Self control

Day 2

SatyavMev Jayate

Finally!! 

A TV program to look forward to on a GEC channel in India.

The timing is perfect to get the entire family to watch the program (as this was the time - Mahabharata was telecast on DD).

The title song is catchy and enjoyable. 

Enjoy the song!!

Conversation between two business tycoon

A recent conversation between Bubroto Toy and Bijay Ballya

Bijay Ballya - Bubbu, come become a part of Indian F1 team.

Buboroto Toy - U dawg!! What Indian F1 team, stop bullshitting me, it is based out of UK and you call it an Indian team..lol..

Bijay Ballya - Ha ha ha ha..that is my gimmick. U want in?? We can make lots of money from it but  u need to invest in it.

Buboroto Toy - Hmm...okie dokie..chal u r my buddy..so yeh le 100 million...jaaa aish kar

Bijay Ballya - Tu sacha dost hai yaar!! Yeh dost hum nahi todenge!!

A few months later, more recently, a conversation between the 2 friends overheard..

Bijay Ballya -  Dost, dekh tere liye, apni team ka naam bhi change kardiya.."Hindustan Ki force Bahar- aa" (toasting with Kingfisher blue)

Buboroto Toy - Waah kya naam diya hai..acha tell me..teri airlines..how is it going? (taking a sip of the beer)

Bijay Ballya - Fatti padi hai!! No money to pay salaries..no money to buy fuel..no money to pay AAI and the govt authorities...samajh nahi aaraha..kya karoon!! (gulping down a big sip of Kingfisher beer).. 

Sms beeped on Bijay's phone..

Bijay Ballya - yeh lo, i have transferred 20 million into the F1 team...(high fives Buboroto)...

Bijay Ballya - Acha dost, airlines chalane ke liye paise de naa!!

Buboroto Toy - Acha de doonga...but you will have to rename the airlines!! Are you ready for that..

Bijay Ballya - Ok..i will do it....

Buboroto Toy  - "Kingfisher ko udane ka Sahara" ...

PS - This is totally fictional...

Era of convenience foods

The era of convenience foods has arrived in urban India.

The latest entrants in this segment have been unleashed by Nestle - Milkmaid creations and Maggi Juicy specialz. 

Maggi Juicy Specialz - Ready to eat Indian dishes which take 5 minutes to cook. Targeted at the urban nuclear upper middle class households; especially ones with working women who don't have the time to cook diner in the evening after a long and tiring day at work or at bachelors living independently who can  afford a microwave but are largely inept in the art of cooking.

Milkmaid Creations - Easy and fast to cook range of Indian desserts, from Besan laddoo to Eggless cakes!! Who has the time to make laddoos, kheer or cakes at home anymore!! This is a dream come true for the urban nuclear upper middle class households, where even on a weekend if you were to make a dessert it would seem like a herculean task. Although, they are priced at a premium, i believe it would be worth it as it making a good dessert on your own gives an amazing sense of achievement to the chef!! So bang on Nestle with this one!!

The new Lays Baked

In today’s fast paced world, especially in India, people don’t eat healthy, because healthy food takes time to make and time is at a premium, so instead they gorge on whatever junk food is available to them.  With consumption of junk food reaching new heights perhaps even higher than Burj Dubai (the tallest building in the world),  the obese population has risen manifold, at a pace faster than the pace at which we grow our population, leading to a lot of lifestyle diseases such as Diabetes etc.

So to ensure that the food and beverage companies don’t get slapped with sanctions for producing unhealthy and unethical profit making products they are now turning to adding some “healthy” junk” foods in their portfolio.

Lays Baked is Pepisco’s latest endevaour to enter into the “healthy” potato chips space. Apparently these chips are not fried like regular Lays chips but instead they are baked. According to Pepsico, Lays Baked chips have 50% less fat than regular Lays. This is the discriminator that Pepsico is using to sell the new chips to the urban audiences which live on chips as if it was a main course meal like dal roti/rice. So if you want to eat chips, eat the healthier version, is what seems to be their mantra.

