovieReviews

Vinod Mehta - Always had a Bone to pick with.

At 72, The Lucknow Boy, Vinod Mehta, is no more. Can’t believe this larconic editor will not write again. I am sure a lot of us have reverence for his irreverence. I am not the one who will not break the rule of irreverence on his obituary because even Vinod Mehta may not like a panegyric in his memorium. If thou shalt not talk ill of the dead after they’re gone, thou shalt never get another opportunity. What is the legacy of this memorable editor to Indian Journalism?

To begin with, he spotted trends and swung to wherever momentum lie - whether it was the Congress-I for the most part, clinging to the Red Sari for as long as he could, later turning the javelins at BJP and paying left-handed compliments to them. Then endorsing AAP. He had his political leanings but never suppressed ideologies that questioned the ruling establishments. So he broke many taboos on whistle-blowing the mighty, taking on pan-Americana, backed the most candid surveys on sex that India has never done before (not even during the days of The Illustrated Weekly), explored the schisms and the patios separating and joining the business and polity. 

He had his muses, mostly women, thankfully. And he backed them  - Saba Naqvi, Neerja Choudhary, N Mahalaxmi, Shobhaa De and Arundhati Roy, considered the apple of his eye, churning out mammoth cover stories in Outlook Magazine on themes which had the most diabological feedback. Quite poetic, the most-loved and hated Indian Editor of recent times passed away on the day feminism is celebrated world-wide.

The publications he started, abandoned and got thrown out are all some of the greatest experiments in Indian English journalism. Debonair used to titiliate males before imports from America downed the market. Pioneer became a fierce voice in daily newspapers for as long as he served as editor. Sunday Observer became the most-awaited weekend newspaper for  even lovers of good prose flung far out of Mumbai and Delhi. Then came the paper that created a great tradition of pointy and pithy journalism - The Independent, modelled on the lines of the famous British newspaper - it had epic articles and opinions (many of them still preserved by me) elegantly laid out on Surf Excel white paper. The paper’s death in the 90s became a much talked about chapter for students of Indian journalism. One of my closest friends who inspired me to write - Marcellus D Souza used to write for this paper. It was later that Outlook India was born. Even before Vinod took over the reins of the magazine and instilled his core team, epitaphs were written about his “short” tenure - people rubbished that this pesky and idiosyncratic editor will desert the Rahejas soon like other publications and vanish to his villa with his whiskey. The ask was also tough because Vinod Mehta and the publisher Raheja were taking on the No.1 weekly of the times -India Today and the formidable Aroon Purie. But Vinod Mehta played to his strengths in dishing out fearless, sensational and panoramic cover stories and articles giving a distinct flavour and taste of the finest writing to the Indian urban readers. Some of the world’s greatest living writers from Naipaul and Rushdie to Garcia and Gawande, from Ruskin Bond to Khushwant Singh were writing routine short stories, memoirs and opinions for the magazine. The success of Outlook changed the condescension of Aroon Purie forever and humbled his fledging print empire at New Delhi. For the next ten or fifteen years, Outlook India became the new new thing that was avidly read, collected and preserved - even if readers not always agreed with its choices of reading material. The centrepiece of the magazine is the most widely read reader’s mail acerbically aimed at the Editor - who took everything with characeristic poise and disdain, even celebration that readers were calling him so many names. Though the comments were edited, the original diatribes with the most vitriolic, vandalist vocabulary ever written were most eagerly read. You need a different gall to take comments like that on your chin - and Vinod Mehta was a master at it.

The success of Outlook made him take so many sister publications - Outlook Money (which absorbed “The Intelligent Investor” publication into itself), Outlook Business, Outlook Profit (now defunct) and Indian editions of popular foreign magazines like “MarieClaire” and “People”). Outlook Money, despite fall in standards is the superstar of personal finance magazines beating the pulp out of “Moneylife”, “MoneyToday” and “DalalStreet Journal”. What it has achieved is an unprecedented jump in financial literacy of millions of men and women in India used to administered savings rates on one side and snake-oil selling commission agents on the other side wayfaring them into dangerous territories of risk. Many of the scribes on Outlook Money have gone to set up desks in ET and other Personal Finance websites. 

