When the World Raised a Toast to "Bahubali" - part 1 and part 2

My analysis on the phenomenal success of Bahubali movie:

http://www.telugu360.com/when-world-raised-a-toast-to-bahubali-part-1/

http://www.telugu360.com/when-the-world-raised-a-toast-to-baahubali-part-2/

Piracey - Only for Big Movies?

My article on Piracy threat that is only remembered during the launch of big budget films:

http://www.telugu360.com/is-piracy-threat-only-for-big-movies/

Housing.Com: The story of the CEO

My article on the Housing.Com CEO's ouster:

http://www.telugu360.com/housing-com-bubble-waiting-burst/

"Bahubali" (Telugu Movie Review)

My Review of "Bahubali" (Telugu) can be accessed in the following link:

http://www.telugu360.com/bahubali-review-modern-visual-extravaganza-of-an-old-tale/

"Scion of Ikshvaku" (A Book Review)

It is not easy to fictionalise Ramayana. Not that there are not enough versions or variations  already. The same Valmiki Ramayana has been represented in different tones by the writers in South India. So, Amish Tripathi’s fictionalised novel on Ramayana raised sky-high expectations. Here is an author who put mythology on steroids in the Shiva trilogy and became one of the biggest  sensations in the history of Indian Books publishing. Difficult to believe how every major publisher rejected his first book “The Immortals of Meluha” before Westland took the plunge. The Shiva series has since sold over 2.5 million copies. Naturally, the publisher and the author went for an unprecedented print run of 6.5 lakh copies - this beats the record of Chetan Bhagat who’s last book “Half a Girl Friend” had a print run of 4-5 lakh copies. To stoke demand for the new series on Ram Chandra, a cryptic announcement was made by the author at Jaipur Literary Festival this year and a month later, the publishers announced the launch date of the first book in the new series as June 22nd. Amish Tripathi mentions the series on Ram may have five books overall. 

How Good is the book? Amish makes a decent attempt at pumping up adrenalin through the otherwise sober character of Lord Ram but the output falls short on expectations and misses major opportunities to build up muscular narrative and tension typical of Amish. The story opens with Ram and Lakshman’s hunt for the elusive deer that ensnared Sita in the forest of Chitrakoot and then flashbacks the part of Ramayana that begins with Ram’s birth and ends with Swayamvar. Of course, the flashback ends at the moment when Ram and Lakshman find a wounded Jatayu signalling the chopper  carrying off Sita to Lanka. A pretty simple retelling, you thought. No, Amish builds a palpable drama that is part fiction and part re-imagined interpretation of the events and economic conditions of the time, circa 3400 BCE in India. Without revealing much, Amish builds an energetic pace in the first 150 pages giving a detailed overview of the kingdoms of Ayodhya, Mithila and Lanka. He gives a rich re-interpretation of what drove kingdoms to become satellites and what made satellite kingdoms depend on powerful allies, builds plot points across the first four Kandas (starting with Bala Kanda and ending with Aranya Kanda), twists many characters including Dasharath, Manthara, Kaikeyi, Bharat, Shatrughan and even Ravan but more or less keeps the principal characters of Ram, Lakshman and Sita with reverential authenticity. 

What elevates the book is the degree of detail and imagination into an era that is mostly shown as cardboard cutouts in films. What happens when arrows are shot at animals? (Someone has to bring it back and clean it and put it back in the quiver) What was Ram Rajya like? (It had as much decadent society as the present with more good men who take up justice for gang-rape victims, intact, an incident truly inspired by the Nirbhaya incident forms the nub of the narrative giving life and depth to the chivalry of the four brothers of Ram, Lakshman, Shatrughan and Bharat). What was the Gurukul atmosphere like? (Hint: It was as exciting as any modern-day school). Why did Bharat ask for Ram’s sandals when he was coronated as King of Ayodhya? (The reasons pertain to concerns for safety and security of Ram during his Vanvaas). How were missiles used and how was the forest life? (There were equivalents of Hydrogen bombs used but with rules for using on civilian targets and procedures for atonement…) What are the reasons for the conflict between Devas and Asuras? (Surprise, Devas are not all that menacing…). Why was Urmila left out of the VanVaas? (Hint: She was tricked!) On the whole, Amish attempts a realistic portrayal of an era that is seldom shown in three-dimensional depth even in mythological films in Indian Cinema.