Priced at Rs 15 per packet, the chips are an expensive proposition. Pepsico’s thought would be that, if it is healthy it should be expensive than the regular one. Why price it at the same cost as the existing Lays range?  I am sure their market research would have shown that there is a niche segment willing to pay a premium to eat “healthy chips” but also I am a believer that market research done by “independent” agencies is biased towards showing the results that the company wants to see. If it wasn’t then the research agency wouldn’t get paid or would rarely get another research task to carry out.

Coming back to Lays Baked, a question the public should ask Pepsico – why should one pay Rs 15 for 10 chips in packet (all the chips may not even be complete, some would be broken too). Does it make economic sense to eat “healthy” junk food which is so atrociously expensive?  Secondly, their availability in the market sucks big time! It is available only in select outlets across cities, whereas regular Lays are available at even a panwala. Lastly, why stop at 50% fat free? Why not make them completely fat free if you are promoting “healthy” foods? Does Pepsico indulge in similar half measures in US or European countries? Guess not, after all the FDA is pretty powerful consumer advocate in the developed world.

So Pepsico, if you are going down the lane of “healthy” foods, go the whole hog and delight us!

Agneepath - The movie of strong villian and a weak hero

I saw agneepath (the new version) last week and i was left confused as to what the movie was suppose to achieve.


The new agneepath at the end leaves u wanting for more..it seems incomplete as a story..maybe that is the best a new director could get out of the script..had the other Karan (Johar) directed it..the media and the critics would have latched on to these points from a decade old director..however being a newbie..the new Karan (Malhotra)..gets away from these gaps..

Agneepath being a remake..had to live upto its original version starring the Big B as Vijay Deenanath Chauhan and Danny as Kaancha and trust me both of them did a brilliant job in their respective roles..The dialogue "Poora naam".."Vijay Deenanath Chauhan" still live on today on the lips of the new generation.

However, the new Agneepath doesnt really live upto the magnum opus that the original was because

a) the character of Vijay Chauhan, never really uses his heritage (father's name) to his advantage in the movie. This is what made the movie..stand out..and yes dialogue's do stand out...as they did 20 years ago (yash johar knew that)

b) Hrithik as an actor does a good job but then he is shown as a weak hero..who wants to see a weak hero in an action movie...the hero has to be as strong as the villian..90% of the time..Hrithik is shown sulking in his past..being beaten up unnecessarily on Mandwa... a good hero should have a good strategy when he walks upto the villians home!! This was totally missing..

c) the stupidly shot climax!! what was that all about..kaancha stabs hrithik numerous times..and then when hrithik gains energy near the banyan tree..all the stab wound disappear and a 6 pack torso magically appears!! For a moment..it seemed like a Kollywood or Tollywood movie!! (both Karan's please take note of this flaw)

d) What is the role of Priyanka Chopra? This will remain a question to me always...2 more item numbers would have been better...

e) Rishi Kapoor as Rauf Lala started off amazingly well in the first half but looses fizz in the second half..were the writers hell bent on killing him off in the second half??

f) The movie desperately misses Mithun..there had to be a side kick to Hrithik to make up for the screen space that Amitabh occupied..if a side hero was required 20 years ago for this movie..then it was desperately needed in this one....the lack of wise ass side hero made the 3hr movie too long and too dull at various points...

The only saving grace for the movie was Sanjay Dutt..the humungous bad man..the devil who shants shlokas...he is the charm of the movie..this is what evil men should look like if they have to rule over an empire..total control...NO MERCY!! Hrithik actually looks like a rat in front of a lion when they stand face to face in the movie (and that is the biggest flaw).

The reason this movie would do well financially is primarily because there has been nothing good to watch in theatres from Bollywood for the past few weeks..and the name Agneepath would drive audiences to the theatres to watch a remake.

So if you want to watch..watch it for the characterization of Kaancha and not Vijay Deenanath Chauhan.

Happy new year 2012!!

Hi all,

Wish you all a very happy, prosperous and healthy new year 2012.

May god bless you all.

Love
Maverick