Then the many books Vinod Mehta wrote that stood the test of time - the most damning and revealing account of Sanjay Gandhi called ‘The Sanjay Story” and his own memoirs called “The Lucknow Boy” and more recently a collection of his reminiscences called “Editor Unplugged”. Vinod Mehta writes without apology or a missing apostrophe - his writing is so squeaky clean, racy, witty, crisp and refreshing. He mastered the art of story-telling, knew how to give every devil his due. His writings were read by all the Prime Ministers because it was irreverent yet professional prose. At the same time, his writing informs, entertains and regales us with the rarest of candour. We never know who really influenced his style of writing- is it Malcom Muggeridge or Henry Luce but whoever set his writing up, the literary trails left by Vinod Mehta will stand forever. Yes, he strode like a colossus in journalism and also plundered the riches that came with writing that got greased by the high and mighty. He had his loves, his loose ends and his moral strands plucked and tugged at will by the powers but he never bored us. He may have betrayed at times with his brand of journalism but he dared to do something different each time he manned a publication. And he opened the door for so many creatives in penmanship to flourish, without fear but lot of favour. We will miss Vinod Mehta as surely as the greats in Indian Journalism. For students and practitioners of it, his loss is irreparable. Can we bury his dogs with him so he can be as playful as ever?

#VinodMehta #OutlookMagazine #IndianJournalism #OutlookMoney #Pioneer #Independent #Debonair #VinodMehtabooks #LucknowBoy #EditorUnplugged

"Anekudu" (Telugu)/"Anegan"(Tamil) Film Review

This looks like the season of paper-tiger Tamil flicks dubbed into Telugu which are misfiring  - either under the weight of their own expectations or faulty execution. It happened with “Linga”, “I” and now it is the turn of “Anegan”, sorry, “Anekudu” starring Dhanush. The title itself sounded too highfalutin for even Telugu language and drove eyeballs. But in the Inox screen number four we went to, there were twenty people in all including the eight of us. We thought more would troop in as it was a long weekend. That never happened. The censor certificate put the length of the film as 159 minutes enough to doze you off when the show starts at 10 pm. 

KV Anand, the ace cinematographer directed this film starring Dhanush, Amyra Dastur, Karthik (remember “Gharshana” and “Mounaragam”) and Ashish Vidyarthi. Anand is hailed as one of the trailblazers in Kollywood after films like “Koh” and “Maatraan”(“Rangam and “Brothers” respectively in Telugu). He packs a lot into his films - eye-popping visuals, stunning climax, characters oozing out intelligence of the highest order, super speciality effects, melodious music by Harris Jayaraj and an undercurrent of a theme seldom highlighted in the media. Of course, his first film “Rangam” (“Ko” in Tamil) is still talked about as one of the best films in the last five years to hit South screens. “Anekudu” takes a familiar story but gives an unusual twist in the undercurrent to the main plot of a romantic pair - Dhanush and Amyra. Both of them are born and re-born again and again, first in Myanmar (Burma), then in Tamil Nadu and then again in Vizag and finally in one of the modern metropolises in India - call it Chennai or Hyderabad, who cares? Each time before the current avatar, Dhanush and Amyra get separated by death due to somebody’s villainy. Finding it out is the mission of current Dhanush and Amyra in the movie. Is it Ashish Vidyarthi? Is it Karthik? Or is it the lady who loved Dhanush in Burma? This is the story without tadka. Add to this, the jazz of lavish landscapes from Burma, Pallavas and the mass moods kicked up by Dhanush and flashbacks to the past lives through regression theraphy of a cleverly planted hypnotist, the story is talking masala sense. What is the sci-fi twist that KV Anand can add here? It is the villainy of a head-honcho at an IT gaming company who wants to count billions of dollars by making his employees hallucinate over past lives, imagine demons that can get a spectacular finish to the games they conjure up and finally ruin them with memes that maim the mind. One girl even feels she has to escape a demon molesting her and so she jumps off the high floor and commits suicide. 

