Deep Impressions

  Hindi : Muscling through Metamorphosis   Most languages would take pride in being the most ancient language. For Hindi, however, the pride remains in being the youngest language among the top five spoken languages in the world.  The Devnagari scripted Khadi boli which is largely known as Hindi is as young as 200 years. And if ones consider only the presence in mass media communication as a barometer, it is only around independence movement that Hindi gained its prominence.    During the last seventy years, this young language has seen a metamorphosis of a scale that probably no language in the world has seen. Interestingly, those who have not personally witnessed this metamorphosis, can experience it through the eyes of Hindi cinema.     The Hindi films of 40s and 50s had a clear bent either towards purified Hindi, or towards purified Urdu and yet some had the flavour of Hindustani (a commonly understood mix of Hindi and Urdu). Various literary authors then were attracted towards thi

  Reel, Royalty, & Real Estate ….. "It is not the legal documents that drive long partnerships, it is the silent compromises that define the spirit  of partnership." ( This blog has also been published in Times Of India and in  Business World )      ------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------   A young lad in mid 20s bubbling with ideas but with no past achievements. And a construction baron in his 60s - with bountiful of money and experience.    The above could be a very common Founder & VC story of startups of today. But this a story of 1940s and 1950s - when partnerships was always among equals.    K Asif was an Urdu speaking Muslim from Punjab. Seth Shapoorji Pallonji Mistry, was a Parsi from Mumbai.  So if  Bambaiya Hindi  was the only mode of communication, their partnership too was uncharacteristic, it was born out of a mammoth alienation - the Partition of India. With this backdrop, the two partners worked tog

In Search of Villain ( also published in movietalkies.com )  OTT  is seen as the key factor in the shift of audience away from cinema halls,  But the absence of 'villain' - who was so instrumental in driving audiences to cinemahalls - has escaped everyone's eye     ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------   “OTT may kill the business of cinemahalls” was cabinet minister Piyush Goyal’s observation during last fortnight's  FICCI Frame’s virtual event.   Experts would most likely have consensus on the above prognosis. But if the same question was reversed, “What can bring back audiences back to cinemahalls ( post the Covid crisis) ?”,  consensus would most likely remain elusive. However, in a country with limited options for Out-of-the-Home entertainment, a high youth population and  a growing economy, it would only raise one’s eyebrows when one learns that cinemahalls are expecting reduced ticket sales.   

Nepotism : The answer lies in Technology Instead of criticising nepotism, the solution lies in making it irrelevant.  ( Also published in movietalkies.com )        ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------   In his widely read research work, Management guru Michael Porter, has talked about competitive strategies that make successful companies. He states that one key competitive strategy that makes companies successful and command high valuations on stock market is creation of entry barriers against new entrants. These barriers could be :           Denial of access to customers/vendors         Network effect          Brand loyalty      In film industry, all the above are essentially bye-products of the current buzzword ‘nepotism’. So if building entry barrier is lauded by consultants and stock markets, should that really be a matter of concern? Before we answer that, a quick look at the history of the reward system in t

The Musical Power of 70s, 80s and 90s The music of 70s/80s/90s was a unique cusp that enjoyed the twin benefits of social intimacy and technological advancement. ----------------------------------------- --------------------------------------- ------------------------------- The relationship  between Hindi films and its songs has always been very symbiotic. There are many films that are remembered only because of their popular songs. Similarly, films, by providing the right launch platform, have not only made songs extremely popular but have also ensured that the current generation remembers musical works that were created several decades ago. How many songs from 50s and 60s would the current young generation in America remember (in America, songs do not have film as their launch)  ? Besides films, what has also made music popular is the alternate channels that have made music reach the audiences. Radio was the dominant channel during 50s and 60

2019 : The End of Filmy Love Story The momentous journey of Romantic films in Hindi cinema that begun in 1960s after now losing its steam has had interesting social trends guiding the success and failures on the box-office ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Success stories are good to delineate emerging trends during the year. But there also failures that enunciate a big story. Pal Pal Dil Ke Paas hardly made any mark at the Box-office . However, for those searching for successful ideas at the Box-office, it did make a mark. PPDPK’s performance beguiled the end of an era in Hindi cinema that had gained momentum in 1960s. Romantic films have been charting success stories since 1960s. Their success ratio became so high that love story became the de facto launch theme for star kids (Rishi Kapoor, Kumar Gaurav, Sanjay Dutt, Sunny Deol, Amir Khan). Even proven actors like Kamal Hassan