But what is to be faulted is the liberty Amish has taken with many of the aspects of Ramayana that are burnt in our consciousness, atleast in the manner that narratives by devout poets and writers have led us to believe. In the process of building an exciting narrative, I am afraid, Amish has broken many stereotypes that Ramayana-reading folks soaked up for generations. For example, Dasharath is seen as a virulent, ambitious and arrogant king who hates Rama for causing much collateral damage from the day he was born. This is quite different from the “Gummadi” stereotype we know of, from films. Another example, Manthara is not shown as a vile woman in the book, she has depth and reasons solid enough to make Kaikeyi banish from the kingdom. Shatrughn is a voracious reader and the wikipedia of sorts for all the brothers, Bharat is a serial lover and an eternal flirt. Kaushalya, contrary to the epic, is shown as the most insecure. And Kaikeyi is shown as an eternal Rama-hater, unlike what we know of her. Stuff like this gets to your nerve while the author assiduously works on the plot and punctuates the story more ore less on the lines of the epic but keeping the three principal characters true to the original epic - Ram, Sita and Lakshman. That is the saving grace which probably saved the book from getting stuck in controversies. Overall, the book is a passable attempt at re-presenting Ramayana for the modern generation but I am not happy with the treatment of some of the characters and some of the marquee sequences - like the Swayamvar, or the marriage or the manner in which Kaikeyi gets her boons granted by King Dasaratha. 

From his own track-record, this book will be a notch down as the expectations raised were epochal but the prose despite being virulent lacked depth, variety and novelty. What Amish did well admirably is to research some of the circumstances and the characters seldom highlighted like Urmila, Shatrughn, Dhenuka (Wasn’t  he a Brahmin killed by Rama?) and weave modern-day situations like gang-rape and missile wars to concoct. As long as one gets piqued by the book to get back to the original epics, Amish deserves to be well-read but if we get alienated from the original mythology with the concocted wildness floating out of Amish’s imagination, then the book is no different from a work of fiction. There have been many who have benefited from Ramayana and the essence of Ram and Sita for generations. There have been writers after Valmiki too who continue to rev up fervour and devotion towards the magical characterisation of Ram and Sita. C Rajagopalachari’s Ramayana has sold over 1.3 million copies, RK Narayan’s Ramayana has sold several lakh copies. Devout Pattnaik’s “Sita” has also been a best-seller. There have been many film-makers like Bapu who adhered to the original characterisation, as borne down from generations. But Amish is a writer who wants to mix mythology with verve, inject a massive steroid dose and then re-enact the scenes based on today’s interpretation. That way, he can write another five tomes on Ram Chandra series and probably has enough to plunder from Indian Mythology to write for another generation writing on Ganesha, Hanuman, Krishna, Vishnu, Lakshmi, etc. But varying some of the revered plots with ploys to make them entertaining can be self-defeating, even if it is self-serving. Indian publishing is alive to a generation of writers following in the steps of Amish writing on the most popular as well as the least-mentioned characters of Indian Mythology - like “Urmila”, “Karna’s wife’, “Vishwamitra”, “Ajaya”, “Duryodhana” and so on. This is definitely welcome but writers must feel responsible to uphold the mainstay of the Indian Mythology - the values it embodies and the essence of its goodness; you can shun its stereotypes but don’t give your spin on it. The original writers won’t claim your royalties, it is you who is making a career and a royalty out of them. I am happy reading the books by Amish and others for fun but dread the situation when people stop reading the original renditions or translations by writers like Bibek Debroy and Rajagopalachari and flock to these remix versions. 