The end comes agonisingly after many births and re-births of the hero, the heroine and the villains who keep re-surface. The dateline of the last story is about 25 years back - when Doordarshan ruled the airwaves and mobiles were yet to appear but the consistency checks were missing by an over-careful director. How come the girl only remembers her past lives as well as the characters she loves or hates but nobody else recalls any connection with her. The opening sequence, set in Burma, for example, shows the recent turmoil of the Military Juntas taking over Myanmar but oust only the Indians - was that really the case? Then the police cop’s role lacks depth and characterisation - even after the film, you don’t know if he was supporting the hero or the villain. Ditto for the lady who betrays Dhanush as the estranged lover, after first agreeing to protect him and his lover in a chase of their life on a steamship about to leave the shore of Burma. These inconsistencies mar the impressions you gather even if the overall effect is mixed. KV Anand’s efforts have always been this way - too many shades of grey and too many subtexts to interpret for each character except the lead pair. And a glaring irony in his story-telling. Is re-incarnation for real? Good, then why all the manipulation by the villain in the name of spurring his team to get hyper-creative? If the hallucinations are for real via regression theraphy, where is the need to show so many cycles of births? Yes, there are gripping sequences of action and revenge and mesmerising visuals on the life in Myanmar which actually houses a lot of Telugu immigrants but lack of clarity and consistency once again takes a toll on KV Anand’s biopic. On most other fronts, he scores high - flawless screenplay, effortless narration, gripping action, intelligence dripping in every frame untypical of commercial cinema. 

Dhanush’s performance sizzles again. He is better as the Vizag underbelly and as the chivalrous male in an IT company. Karthik looks fighting fit as a business leader, but his swagger is sometimes too much to digest, he needs to rough up more to become a baddy than use MC English for style. He has no need for props as decades after those memorable hits in the 80s, his screen presence is arresting enough. Amyra Dastur gets a range of costumes to show her lissome body and lovely face - she can be the next Amy Jackson to burn the screen. Harris Jayaraj’s music is the real treat in the film. All the songs set in varying tempos are well-shot and picturised thanks to KV Anand’s flair for panoramic scenery. Burma is my next destination and yours too, if you glimpse the first twenty minutes of the film - the rest is routine crime thriller jazzed up with theories of Karma. Must add that the title credits show Harris Jayaraj’s music effort with a spectacular fifty-plus member orchestra, manning music arrangements in Bazooka, Harmonies, Violin and Mandolin- he seems to have aced up for this movie and his soundtracks look particularly fetching for lovers of the Russo-Oriental music. Cheers to Harris Jayaraj, one of the most under-appreciated composers in Telugu and Tamil films. On the whole, the film is watchable once for the visuals and action scenes, some of them picked from “Titanic”. Despite flaws, movie-makers like KV Anand are needed to break the mould of formula fare in commercial cinema.

Rating: 2.75/5

#MovieReviews #Anekudu #Dhanush #KVAnand #AmyraDastur #Karthik #HarrisJayaraj #Tollywood #Tamilfilms #Anegan #Kollywood

Union Budget - An Analysis of Pros and Cons

The highlight of the Budget 2015 is not the presentation itself by a Finance Minister who raised sky-high expectations. They may have been barely met as it always happens with most budgets - all stakeholders are seldom happy. The main thing that moved the needle in the budget has been that the NDA government tried to keep distractions to the minimum, kept the flames of hopes around big-bang reforms alive by building around the framework of fiscal policy while engaging on issues of unprecedented international interest - Agriculture, Subsidies and welfare for the poor, Income inequalities, Infrastructure development, and the Make-in-India theme. In that sense, the budget has certainly delivered - in setting the path of economic development in the direction of the right intent. But in dealing with the expectations from the market and the industry and the way it delivered in print, this year’s budget takes a leaf out of what the previous governments usually did over the last decade - keep it skinned to the bone, keep it light and keep minimum jazz in the budget - let the rest build outside the budget. That has been the credo of many Congress budgets and this year  is no exception. It is only the media, the journalists and the public at large who await the budget more than their own appraisal results and then, when the budget doesn’t deliver, raise holy hell on the outcome. 

