Neeli Chhatri Wale on Zee TV

Brilliant Yashpal Sharma; seems another very good show —  watching Neeli Chhatri Wale.

Check out some more details here: http://www.zeetv.com/shows/neeli-chatri-waale/cast/

Different Worlds

Keep pressing remote control's buttons and each TV channel shows a different world. Similarly at this very moment so many different worlds are unfolding. At this very moment, someone is in bed, some other travelling, some driving, some working, some fighting, some eating, some are in dreams, some are in others’ dreams… So many worlds in a single world…

It's Entertainment at Box Office

Watched It's Entertainment today. Filled with sidesplitting comedy and comic scenes - it's great entertainment for all. Kids in the theater were heard enjoying a lot; good decision by parents to bring them along :) Akshay is the best and Krishna Abhishek has done great role too. 

I also noticed that 90% of the movie was shot in Bangkok. Don't know what will happen to Narendra Modi's "Come, Make in India" slogan! After returning back, thought to check the financials of the movie: Cost: Rs 75 Crores; Box office collection: ~ Rs 71 Crores after two weeks. It appears that its production cost was too high; even if it earned more than Rs 100 Crores, it won't have made much profits. Apart from spending on too many stars (who had got small roles anyway), one major factor for such high production cost would be shooting 90% of the film in a foreign location. 

When Modi asks to "make in India", it is not only to generate local employment and local business but also to save costs and make more profits! I hope movie makers learn this as soon as possible - so that their finances also keep entertaining them!

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Related Post: Do Big Budget Films Make Economic Sense?

Touching Cows

A cow had roamed to the middle of the road, attracted by speck of greenery on the median strip. As she was busy dealing with the grass, a car zoomed past her. As soon as it passed besides her, the driver brought his hand out and touched the cow on her back. It is a Hindu custom where it is considered sacred to touch a cow. We can guess that the purpose of this custom would be to encourage people to serve cows, to feed and protect cows who give us milk second only to our mother’s milk. So does this casual touch-while-you-go business serve any real purpose? 

This gesture is indeed ‘symbolism’. At the very moment the driver was touching the cow, he must have felt reverence for mother cow; at that moment he must have had pious thoughts in his mind; and hence I think this custom though symbolic in nature would still help preserve some goodness in the hearts of practitioners… 

Merry Go Round

In our neighborhood park there is a small merry-go-round which runs when pushed manually. Once a mother was seen pushing it while several kids enjoyed the ride. But she was holding the ride and also running round and round as the ride moved. I wondered why could not she stand at one place and simply push the ride to get it running! Why take the pains to run along with it? On second thoughts I could get it - She was not moving with the ride but in fact she was moving with her kid! If she stood at one place and pushed the ride, she would need to let her kid go out of her hands which she did not want to do... Tells how difficult it is to judge others from our own frame of reference. Also how parents take emotional decisions to protect kids while kids can judge them logically and consider them wrong...

Car's Windshield

Cab driver stopped the car and went on to clean the corner of wet windshield. The moist and hazy surface was not getting perfectly clean. He kept trying and wondering what was wrong... I suggested to try cleaning from inside. He tried and it was done in a moment. That is how we keep trying to solve problems from outside while at times key may be to try from inside...

Happy Independence Day!

Independence of our country was earned at a great price and is ensured everyday by great sacrifices. If we could follow some bullet points from the wonderful speech by our great PM Sri Narendra Modi, our country will attain greater heights:

(1) Avoid imported goods and buy more ‘made in India’ items.

(2) Impart good values to sons so that daughters remain safe.

(3) Keep our localities neat and clean.

(4) It is our responsibility to build the nation our freedom fighters dreamed of.

Happy Independence Day India! Long live 15th August!

Vistara - Luxury Airline from Tata

Why all airline companies in India should have English names? (e.g. Air India, Jet Airways, Indigo, GoAir, SpiceJet). Here comes Vistara - newly launched airline, majority owned by Tata and it is called "Vistara" - word derived from Sanskrit word 'Vistaar'.

Here are some glimpses of Vistara:

Brand Vistara having a premium positioning has been designed elegantly:

All images courtesy the airline's Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/AirVistara

Parikshit Sahni

Happened to spot Parikshit Sahni in one of the old movies and observed how good looking he has been! This picture shows him with his father Balraj Sahni . And what to say of their acting skills!!!

Do Big Budget Films Make Economic Sense?

These days a lot of big budget super hero films are being made. But do such movies make better sense economically? 

The most profitable film of year 2013 was Aashiqui 2 with production cost: Rs 9 Crores; Earnings: Rs 110 Crores; Return on Investment: 1122%! 

Second most profitable was YE Jawani HAI Diwaani (cost 45 Crores; Earning: 190 Crores; ROI: 322%). 

Big budget Dhoom:3 The Movie did pretty less (Cost: Rs 150 crores; earning: Rs 500 Crores; ROI: 233%). Krrish 3 with prod cost of Rs 115 Cr, earned only 160% returns. But relatively small budget films like Ram-Leela (cost 35 Cr); ABCD - Any Body Can Dance (cost 12 Cr); Grand Masti (cost 31 Cr); all earned more than 200% return on investment. Even production time of big budget films would be much higher. 

To me big budget films look like keeping too many eggs in the same basket. Even from social point of view, most big budget action films are pure entertainment, almost in the league of video games, while small budget films with strong story lines have both soul and a good social message most of the time...