My rating: 3/5

#Amish #ScionOfIkshvaku #RamChandraSeries #IndianMythology

James Horner - The composer who revived interest in Classical Music through film scores

James Horner’s unnatural death in a plane crash has made the world of music-lovers sadder and poorer. The man has given us some of the most memorable original music scores, creating exhilarating instrumentations that blended the orchestral mastery with Afro-Celt rhythms which stood the test of time in every decade. Much, much before “Titanic”, his film scores in “Balto”, “Aliens” and “Braveheart” topped the charts. But undoubtedly, “Titanic” swelled his fame to near and far, from India to China and music-lovers poured their devotion and dollars to buy this soundtrack like never before. It is still rated the second-most-sold OST of all time. Released in 1997, “Titanic” soundtrack showcased what happens when you make John Williams pour out precise notes into the wild and imaginative soundscapes of Hans Zimmer - the soundtrack had that kind of eclectic mix - it hit the high notes of pure classical music, chorals and celtic sounds, sonorous instruments contrasted with the majestic pianos and percussions rarely used in puritan classical music. Many of the scores used in “Titanic” were re-invoked by the world’s leading Orchestras and composers and re-interpreted for years since 1997. “Back to The Titanic” was another re-introduction by the master composer himself after the stupendous success of the film’s OST. 

What differentiates James Horner from other composers is that he competes with the film director in energising the scenes that forces the director to re-think. Look at the shots of his films like “Braveheart”, “The Mask of Zorro”, “A Beautiful Mind”, “Troy” and “Avatar” and you will understand this obsession and orientation of James Horner to throw all his musical genius into the shots which heighten the director’s cut. This gives energy and impetus to the audiences making them connect better than with other composers. Hollywood’s greatest music composers of the modern era have each established their niche but James Horner is special because he listened to the director but added his own charms of re-interpreting the scene with maximum evocativeness and impact. That sets him apart as a populist composer and a clever composer who knows when to minimise classical overtures and when to highlight new repertoires of music. John Williams is hailed as the greatest music composer of our times - and he has got nominated for the Oscar atleast 45 times (the maximum number of times for any individual after Walt Disney); he has been magnificent in subjugating himself to a George Lucas or a Steven Spielberg in film scores but his box office success has been less consistent than James Horner, should you discount some of Spielberg's collaborations. James Horner rarely got nominated for the Oscars but the few times he got nominated, he went home with one and many of his films outside of “Titanic” and “Avatar” coasted home as blockbusters, perhaps insinuating that his music played a bigger role in the popularity of the film reaching the masses - “Apollo 13”, “A Beautiful Mind”, “Braveheart”, “The Mask of Zorro” etc. There were other talented composers like Michael Kamen and Hans Zimmer but the world had room for only John Williams and James Horner for the top spot. As Hollywood became more success-led, and budgets soared, and music needed neo-classical and Eurasian sensibilities, John Williams lost out to James Horner and Hans Zimmer in getting diverse subjects from gladiatorial themes to animation projects. The new directors are moving on to new music directors and selecting more directors without the baggage of an orchestra conductor or the trappings of an old-world composer, for example, Steven Prince, Trent Reznor. Many of them appear to score unconventional music with new sounds without adherence to sheet music and classical notations but the modern movie world is once again moving away from pure Western Classical music. It takes the grasp of geniuses like James Horner (or John Williams) to get the grooves back to the basics of orchestral beauty blended with vibrant instruments rather than chasing new sounds with impure range of syncretic instruments and technobeats.