The markets are the easiest ones to lick here. Thankfully, the bond markets and forex markets have taken their weekend break but the bazaar didn’t sleep and agonised over the outcome of the budget over the last few weeks - crept up within hours of the budget and then collapsed, then the shorts entered the market as the indices gyrated to the mezzanine interpretations of the semi-literate and the uneducated idiots on the Television who don’t understand the canons of taxation (which is why cigarettes, aereated drinks and drinking water got taxed more) from the canards of inflation and disinflation (Black money curbs are less inflationary than the creation of black money itself), or the contours of fiscal policy (did someone tell you that India has always been pro-cyclical in fiscal policy in the last ten yeas, so if you couldn’t raise excise duties last year it is because growth came to a grinding halt last year and if you had to raise excise duties this year, it is because indirect taxes have dwindled to single digits stupid, so if you don’t raise now, you will never be able to raise again from a lower base of Tax-to-GDP ratio and if you raised it now, you can bet on an economy to rebound which bolsters up taxes) or that fiscal responsibility can be a platitude  even if you adhere to fiscal deficit targets on paper so it is okay to have a lower target than a pious threshold of 3.6 per cent which is what the markets expected BJP government to accept but the MoF accepts 3.9 per cent of the GDP for the next year while keeping it at 4.1 per cent for the rest of this fiscal. In the end, however, Sensex finished higher and hopefully, more pundits will grasp the subtle nuances of the budget in the days to come and move on. Markets have seldom got it right on budget day - anyways, does it ever dawn to you that for the last several decades, ITC as a share is the best short on a budget day because tobacco bears the brunt of the indirect tax hikes and yet despite zombie adverts and gross warnings, smokers don’t give up. ITC after today’s carnage would have been the best buy of the season, but I am digressing here (and I don’t own ITC shares may I also disclaim but ITC after yesterday's fall would have been a perfect long to get back into).

The budget needs to be seen from the context of expectations and the efforts to move forward in many ways towards a better and resurgent India. Yes, it may have made TVs cheaper and non-economy fares costlier, it may have made cars and carbonated drinks costlier and the mobile phones and Yoga therapy sessions cheaper but understand the broad direction and the fact that fiscal policy framework is intact - the rest if it hasn’t come your way must be on its way.

