Big Brother with you, always

The NSA's program is an affront to the idea of personal privacy

The post 9/11 world has seen the security apparatus spread its tentacles through use of surveillance technology in military, business and social establishments of the United States. One such surveillance program by the National Security Agency has not only made headlines but has also sparked considerable debate and controversy. The program in question is the NSA’s ambitious data mining partnerships with technology firms, which has been codenamed “Prism”. At least nine transnational internet behemoths are involved in Prism operations, including Google, Facebook, Yahoo, Microsoft, Apple and Skype. There have been reports of many instances of cooperation between these tech firms and the NSA on “Prism” operations.  If these reports are true there is a likelihood of the deal being thrust upon these firms by the NSA either by threat or through blandishments. However, most of these firms have vehemently denied their involvement. Facebook’s website says: “We do not provide any government organisation with direct access to Facebook servers.”

In any case, tech firms are obliged to furnish information under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) and none of the information sharing requests done through it have been declined. However, the firms are not obliged to do the same for NSA. But reports about secret deals of cooperation being struck with the NSA and the firms listed in Prism have gained currency. The surveillance of millions of customers’ data is gross violation of an individual’s freedom and the right to privacy. The process is not transparent and to execute such an opaque and secretive mission on the innocent public is reminiscent of a Soviet style monitoring that Americans deeply abhor.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2013.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri

and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles

IIPM’s Management Consulting Arm-Planman Consulting
Professor Arindam Chaudhuri – A Man For The Society….
IIPM: Indian Institute of Planning and Management
IIPM makes business education truly global
Management Guru Arindam Chaudhuri
Rajita Chaudhuri-The New Age Woman

ExecutiveMBA

Shantaram's legacy

The Marathi film industry is getting out of a self-created slump and revenues are looking up, reports Chandran Iyer

At its peak, the Marathi film industry boasted of doyens that dominated the large screen, the hey days of V Shantaram, Acharaya P K Atre, Bhalji Pendharkar, Baburao Painter and Master Vinayak. Then it went into a tailspin, playing second or third fiddle to big brother Bollywood, its future largely uncertain. Now in the last three years, the Marathi film industry, once a pioneer in the business of film making, is in the process of reviving its fortunes.

For one, the number of Marathi films being churned out annually has gone up from two dozen odd to more than 100 films. The industry has been rejuvenated post-Shwaas with young directors willing to explore new themes and content. In 2006, the industry released 67 movies while 91 hit the screens in 2007. Now the number have gone up to more than 100.

Producers are willing to put in up to Rs two crores - a high figure for regional cinema - as compared to Rs 25 to 30 lakh a couple of years ago. This has also resulted in a sharp rise in the annual turnover.

A number of factors contributed to the decline of Marathi cinema; poor scripting, lack of quality directors, talent drain of good actors like Nana Patekar, Laxmikant Berde, Ashok Saraf and others to Hindi films, an irregular distribution network and spawning of multiplex theatres more interested in block buster Hindi films than regional Marathi fare.

Sanjay Chabbria, managing director of Everest Entertainment Pvt. Ltd, says the word revival has negative connotations. “I would say that it is now in the consolidation mode. Looking at the number of good films that are being churned out every year in Maharashtra, things are looking bright,’’ he points out. According to him,‘‘this revival began with the release of Shwas or Breath.’’ Chabbria has a point because in 2003, this Sandeep Sawant film broke the mould and captured the imagination of even non-Maharashtrian audiences. It won the Golden Lotus National Award in 2004 and was official entry to the 77th Academy Awards. Other films like Not Only Mrs Raut, Anahat and Saat Chya Aat Gharat too did well at the box office as well as get critical acclaim. Shrirang Godbole, managing director, Indian Magic Eye Motions Pictures, believes quality has improved thanks to satellite rights. “Marathi movies are earning good revenue from satellite rights. This augurs very well for business as it offsets production costs considerably”. According to industry sources, Deool and Shala received Rs 1.5 crore each as satellite rights.

Says noted writer and director Raju Phulkar, who has directed super hit comedy films like Gadhavacha Lagna (Wedding of An Ass) and 40 other mainly mythological films, “though Marathi films are now doing reasonably well, people often compare it to the Hindi film industry which is wrong. A commercial Marathi film is made on a shoe-string budget of around Rs one or two crores, a Hindi film budget ranges from Rs 50 to 100 crores. A hero or heroine in a Hindi film industry gets more money than the entire budget of a Marathi film. This is because our audiences are confined to Maharashtra while Hindi films have pan-India appeal.’’