With James Horner’s untimely death, an era of music composers who were passionate and committed to resplendent classical music ends. The mantle still falls on the remaining legends like John Williams (who is still a nonpareil Maestro) and folks like Hans Zimmer and Michael Kamen. But James Horner was a trailblazer in fusing divine interpretations for earthly visuals whether it is Jake entering the Na’vi world in “Avatar” or Mel Gibson rising to avenge his enemy’s deeds or those unfathomable waters speaking through the ship moving at a pace that ensured its end in sight. All of us have different choices for James Horner’s top scores because he has collaborated with many directors attempting different flicks. His music will endure this age and forever -because it truly belongs to the ages. R.I.P James Horner. The broad message is clear - Don't save the best for the last, you may go to grave with your best song yet to say, "My heart will go on...". James Horner didn't do that - he may have had many scores uncomposed yet, but he almost died empty by giving his best to the world of music.

Here are my top 5:

Titanic
Braveheart
The Mask of Zorro
A Beautiful Mind
Avatar

‪#‎JamesHorner‬ ‪#‎Titanic‬ ‪#‎OST‬ ‪#‎ClassicalMusic‬ ‪#‎Avatar‬‪#‎HollywoodMusicScores‬ ‪#‎HollywoodMusicComposers‬ ‪#‎JohnWilliams‬‪#‎HansZimmer‬ ‪#‎MichaelKamen‬

Milk Wars in Hyderabad and the Winner is Consumer!

In the history of the real world economics as it plays out, the consumers rarely get to raise a toast to their own success. The history of business is all about mostly exploitation of consumers, in one way or the other. Which is why, I was intrigued to read the story in Times of India the other day about the ongoing milk wars in Hyderabad. The paper noted that price wars are escalating in Hyderabad because all the entrants that matter in Dairy Milk are now available as choices for Hyderabadi households. For starters, you have  Vijaya Dairy, Heritage, Maskati, Mustafa, Jersey, Tirumala. All of them were ruling the roost and dividing the cake with reasonably good margins until India's best-known and the only one to make it as one of the world's top 100 brands announced its ambitions to sizzle up the Hyderabad market - AMUL Dairy. "Asia's largest milk brand is now in Hyderabad" screamed the banner ads in January as I noticed after landing in Hyderabad from a holiday. Did it change Hyderabad forever? We will come back to it later. But more about more options as per the ToI article. Mother Dairy and Nandini Milk - the biggest brands in the West and Karnataka have also entered the fray in the heat of summer. The story talks about only price wars but they missed a unique angle which should have got highlighted - the disruption of the market by Amul and the brands it displaced from near monopoly - Jersey, Heritage and Maskati in different pockets. And the story of how the consumers of the twin cities have asked for better choices despite monopolistic practices by the producers and the distributors. That is something that should be celebrated and reported widely.

Here's how: It all started In January. Amul Milk enters Hyderabad. Releases ads across the media. Giving rich milk at Rs.38 per litre. This forced market leaders like Heritage and Jersey to drop prices to Rs.40 and Rs.38 respectively. Then followed a massive protest by distributors to block Amul milk. I remember we took an instant decision after I spotted the announcement to try Amul Milk, we were using Jersey Milk until then and many years before, Heritage milk. We had two toddlers at home and generally consume milk at an industrial level - with plenty of curds and buttermilk and byeproducts. The risk was on us but we wanted the switch to Amul and told our milkman. He refused first - then we threatened we will switch the agent. He relented. We got Amul Milk the very next day. And we observed the taste - it was distinctly yummy. The babies loved the change in taste, we noticed the thickness in curds and the quality of milk in beverages. And we never regretted the decision. Earlier, the milk from Jersey or Heritage used to deteriorate occasionally so we had to import set curds for  curdling. I have tried all the good brands -Maskati curd is my favorite followed by Jersey, Heritage and Tirumala. All of them are quite yummy but you can't keep buying ready-made curds - Amul milk had that extra thickness to curdle faster. Besides, what if the set curd cups of the brands had used harmful substances like MSG, and all that. I told my brother and friends and many took to it but some of my friends faced huge blockade by the vested dealers who got incentivised to maintain the status quo. Folks in Banjara Hills were not getting Amul Milk but those in Tarnaka were getting it on demand. It was very apparent that the dealers were cartelising the business and preventing a good brand from getting experienced by the consumer first-hand. 

