Archive for December 14, 2008

Rab Ne Banadi.. Aditya ne kyun Banayi??

Posted: December 14, 2008 in bollywood, bourne ultimatum, movies, Shah Rukh, vinay pathak
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For a change, went and saw Rab Ne Banadi Jodi, on Friday night, without waiting to read the reviews in the papers. After all, there had not been any big releases for a few weeks, and in fact, I had not seen any movie for a couple of weeks. So with SRK and the YashRaj banner, and Aditya Chopra being the director, there was enough motivation to venture into the theatre, without waiting to see what others were saying about the film.

Well, I wish I had waited for the reviews!

The film does not work. On any front.

So Shah Rukh looks different – an old 1970s poor man hero kind of look (well, the half of it, in this film). So should I be happy to see the change? Change is good. But it should still be a good change. This look looks awful, was grossly exaggerated and not entirely necessary at all. It was there only to contrast with the other look that the same character puts on, and we are to believe that the contrast being so stark, the wife of the character is unable to recognize the two as being the same person! Only for that reason, that simpleton look was grossly overdone.

The new heroine makes a fair debut. She looks cute like the so many new young actresses on Indian screens look these days – well, on television and on the larger screen. Anushka portrays a good Punjabi girl, a homemaker and yet a firebrand who can take on the world when needed. She has a good smile, but overall, she does not have many scenes to showcase her talent. We will have to wait for her next one, or there is a fear that she may go the Gracy Singh way. Cute debut but then disappearing into oblivion!

The fundamental idea of the film – of the hero trying to win over his bride and make her to love him – is just too thin, to be carried for 3 hours! There are no other twists or turns.

And the fundamental way that the hero attempts to do this, is quite incredible.

He changes his looks and appears as someone else, to woo his own wife. Now if the face and dress change can still be imagined – although it still does not get to me, that she will not recognize him – can anyone explain how a shy and introvert kind of person, can overnight, with a change of clothes, become an extrovert, who can be boorish in talk, who can be crazy, drive bikes etc.?? There is no explanation for the attitude changeover, while there is one about the appearance changeover.

As I said, the thread is too thin anyway, to run for a full length movie. No other sub-plots, no nothing. A Japan factor is added, for no reason at all. And does not make sense except for being a diversion.

The worst part is the end. The character that the hero takes on, and which he is not, woos the girl, and goes to the extent of professing his love. The heroine, married to the original character, is now in a quandary. If she accepts this other character’s love, she would be doing ‘wrong’.  And still she is tempted, as that ‘other’ character has been what she always wanted in a husband.

So why is the hero doing this? What’s the deal here, anyway?!

Ok, having said that, a “good” ending would have been, for the girl to ‘discover’ that these two are the same, and how selfless her husband really has been and what pains he has taken to make her happy.

But THAT does not happen. And I think, even in this thin plot, here is where Adi missed the one opportunity to make something out of the story.

Here, the girl makes her final call on staying with her husband, and not go with the ‘other’ character as she prays at the Golden Temple, and God gives her a vision that says that hubby is best for her.

That’s too weird.

Why not have her “discover” what her husband has been upto?

Here she finds out, much later. And that also because the husband goes out and tells her, in a way.. by dancing with her, instead of the flashy ‘other’ character.

This is the biggest loss in the story.

So are there any silver linings at all? Well, yes.

1. Vinay Pathak has a fun role, and does a good job. His stars are truly on the rise, and he keeps making the most of the opportunities that are coming his way.

2. It’s interesting to see small town Punjab life. We had seen villages, we have seen cities. This was in between. About the large houses there, about the cinema being a constant source of entertainment, about a “trade fair” being an outing for the family, and things of that nature. Interesting glimpse..

3. The songs.. they are hummable for a while. Don’t expect any of them to be remembered after 6 months also, but for now, there are 2-3 that can stay on your lips, even if its on account of the fact that these are bombarded at you, every few mins, on radio.

4. Finally, the last silver lining was seeing the preview of Ghajini while seeing Rab Ne!! Ghajini looks like a taut thriller, and from the looks of it, an Indianized version of The Bourne Ultimatum. But these are my impressions only from the preview. It may yet be something different.

YRF has a tremendous track record. Earlier, with all the films that Yash and Aditya directed and produced. And in recent days, with the great flicks that they produce for others as well, e.g. Dhooms, Chak De, Hum Tum, and scores of such ones. Aditya himself has a great track record as a director and a tremendous reputation as a film maker.

The last thing that Aditya Chopra needs to do is to direct such junk.

Aditya, tune Rab Ne Banadi… kyu Banadi, yaara??!

Recent Management Learnings!

Posted: December 14, 2008 in Business, Leadership, Management
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A summary of few recent management learnings, unfortunately out of experience!

  1. An IIT tag does not assure a good manager or a good technologist or a good leader. Sad but true.
  2. An IIM tag does not assure a good manager or a good leader or a good business head. Sadder but true again.
  3. A good project manager does not necessarily graduate to becoming a good business head. Its truly shocking how clueless about business realities, cost heads, urgency on revenues, urgency on cash flow management, even a good project manager can be!
  4. A good sales and marketing person does not necessarily become a good business head. Here too, there may be an understanding of how to go and get new business. But managing P&L, managing a larger team, managing timelines.. all of these can be alien concepts to the person. Unbelievable, right? But it happens! Ask me!
  5. Boom times have generated some slick talkers, who are otherwise shallow in capabilities, to have added a lot of corporate tags on their CVs. Can you believe that one such person who had worked in some heavyweight corporations in India and outside India, and headed business development efforts in these organizations, could not put together a page of formal correspondence, lacked email etiquette, did not know how to create a decent spreadsheet?!
  6. Can someone with 20+ years of experience, including a few years in the Internet business, someone with management education background, not know how to use Excel? How in the world are you expected to evaluate this? Would you subject senior management candidates to such fundamental testing?? Okay, by the way, the Excel part was the ‘tip of the iceberg’ in the larger problem statement!
  7. That niceties are not guaranteed in this world, so don’t expect them. Someone with 5+ years of association, being treated as extended family, part of the innermost circle, can also walk out with 3 days notice and not feel an inch of guilt in doing so! That is the state of affairs of the day.

So there are the problems. Do I have any solutions? Any real answers? I guess, no easy ones.

Apart from the fact that I now appreciate the words of a couple of VCs. One of them had said that between the time that they meet an entrepreneur to the point when they actually make the investment, could be as long as a year’s time. And the other one had said that they would meet an entrepreneur, in formal and informal settings at least 15-20 times, before they take a call on investment.

I am seeing that hiring senior management is almost as critical for a company, as an investment is for a VC. Much as we are pressed with our growth ambitions and schedules, and which tempt us to go for a candidate over a few interactions, that is really not a good thing to do. The potential gain that we could get in getting a senior manager into the company sooner, is far offset by the risk of hiring a wrong person. The damage that a decision of that kind can do, takes up so much time and money for the company, to recover, not to speak of the opportunity cost that is lost! A senior hiring MUST go through long and extended interactions, whether the candidate likes it or not. That is the only way. Formally and informally, figure out if the person is really the one you want to take up a critical responsibility in your organization.