1. Has it got any serious negatives? Not many, yes the taxes have to go up when India has a huge consumption base and Tax-to-GDP ratio is the best indicator of the same. Last year, they envisaged 10.8% Tax-To-GDP ratio which is hardly achieved because of tax buoyancy going down due to stalled growth and high inflation. So they raised indirect taxes, bulk of them on items which are bound to be price-inelastic (i.e., the buyer doesn’t stop buying at higher prices) like cinema, coke and cigarettes. Service tax has been raised from 12 per cent plus to 14 per cent but this subsumes the education cess earlier incurred with an irritation to use calculator. The logic is simple, India is 65 per cent Services economy in terms of contribution to GDP - so a higher service tax is a small price to get back tax buoyancy and in most cases, service tax is passed on to the consumer of service. If a service is competitive, the tax gets loaded to the consumer, if not, it gets bested - thats the difference between a service and a product. Similarly, increasing duties on cars etc. is good news because it will encourage foreign players to consider setting up ‘make in India’ plants to compete with domestic car players. Of course, the car prices have been depressed for a while and a surge in car sales will happen when the crude oil prices are plummeting. The good part of the budget, to summarise on this point, is that there are no serious negatives - General Tax Avoidance Rule  (GAAR) is deferred for another two years; exemptions on Long-Term Capital Gains in equity continue, disparity between tenure of bonds versus Debt Mutual Funds for the purpose of Long-Term Capital Gains remains giving incentives for investors to migrate to taxable and tax-free bonds in the secondary market and no further cesses except on diesel and petrol are considered. In many other areas, there is status quo - which is good news because it shows the commitment to business continuity and stability of policy framework.
2. Does it help the poor, promote growth, revive agriculture and infrastructure and help in generation of jobs? Yes, in many ways despite what the likes of Malayalam and Manish Tiwari talk about. The budget already made its intentions to build world-class low-cost homes in all slums in the urban regions which will involve corporates, now it plans to rationalise the benefits of contractual savings like pensions and insurance with linkages to more organised ways of defined contribution schemes with linkages to Health Insurance (Rs.12 premium per annum to get Rs.2 lacs Accidental Death Benefit Insurance) and National Pension Scheme. National Pension Scheme is counting upwards of Rs.73000 crores and getting low-income workers into the ambit of EPF and NPS is going to create efficiencies of scale and access to the best products in the long run. The tax offset upto Rs.4,44,520 of income is a booster to those who earn incomes of under Rs.40k per month. Yes, the middle-class hasn’t got a good deal in the incentives for savings but still access to higher medical insurance is a good initiative to fortify ourselves against unforeseen medical emergencies. Of course, we are disappointed that a fresh approach to looking at building nest eggs for the middle-classes could have been better. There are measures to ensure players to “make in India” with sops linked to investments and capex and there are measures that help set up start-ups, and encourage corporate investments etc. Of course, the corporate income tax reduction from the next financial year will also help in generating capex and employment opportunities for the poor. But there is a catch - the Bankruptcy laws are going to benefit entrepreneurs adopting an American model of capitalism - of hire and fire and re-surface after folding up. While we don’t know the progress of the various small corpus funds of Rs.50 crores set up in last year’s interim budget, this year the focus is better in infrastructure, disinvestment (which has never been part of the budget and anyways happening with a velocity of its own) and agriculture to foster growth and development. Subsidies are now going to be linked in the Aadhar, Jan Dhan and Mobile connection triangle created - which seeks to curb leakages. 17 crore number of such accounts gives a great base to start implementing cash-less direct transfers. The attempt to reinvigorate MNREGA, build a lakh of kilometres in roads etc. augur well for creation of jobs. Initiatives like Mudra Bank and the measures on Infra and agriculture might create positive impact. On the solar and renewables space, the government may do more outside the budget than just making a token mention - because there is focus on not only mega projects but also in encouraging foreign players like China and Japan and US. For example, when a leading company approached the Power Ministry to levy anti-dumping duty on the Chinese, it is reported that the concerned Minister remarked to the owner, “We want 100 times of your capacity, so we want the Chinese to dump their panels in Solar so that the prices will come down in the long run while building world-class capacities.” Thats the approach of BJP government in creating pro-business, pro-big-scale in projects. Hopefully, the budget will clear the decks for more installed power in all sources of energy. The recent tie-up between Dilip Shangvi and Suzlon Energy is another example how the BJP is collapsing friends to create giant scales to compete in the world and also to make India Infrastructure-heavy like China.