What about Tamil and Telugu films which also do very well despite being confined to their respective states? Explains Chabbria: “You cannot compare Marathi cinema with Tamil or Telegu cinema because the audience there is very different. Culturally, Tamil and Telugu audiences go berserk when they see their stars. This is unheard of in Marathi cinema. If there is a movie starring Rajnikant, Tamil audiences will not miss it.’’

Godbole, however, terms this as brand loyalty of southern audiences. “In south India, people are very loyal to their language. Even TV viewership in regional languages is more than 50 per cent, which is not the case in Maharashtra.’’

Chabbria’s Everest Entertainment Pvt Ltd, an integrated media and entertainment company, has become a household name within the Marathi entertainment industry. It not just produces and commissions films but also distributes and showcases films globally across all formats: cinema, home entertainment, television and new media. It has pioneered a successful business model, releasing four to six new films every year across various platforms. The company also has an impressive film library with over 200 titles, making it one of the prime content owners in the business. Umesh Kulkarni, film director known for acclaimed Marathi films such as Valu (The Wild Bull), Vihir (The Well) and Deool ( Temple) says “young film directors are joining the fray which augurs well. Things are better but a lot more needs to be done.’’ His Girni won the National Film Award for the best non-feature film and Valu, released in January 2008, was featured at the Berlin film festival, as was Vihir at Berlin and the Rotterdam International Film Festival in 2010.

Technology too has improved. Films until 2003-04 were made on a 16mm format, usually used for shooting documentary and TV news. They would then be blown up for the big screen; technically the picture would be of poor quality without wide or long-shots. Using scissors to edit has made way for modern computer editing. The industry is now eyeing overseas audiences.

Read more.....

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2013.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri

and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles

IIPM’s Management Consulting Arm-Planman Consulting
Professor Arindam Chaudhuri – A Man For The Society….
IIPM: Indian Institute of Planning and Management
IIPM makes business education truly global
Management Guru Arindam Chaudhuri
Rajita Chaudhuri-The New Age Woman

ExecutiveMBA

Diary De Cannes

From the rolling of the red carpet to the unveiling of the masterpieces of the old and new, Saibal Chatterjee captures it all at the 66th Festival De Cannes… 
The 66th Cannes Film Festival is officially celebrating 100 years of Indian cinema. Amitabh Bachchan walked the red carpet on a rain-soaked opening day for the screening of Baz Luhrmann’s 3D adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s, The Great Gatsby. But neither the actor’s role in the film nor the lukewarm manner in which the international media, here, responded to the presence of one of Bollywood’s most popular actors was anything to write home about.

As if on cue, it continued to drizzle for the second morning. The sun shone through the clouds by the afternoon. However, the brightness in the air had no effect on members of the Indian delegation as they listlessly flitted in and out of the India Pavilion in the hope of seeing some action. The Indian films in the Official Selection were Amit Kumar’s Monsoon Shootout and the four-in-one Bombay Talkies, which were screened during the week. In addition, India had a film each in Directors Fortnight (Anurag Kashyap’s Ugly) and Critics Week (Ritesh Batra’s Lunchbox). Given that none of the Indian entries here were star-studded films, the focus was expected to deservedly shift to the likes of Irrfan Khan and Nawazuddin Siddiqui, while Vidya Balan quietly went about her job as a jurist.


Both the Mumbai actors are in Lunchbox, while Nawazuddin also has roles in Monsoon Shootout and Bombay Talkies. Never before has an Indian actor been in as many films screened in the official sections or the parallel events in Cannes.

Significantly, Nawazuddin had two films in Cannes last year – Ashim Ahluwali’s Miss Lovely in Un Certain Regard and Kashyap’s Gangs of Wasseypur.

Old-time observers of Indian cinema were a little surprised that the only Indian films in Cannes were Hindi-language ones, if one discounts Satyajit Ray’s Charulata, screened in Cannes Classics. Many missed the linguistic and cultural diversity that Indian cinema was once feted for.

Top officials of the Indian ministries of information and broadcasting, tourism and the National Film Development Corporation (NFDC), played co-hosts at the opening night party of the Marche du Film (Film Market) on the evening of May 17th on the Majestic Beach here.


