The Magic of Three Idiots.. why it can't fail.

Most of us know that Aamir does only one movie a year.. some of us also know that for the last 3 years his movies have all released during christmas time and all have done exceeding well.

However this is not about the actor, it is about the Magic of the Movie: 3 idiots, why this stands out when compared to regular bollywood masala.

First thing, the movie works on so may levels that it becomes hard for a person NOT to like it.

The movie earned Rs. 300 crores as (gross) international earnings in the first few weeks ! 

With the movie there are just so may subplots that range from a runaway bride to a pregnancy performed with innovation (by idiots) and all this makes for a truly wonderful experience, not to mention the numerous twists and turns in the story all add up making this one is a Must Watch.

When I liked this movie I told my friends- "Just watch this movie", and don't hear the story beforehand". if you do hear the story, you would miss the way it is narrated, let the story unfold itself.

Even for the simpletons who like their movies to be popcorn fun (a.k.a bollywood masala) were able to enjoy the movie, even though the message in the movie was missed they thoroughly enjoyed the comedy (especially, the scenes shot inside the hostels).

The same director has treated us with Munnabhai Gems before, but this one really stands out.

What we can all hope is that inspired stuff like this can compel other producers as well, for creating original ideas and not relying on Star value/ hype created around a movie alone.

WAY TO GO ... Raju. 

King Khan - It's not just about movies anymore.

-By Suraj Jethwani

The world may doubt the success of the king of Bollywood in the World of Cricket.

Granted, he may not have made the smartest decision by buying the Kolkata Knight Riders team.

Still.. Shahrukh surpasses all the bollywood stars in writing his own success story with his business acumen.

Just like other Indian actors nowadays, he is not busy with shooting for movies. 

He is either busy doing live shows around the globe or becoming a brand ambassador for the biggest and most popular brands in India. 

With his latest collaboration with Fox, he has made another smart move.

 

Brands like - ICICI Bank, Airtel, Nokia, Belmonte and Compaq to name a few.

Through his adverts like Sunfeast he continues to be popular amongst the young as well.

Besides, he is a genius at doing multi-brand promotion. He can be seen wearing a NOKIA T-shirt, while promoting his cricket team and a brand of softdrink all at the same time.

Even though Shahrukh is everywhere on the small screen as well as big, he does not fear the over-exposure.

So, what makes him tick ?

He carries the flawless public image of being a popular star, who is a sensitive family person and a responsible social citizen. At the same time being an avid party person (despite his age!)  and possesses an excellent sense of humour and a talent of giving interviews diplomatically.

He also has the rare art of steering clear of controversies and controversial statements.

That is why his name never gets linked with either drugs/the underworld/starlets/illegal animal poaching et al.

Despite his popularity, he chooses not campaign for any single party or any particular electoral candidate.

While Aamir is considered to be have a more sincere image, and also chooses his roles carefully, Shahrukh continues to be a darling of the masses.

It's a little known fact that Shahrukh has a enormous following in the Middle-east as well, where he has also invested in realty.

While the fate of bollywood is still uncertain this does not affect the King of bollywood.

(This article is by a person who is NOT a big fan of the King's ACTING skills). 

Piracy: How it is destroying the Business of Bollywood

By: Suraj Jethwani.

This article is for us, the faithful cinegoers (or Multiplex goers). On how the Bollywood industry has sufferred due to Piracy.

Just about 4 Years back, I used to watch more than 70% of movies in movie halls. I knew that if I try to catch a newly-released movie on VCD (by paying a price >= Rs. 50), I will have to settle for an editted version of the movie with substandard Audio/Video content(A.K.A Camera Print)

Since then, the times have changed a lot:

1. Storage Media (including removable i.e. DVDs, VCDs) has become dirt cheap.

2. Internet access is faster and more reliable.

3. Home theatre systems/ DVD players have become cheaper and advanced (some can even support Pen drives).

4. Internet penetration has increased.

5. People involved with Piracy have become smarter, now they know how to Provide DVD quality movies shortly after it's thetrical release in India.

6. Compression techniques have improved for Video, where it has become possible for Video to be compressed without compromising on quality - This is just like we have seen MP3 kill the business for Audio CDs

7. Most importantly, viewers have become aware of Sites where they can Download and share movies.

Moreover,

Following are the reasons why the movie viewer is discouraged to go to a Movie hall, he has to deal with:

1. Exhorbitant prices (Movie tickets and eatables)

2. Parking problems (specially if you have a 4-wheeler)

3. Ticket booking (u better keep that Credit card ready !)

4. The security hassle : Getting past the Multiplex security is proving to be quite an ordeal. And the security personnel ensure you are not allowed to take eatables inside for obvious reasons.

All the above factors have forced the movie industry to adopt the policy of what I like to call:
Hit and Run, this means that a movie is Hyped a lot (usually by marketting on the small screen) then releasing them with a focus of making enough dough in the first 1-2 weeks. Movies have multiplied their revenue streams as well, this includes screening the movie Overseas, selling music rights etc.
No longer will we find a movie completing 25 weeks in the theatres (even 100 days is turning out to be a challenge for Indian movies).

This has also lead to some good movies going unnoticed because they haven't been marketted (Read: Hyped) propperly.



The movie production houses are forced to create controvercies (for publicity) just to survive in such situation.

The business of Bollywood is bleeding and the fate of the big budget movies along with the K3 (The Khans, the Kapoors and the Kumar) is in serious threat.

A Practical way to organize important documents

I must confess that I have always been tardy in organizing my important personal stuff like Degree Certificates, Driving License and Passport etc.

As of result of this I have faced a lot of last minute panic looking for details like passport validity period and having to rummage around for a whole lot of stuff just to get some important details.

Here is what I started doing:

I started keeping a scanned copy of all my personal stuff like previous Job certificates, educational degrees, passport, Property Documents etc. 

I must also add that I never owned a scanner (flat bed) at home to do all this easily.I just used My digicam (and later my 3.2 Mpixel camera mobile) to take images of the Documents and then transferred them to my PC.I had to take special care while photographing the document that I there is adequate light falling on it and getting the angle right. 

Also, I previewed the document to confirm it was clearly visible (Distinctly Black & White).

For storing the images I found the .jpeg format quite adequate as it can maintain quality and does not take up a lot of storage space.

On the PC, I created a folder and named them appropriately (in a Hierarchial structure) and encrypted them (for security).  

Today if I need to check when is my passport/license going to expire soon, I don't have to rummage through documents at all. All i need to do is open documents on the P.C.

Further I can always take printouts if I need to submit a copy for an official purpose.

The above idea is just a very fundamental thing to do.

But then the question is: How many of us take the one-time effort of actually doing it?