3. Does it curb inequality and Black Money? On intent, it does but a lot depends on how BJP will crater up the political establishment to move towards Black Money curbs. A new bill may buy more time before the obvious actions like incentivisation of cards for transactions. Both require political will which is not very evident of late in BJP. But on inequality, Chidambaram was wrong in his assessment of the budget. Jaitley fired a salvo which may be the first of sorts amongst G20 countries to impose surcharge for ultra-rich and the high-income earners. This is the Thomas Picketty style of copybook measure which won’t pinch the rich too much. One more complex Act  - Wealth Tax Act - goes, which reminds us of the fate of those in the past like the Estate Duty and so on. The fact that Wealth Tax Administration collected Rs.1080 crores last year vis-a-vis Rs.9000 crores expected to be netted from the surcharge shows why Wealth Tax failed.  Isn’t this a step in direction of removing inequalities? The BJP unlike the Congress never shies away from taking measures to simplify laws and junk vestiges of colonialism, inaction or canons of Adam Smith that the Western World is trying to shake off. Take the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Memorandum Bill (FRBM). We heard the outcry for BJP’s minor slip in fiscal deficit to 3.9 per cent as against the 3.6 per cent of GDP.  How can you keep the fiscal deficit at constant levels when the business and economic cycles change and move away from growth to stagnation? One of the commonly pointed out lacunae in the FRBM, 2003,  amended in 2012 is that the deficit could not expand in bad times and the government did not have to generate a surplus in good times. If only the government can undertake fiscal expansion during bad times, NDA government will find it easier today to show higher growth measures and hence slip on the deficit higher, now the leeway as per the Act is just 0.3 per cent per year which is already frowned upon by the critics and the opposition. The government still has to borrow unto Rs.375000 crores in the market putting a slightly upward pressure on the interest rates. But the budget set the tone aggressively stating they will re-look at both the FRBM and the Monetary Policy framework of the RBI  - giving a tough message to  Raghuram Rajan to cut rates soon. 
4. Does it have big-bang reforms and attention to detail? To the cynic, they don’t seem evident. But look at examples in the budget which are hidden in clauses not so salient. Like the collapsing of the FDI and Foreign Portfolio Investments, creating an easy trajectory for capital flows to seek quality assets in India. Or, the Gold Monetisation Scheme with its four variants - it can be a game-changer in the long run with an estimated one trillion dollars of gold reserves unofficially held by Indians in their bank lockers and sofa foams. It is time to get the gold out of the closet and recycle it to generate employment and business opportunities. Last year, savings in physical assets like gold and silver were 11 per cent of GDP outweighed 7.3 per cent in financial assets by households. Gold and other valuables slipped from 17 per cent levels but the drift has always been to hoard gold. The scheme will “monetise” our gold for productive uses by giving an option to earn 2 per cent interest on gold deposited in a Metal Account. Suddenly, from TTD to Trivandrum, temples and hoarders of gold may put a beeline to deposit more gold lying under the custody of snakes and officers. Another measure, the move to merge FMC and SEBI as one regulator - giving a filip to the country’s fortunes in becoming a formidable player in capital markets and commodities markets since India produces and exports many of the leading commodities traded on exchanges from Chicago to London. It was on the cards but timing in the budget allows the regulator like SEBI to become stronger. Yet another measure is to deepen bond markets by amending the relevant sections of RBI Act, this year more money has been poured in by the FIIs into the Bond Markets than the stock markets -and the drift makes it clear for investors to move into Corporate Bond market. Another instance of attention to detail: arming the NBFCs (Non-banking finance companies) to seek the refuge of Sarfesi Act in recovering the loan defaulters. This will go a long way in strengthening the financial system because NBFCs comprise 9 per cent of bank deposits and have a sizeable loan book, this measure will bring further efficiency and accountability to the erring defaulters. Measures like these demonstrate the budget looked at issues of pending action. Another big-bang announcement is two-pronged: One, that the the much-awaited Goods Service Tax (GST) is going to be ushered in from 1st April, 2016. And two, as a precursor to that, the budget re-iteraed that the States will now get an unprecedented 42 per cent of the share of taxes - getting the states to the right side of the Central Government is a key to implementing GST. And the budget needs a high five on that.
5. Will FIIs like the Budget? Will they put more money in the market? Hard to say, but the FIIs want in summary, macroeconomic stability, fiscal discipline, growth in the economy (now projected at 8-8.5 per cent) and ease of doing business in India (things like relocation of fund management in India not inviting taxes will be liked by them). Both Debt and Equity and now, even Alternative Investments like private equity and real estate seem to be entering a zone of sweet spot in the months to come. Moody’s has already given us retained rating. If the oil prices firm up at these levels (the FM's calculations of the fiscal deficit peg the oil at $70 levels) and stay there for some time, the Budget and its initial fizz will soon be forgotten by the pundits and populace - and India will be back to business mode if BJP works at de-bottlenecking the rest. As long as the government works towards improving the life of the common man in providing better health care, education, and means of livelihood - it has many ways of doing this by enlisting the help of corporates, unleashing the supply-side economics that expands the size of the economy and in the process push the infrastructure in key focus, then growth will always happen. For that the Budget is but a small step - but not the only step. In that sense, this budget is one of the better budgets to come in recent years - it has a great alignment of intent, clarity and the blueprint to make India achieve its economic potential. There maybe misses here and there, but they are not rectifiable in the medium term. What I also appreciate is that for the first time, the FM has acted on many suggestions given in the Economic Survey a few days before the budget. This rarely happens and must be lauded thanks to Arvind Subramanian.