It was only the second night of the festival and Indian filmmakers were conspicuous by their absence. They were, however, expected to be out in full force in time for the weekend when all the five films representing India in Cannes this year were scheduled.
   
Manjeet Singh, whose sophomore effort, Chenu, set in Bihar, is one of 15 projects from around the world that are in the 66th Cannes Film Festival’s l’Atelier, was the solitary standard-bearer at the market bash.

The Indian films scheduled for screening in Cannes got off the blocks with Anurag Kashyap’s Ugly, a psychological thriller that has thus far been under wraps back home. On the weekend, a restored print of Satyajit Ray’s 1964 masterpiece, Charulata, was unveiled in Cannes Classics at the Salle Bunuel. Also, on this day two first-time directors from India – Amit Kumar and Ritesh Batra – took their bows on the Croisette.

While Amit Kumar’s Monsoon Shootout , featuring Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Tannishtha Chatterjee, was accorded a Midnight Screening, Batra’s Lunchbox, starring Irrfan Khan, played as many as four times in Cannes Critics Week.

Both Monsoon Shootout and Lunchbox are among the 26 films screening across various sections of the ongoing festival that will be in the running for the Camera d’Or, the award given each year for the best debut-making director.

The week began with Bombay Talkies. The film by the four directors - Karan Johar, Dibakar Banerjee, Zoya Akhtar and Anurag Kashyap - was screened to mark the centenary of Indian cinema. Several interactions with the aforementioned contemporary Mumbai filmmakers was scheduled in the India Pavilion.

Also, Anurag Kashyap figured in the Directors’ Assembly to be presided over by Costa-Gavras. Three other directors – Haiti’s Raoul Peck, Norway’s Joachim Trier and Mexico’s Amat Escalante (whose new film, Heli, is competing for the Palme d’Or) – were on the panel. The filmmakers shared their experiences in the course of a discussion on “How we can make independent films today”.

Telugu cinema superstar, Chiranjeevi, by his own admission, always dreamt of making a trip to the Cannes Film Festival. And it took him a career switch to get here.

The Union Minister of State for Tourism, who has been in office since October last year, was at the India Pavilion here as the chief guest at an event to announce the initiation of a process to ensure single-window clearance for all film shoots in the country. “I was an actor for 30 years and always dreamt of coming to Cannes,” the minister said. “I had to wait to begin a ministerial career for the wish to be eventually fulfilled. It is a great honour that India is a special guest country of the 66th Cannes Film Festival,” he said.

Referring to the move to rationalise filming permissions in India for foreign and domestic crews, he said, “We will remove all bottlenecks in the way to ensure that anybody who wants to shoot a film in India finds the going easy.”

The setting up of a film facilitation board would mean that a filmmaker planning to shoot a project in India will have to fill only a one form and make a single application to the nodal body.

The news that made a buzz and would be a delight for everyone back home was that if the Information and Broadcasting Ministry has its way, a special purpose vehicle would soon be put in place for organising the next International Film Festival of India in Panaji, Goa from November 20 to 30, 2014. This was revealed here by the Information and Broadcasting Secretary, Uday Kumar Verma. “The idea,” he said, “is to streamline the conduct of the film festival.” Among several other initiatives taken by the ministry, one is the setting up of a panel headed by a retired high court judge to recommend amendments to the Cinematograph Act of 1952. “India has changed completely in recent decades and it is, therefore, time to have a relook at the censorship rules. Eminent people like Sharmila Tagore, Leela Samson and Javed Akhtar are on the committee,” said Mr Verma.

Read more....

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2013.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri

and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

 

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles

IIPM’s Management Consulting Arm-Planman Consulting
Professor Arindam Chaudhuri – A Man For The Society….
IIPM: Indian Institute of Planning and Management
IIPM makes business education truly global
Management Guru Arindam Chaudhuri
Rajita Chaudhuri-The New Age Woman

ExecutiveMBA

The Entertainment Jockey!

He's not the typical Adonis you'd be gaping at in awe or the hunk whose built and biceps you'd drool over. But Ayushmann Khurrana's dimple-marked-smile, the melody in his voice and the boy-next-door-attitude have won him a place right up there with the reigning stars as well as in the audience's hearts. With Pratishtha Malhotra, Ayushmann shares the story of his journey until now...