But as more consumers got drunk in the goodness of Amul, the agents started running for cover and switched to Amul to hang on to their household consumers. Those who didn't lost out more - Amul announced a distinctly new bandwagon of distributors and outlets who sprang up in every pin code in Hyderabad. If you have not noticed an Amul  outlet, chances are you are still held in ransom by your distributor/home delivery boy. Of course, there is always an option of buying buffalo milk directly from your farmer friend but those options are not entirely fool-proof. In case of Amul, I read somwhere that they do an annual survey if the health and the trustworthiness of the brand is intact - year after year. The entire ecosystem of the farmers has been benefiting in a win-win way for decades since Dr Verghese Kurien shaped the best practices of Amul until his last breath. One of the story goes that at a collection centre not far from Anand, Gujarat, where the farmers assemble at 6 am to give their milk to organisers, an Amul truck lands promptly and puts a fat-measuring device in front of the farmer and the money is given at the end of the transaction. The model is also that Amul will buy all the milk from the farmers who come for the day - a practice that has been going on for decades before it gets collected and goes through more stages of milk processing and packaging. The most happening brand in Hyderabad has got the pull with consumers because of these best practices winning the support of a community of over 35 lakh farmers spread over 17000 village dairy cooperative societies - collated and processed closer to the final distribution point. Whereas in most other brands of milk, you do not know whether the milk is coming from buffaloes in Guntur, assembled in Suryapet and sold in Hyderabad. Plus the inconsistent quality checks. Otherwise, why would you notice Mother Dairy brand of milk which entered Hyderabad recently awash in controversies over Detergents mixed with milk? (Incidentally, this rumor from another family feeding milk to toddlers motivated me to write this piece, otherwise I am not getting paid to write for Amul, infact I pay Amul for buying my milk every day).

The lessons from Amul's entry into Hyderabad proves many things: 

One, you cannot prevent a strong brand from flying off the shelves just because you offer counter-incentives and commissions. You may not offer toxic products but whether it is milk or a mutual fund, if the consumer demands, you cannot deny it as a distributor without risking your own existence.

Two, the only way a brand can grow is to deliver the best quality, every time. Even a six-sigma error is going to cast its shadows. If you had to drop prices or raise commissions, maybe your product is an inferior choice. Conversely, if your brand is trustworthy, you may drop prices to capture mindshare but you have the pricing power to raise the prices as the customer gets used to your quality.

Three, a strong brand can get on first instance, predictable marketing and distribution responses but eventually, the bigger takeaway is the imitation game in upping the ante in quality. Either way, the consumer again wins. 

Four, the consumer is always the king or queen, on paper. It can really happen if the consumer demands good quality and punishes the bad quality producers. For years, Hyderabadis thought quality is what is offered to you, with blips here and there overlooked and under-scowled. It took a superior brand like Amul to disrupt the forces of competition and elevate the consumer to the status of calling the shots. 

Lastly, economics is not a dry and dismal science found in textbooks. Look around you, it is at play all the time. You may not get the jargon right all the time, like a monopoly, producer's cartel, price discrimination etc. but with alertness and observation, you can grasp the essence of its principles. Here, milk consumption has been effectively controlled for decades at prices dictated by a cartel of producers which includes a government player. But an emboldened consumer,  thanks to a strong-recall brand took the first call of disrupting the existing order creating unintended consequences for all other market players who took the consumer for granted. That is a news, utterly butterly delicious, in a dairy market that sees a daily consumption of 23 lakh litres.

Disclaimer: I consume Amul Milk but I am not incentivised by Amul or its agencies or distributors for its advocacy. This is only written in public interest of all consumers, especially of parents, with toddlers like me.

#Amul #AmulMilk #HyderabadDairyMilkProducers #DairyMilk #MilkbrandsinHyderabad

#ConsumerTheKing #ConsumerIsKIng #Hyderabad