If all the stakeholders of the economy - households, industry and business, consumers, savers and investors understand the cross-implications of the actions proposed in a budget with a 360 degree view and an understanding of how economics work, the future will be better for all of us - and politicians won’t succeed in rabble-rousing us from seeing the reality and the work-at-hand.

Disclaimer: The views are personal and no way reflect the views of the organisation the author works for.

#UnionBudget #Budget2015 #FMJaitley #Budget #IndianBudget #ArvindSubramanian #Rajan #ArunJaitley 

"Temper" (Telugu Film Review)

NTR Jr. has been on a leather hunt for a long time. Like many top heroes, he has been waiting for blockbuster by flipping movies with hit-directors. With "Temper", NTR Jr. and his fans will finally heave a sigh of relief. No, it is not a blockbuster but it is one of the above-average films for the talented actor which will lift his fortunes. In little over two hours, director Puri Jagannadh scripts a story that revolves solely around NTR Jr. as a police SI with shades of grey. That's not new as "Pataas" also has a similar treatment. The difference between "Pataas" and "Temper" is in the degree of seriousness that Puri builds into the plot in the second half - taking NTR Jr.'s performance to an inspiring level - not seen since the times of "Raakhi" or "Simhadri". 

At a conceptual level, Puri Jagannadh is skilful in weaving screenplays out of wafer-thin, almost non-existent storylines. Most of his films are just an emotional roller-coaster ride giving the audiences entertaining bits of heroism, villainy, romance, comedy and tears. He writes dialogues, screenplay and directs the crew with punctuation points at opening, interval, pre-climax and climax scenes with an approach that seems to cover all elements of box-office success. He gets under the skin of the mass elements but mixes some class elements as well to create maximum impact. In "Temper", the film grammar he is known for hasn't changed but he has definitely mellowed down in lumping some of the cheap thrills and objectifications of women he is known to portray. He succeeds mostly in giving an engaging account of a police cop who is transformed from a "crony criminalist"  into an upright officer who polishes off the villains when the 'right cause' gets triggered thanks to girl friend Kajol Agarwal. 

The film's main objective seems entertainment but on tight leash and hence subservient to highlighting NTR in a career-redefining performance. So, Puri Jagannadh uses flashback technique and uses a reel-by-reel approach to elevating the character of NTR. He uses a side flunkie Posani Krishna Murali as a standout witness to NTR's journey from flippancy to greatness - like an audience's perception of how a hero is reborn. Posani's performance is one of the highlights of the film; he mostly gives a stare but when he speaks it impacts the audience about bonding with our feelings for the hero that change reel after reel. But for that, there are lot of forgettable scenes which are a big bore - like the scenes of romance with Kajol, the doggie scenes and the brothel scenes with Vennela Kishore. If they cut them out, overall weight of the movie might go up in terms of seriousness. Ali, who gets star treatment in Puri's movies gets a forgettable role; just a token presence. Prakash Raj gets a full-length role as a comic villain who wears half-pants and T-shirts all the time; his role gives a deja vu feeling but evokes good laughs here and there. 

What thrills the audience is the refreshing accent, body language and the characterisation of NTR. Instead of using multiple accents as Mahesh Babu did in "Aagadu", NTR  uses a consistent, high-decibel, short-'temper'ered tone that shows the volcanic anger of a policeman torn between morality and selfishness. His delivery of dialogues elevates his performance to a new high that could see repeat audience - because of the subtlety and novelty. By leaving out all the distractions that usually hamper receptivity to the acting prowess of NTR, Puri ensured this time NTR shines well taking the film entirely on his shoulders without the razzmatazz of star comedians and villains. Because of Puri's panache for restricting dialogues to preciseness, NTR never gives you a feeling of over-acting though occasional theatrical flourishes spring up in the run-ins between Prakash Raj and NTR. NTR couldn't have hoped for a better time than this film when the Nandamuri family is on a purple patch with hits like "Pataas". NTR's performance in the climax is altogether new and different than the fare before. Even if he hadn't shown his 6.5 pack (something extra) in a song, the fans wouldn't have minded. His dances were good but not different from previous films.

What pulls down the rating for an other-wise good film is music by Anup Rubens' music. It lacks melody and memorability - Puri's tastes in fine music have always been arbitrary and this film is no different in wasting an in-form music composer with a dud score. Mani Sharma gives an adept BGM score that compensates for Anup Ruben's unimpressive deck of songs. Puri also disappoints in the liberties and logic flaws taken in his approach. Like packing off dogs to Korea and shipping them back to India in 24 hours. Also, except in the last scene, NTR Jr. who is an SI never wears uniform, and uses a police jeep thats a cross between a Frontrunner and a Land Rover. The police station looks the same as that used in "Aagadu" and one never sees cops superior to NTR Jr. Wonder why nobody checks NTR's juggernaut of immoral antics until his own conscience pricks him. Next, under no circumstances does the court announce a capital punishment to gang-rape criminals within 24 hours of convicting the criminals. Puri hasn't really done a contempt of court but proves again his poor knowledge of justice system. In the climactic scene, NTR loses proof of evidence that will nail the culprits but couldn't Puri have the imagination to make NTR ask for an extra copy of the CD which may have been with the victim's sister? And when is TV5 getting aired in North America where the victim's sister is watching the proceedings? Puri also forgets that proceedings like hanging of criminals is not reported on an hourly basis. In dragging the scene in climax similar to Chiranjeevi's "Abhilasha" (where Rallapalli rolls on the floor crying hoarse "Aaapaaandeeeeeeeee..." to stop a hanging) Puri takes too many illogical cinematic liberties. Puri is known to skirt logic to prove his points but nevertheless makes an impactful, powerful film with an underlying message.The frailities take away some points but except for few lags, the film is eminently watchable for NTR Jr's tour de force performance.