You've come a long way since winning roadies, being a RJ, a VJ, an anchor and now an actor. How does it feel when you look back?
It feels great. In fact, I’m glad that it is a gradual transition from one medium to the other. I don’t believe in overnight success. I’ve seen the industry as an outsider as well and it gave me a different perspective in working with people. I started as an anchor, a media person who used to take interviews and now I am giving interviews. It’s quite surreal. ‘Ive enjoyed my journey.

You did theatre before venturing into films. Tell us something about that.
Ya! I formed two theatre groups in Chandigarh; Aaghaaz and Manchtantra in D.A.V College. We started this in 2002 when I was in 1st year of college and these are the two active theatre groups in Chandigarh which are amateur, but very passionate. It is visible even today when they come to Mumbai for IIT-Mumbai or any of the fests. They are very gung-ho about theatre and are a very passionate bunch of kids and it’s good to be associated with such creative groups.

Do you think doing theatre was an advantage as we saw a very mature debutant in Vicky Donor?
I think it comes with experience. I have been doing theatre since childhood. My first play was in 5th standard where I played Shylock’s character in Merchant of Venice, a Shakespeare play. I’ve also been doing public speaking, theatre, music etc.  Besides, I was fortunate to play a Punjabi character that connected with the youth. Being a Punjabi myself really helped me. I could relate to the masses and especially to certain Dilliwalas. So I think it is a right mix of opportunity and experience that counts.

Then Nautanki Saala, again, was a film that required a lot of spontaneity and comic timing like Vicky Donor. So does this spontaneity and comic timing come naturally to you?
I think it is a natural talent, but having said that there’s a lot of effort also that is put into it. I think doing radio, TV, theatre, live anchoring is counted as experience but, yes, a natural and inborn talent for it counts too.

How was it working with Rohan Sippy?
Rohan Sippy is a very good taskmaster. Actually, he’s a hard taskmaster. In fact, we did a workshop for the film for 20 days and we were so well prepared to take the film forward.  So I think he is a great disciplinarian and it was great working with him.

So were there times on the set when you were scolded?
(Smiles) Ya, sometimes. It was the first time he was working without Abhishek Bachchan and we were newcomers in front of him. We were not really scolded but, ya, he was more like a teacher than a director.

You bagged the best singer Filmfare Award for ‘Pani da Rang’ and you had an expression of disbelief on getting it. Were you actually shocked?
You know, I was expecting the debut actor award, since that was what I got in other award shows, but the award for best singer was quite a surprise because I never aspired to be a playback singer. I would sing as a kid, but never took it seriously. When I came to Mumbai, I came to be an actor and not a singer though I enjoy music.  It is my passion but I never intended to take it up professionally. I am not a trained singer and didn’t pursue it because I always thought that I was more of an actor. So when the announcement happened at the Filmfare Awards for the best playback singer, it was unbelievable. Hence the expression!

You’ve sung two songs in Nautanki Saala too. So are there pplans of seriously considering playback singing?
I’m an actor, who also sings and fortunately my songs are doing well. ‘Saadi Gali’ is a chartbuster and ‘Tu Hi Tu’ is doing pretty well. But still, I am an actor who sings and not a singer who acts.

We’ve heard you write poetry as well…
Ya. Infact, these songs, ‘Paani Da Rang’ and ‘Saadi Gali’ were written by me. I’ll be writing songs in the future too. I like poetry and I also have a blog in Hindi. I’ve done public speaking and theatre in Hindi. My mom is MA in Hindi and my love for literature comes from there.

You act, sing, write poetry and have done journalism as well. Were you planning on stealing everyone's job?
(Laughs) Not really. Basically, I didn’t want to study theatre because I was already doing theatre, but I wanted to study something and do my post graduation. Journalism and Mass Communication was something is chose because it was connected to the media industry and it really helped me to be a better presenter of television.

Your next is a Yash Raj Film with Sonam Kapoor. Tell us something about that…
It’s a love story in the times of recession where I play a guy who is a corporate person based out of Delhi and Nupur Asthana is directing the film. I’m very excited about it. The characters are very nice. There are three characters in the film - Rishi Kapoor Sir, Sonam Kapoor and I.

Read more.....

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2013.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri

and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles

IIPM’s Management Consulting Arm-Planman Consulting
Professor Arindam Chaudhuri – A Man For The Society….
IIPM: Indian Institute of Planning and Management
IIPM makes business education truly global
Management Guru Arindam Chaudhuri
Rajita Chaudhuri-The New Age Woman

ExecutiveMBA