Rating: 3.25/5

#Temper #NTRJr #NTR #Tollywood #MovieReviews #PuriJagannadh #TemperMovie 

What AAP Victory Means for BJP

My father had voted in every election since Nehru's last election circa 1960. He says,"Never be more patriotic than the king. Because if you are, what if the king is wrong, or bad, or corrupt, or arrogant, or dies? You will become a laughing stock." That shaped my political convictions. I have never believed in blind worship of political parties, only go with the flow or the momentum of how the performance and pros and cons stack up. 

Friends who side with BJP or Congress should realise that the pendulum of momentum keeps swinging from left to right all the time. You err once, it builds momentum the wrong way and before you realise, the ground beneath will appear shaky. I have always been predicting that because of the advent of social media and multiple ways in which opinions get built up and mobilise people's anger and frustration, successive governments after UPA won't get such luxury of ten years. BJP's own success in May elections last year was a result of a number of factors including the groundswell of middle-classes and unemployed youth against UPA government. 

In eight months, they have yet to deliver on most counts and instead of using the political capital in the honeymoon period, they went about concentrating more and more power. Instead of collaborating democratically with a non-existent opposition which has put up a weak consensus against Modinomics, they have taken the same steps they accused Cong-I of - taking the Ordinance Raj, etc. They have turned a nelson's eye to the prime accused in Sarada scam, Jagan's case, Vadhra's dealings, Sonia's corruption, swiss bank accounts, pending infra projects, reforms in corruption, etc. They promised so many sops in Andhra Pradesh where they now share power with TDP  - all of them forgotten. Which is why, the anger of the voters can be clearly seen. 62 seats out of 70 reflects the voter's mood and give whatever excuses you want - Delhi is urbana, Delhi is not Lok Sabha, Issues were different - it's a mighty slap on the face of BJP and Modi to start taking their Manifesto promises seriously. Look at the decimation of Cong-I. But BJP is not in the same league as Cong-I - they still have the mandate and the mass  momentum going for them at national level. They should take in humility lessons that the electorate has given in Delhi. Or else, the middle-class anger against corruption and crony capitalism as reflected in Delhi will grow to a national level as it showed up as a bud in Lok Sabha elections last time. Clearly, I am not writing off either Cong-I either (it will re-surface in new avatars) but AAP better dirty hands and work for their promises since now they can't complain after such massive mandate. 

BJP will face lot of headwinds and the Budget will be the single metric that will salvage some of their lost ground - as middle-classes and businesses looking at growth returning to Indian economy await hopefully. Modi will have to reboot itself better to gain acceptability as a man of actions not just as a man of eloquence. On the federal front and at the national level, AAP is the new Normal which can align lot of non--BJP forces together for some time before momentum and political capital gets dissipated. That also depends on how AAP conducts itself in the legislature. But I still can't forget what I wrote about them an year back - making token entry in the assembly like those three elected MLAs in the last scene of "Yuva". Will they grow nationwide? We have to wait and see. Congratulations and Celebrations for now! 

As far as the BJP is concerned, no big quake yet. Because Delhi Rajya Sabha elections are done with in 2012 (Delhi has 3 Rajya Sabha seats), the next election due in 2018. By virtue of their present tally, BJP is likely to gain control of Rajya Sabha only by end of 2016 with the allies and on its own by 2018. (2015 will see election for only 10 Rajya Sabha seats, 2016 - 75 seats which include 21 seats of the states where BJP+Allies are ruling the states. Add another 5 nominated seats, which normally go to the ruling party. 2017 - elections in 10 RS seats and 2018 - 68 RS seats will see elections. Hence, BJP+allies is likely to get majority in 2016 and on its own in 2018.  Based on the current tally of BJP in the state assemblies of these states, BJP can win about 38 seats.  Last year (2018-2019) of ruling by the BJP in the present regime would witness passage of all pending reform measures in the Parliament. They should just take some of the big-bang promises and deliver them religiously or else, AAP can hijack a lot of political capital in the coming years. BJP has still hope but only if it listens. Wake up and smell the coffee Modi Saab. Mann ki Baat chodo, Kaam ki Baat karo!

#BJP #LessonsforBJP #AAP #DelhiElections