Munni Badnam Hui........

“Munni Badnam Hui.....” and we all loved it. But it hasn’t gone well with the people at Emami, the owners of the brand ‘Zandu Balm’. Their charge is that their brand name is used without their consent and want to sue the producers of Dabang for the same. Well.... the song is out at least one month before the release of the movie and was already a hit. Just wondering why Emami wake up to it so late....

Let me make a guess. There is a line in the song where “Zandu Balm” word is used. And looking closely (just for the sake of understanding I mean), Malaika rubs her butt while saying “Main Zandu Balm Hui”, which suggests the application of the product Zandu “balm”. So in all fairness, this song gave a huge recall to the brand. Much more than their insipid advertisement has done in recent times. So people at the helm at Emami quietly enjoyed the moment while people were humming the song and now that movie is already one week old, they have found a new reason to be in news. And suddenly we are seeing Munni rubbing Zandu balm on all news channels(except being on all the music channels..).

Well all I can say “Munni Badnam hui Emami tere liye”

Who’s the Boss!!

I was waiting for my turn in the Interview room. It was for a position in a big Marketing Agency. It seemed like a tough competition. For 2 positions there were around 25 people, who were shortlisted for the interview.

But quite strangely, most of them were coming out of the room looking dejected. It really scared me; I got up to take a glass of water. Just as I was wiping sweat from my face, a stocky looking person came closer to me, from the attire I could make out that he was a peon. “How badly do you want this job”, he sort of whispered in my ear. For once his voice was so convincing that I forgot that he wasn’t the GM of the company but just a peon, “It’s do or die, yaar”...I replied promptly.

“There’s no free lunch, Sir”, he came to the point. “One thousand”, he almost gave me the order. With just few minutes left to my turn, I couldn’t think much and handed him 10 green papers. (I felt a little ashamed, looking at Gandhiji on the Rs 100 notes, but thought he also wanted to help me!).

“Go to the receptionist and tell her, “Gandhi has ten heads”. I did the same. To my surprise, she smiled at me and asked for my resume. She put a star mark at the top of the resume and whispered at me, “First month’s salary”. For a moment I thought, she was my wife asking for my salary; but I controlled myself and said, “Its fine”. She wrote some code word on top of the resume and sent it in.

“Karan, come in”, It was my turn. I went inside and there was a middle aged HR lady sitting on the other side of table. She asked me some “Lollypop questions” about myself and my goals in life and in the end, came “the question”. Are you okay with the conditions? “Conditions..!” I almost asked in anticipation. The ones Mary told u, at the reception. She sounded like a high school headmaster, to whom you only say “Yes Ma’am, I agree”.” Okay we will get back to you by tomorrow; be prepared to join by next month”.

I got the confirmation call the very next day, with the offer letter. Friends called for a party, which I was so willing to give. “So how did you crack it Man”, asked Raj as he finished his 1st beer. “Bas Yaar, I was just too good for them”, I claimed proudly. “Acha, who selected you, there” asked Ravi. I just paused for a moment and said, “It was the Peon”!!

Costa, Washroom and Branding!!

Last weekend, I went to nearby mall to watch a movie. As there was some time left for the show, I thought of enjoying a cup of coffee. Costa has been one of my favourite coffee places. As I was heading for it, I got “nature’s call”. As I finished my stuff and reached for wash basin, there came a stocky built guy, who took just a few droplets on his hands and rushed out. All I could notice was a familiar looking black shirt. I thought what is the use of “pretending to wash hands” when he wasn’t.

Anyways I reached to my favourite coffee shop and guess what. The stocky guy smiled and asked, “what would you like to have sir”. All I could say, “excuse me” and kind of dragged myself out of the place. Costa didn't appeared the same for once. I walked half a km to reach “CCD” and had coffee at last.

While I was having my cup of coffee, I thought about the guy. Has Costa trained its employees well enough in terms of hygiene, is he an exception! Or maybe he was just rushing back to attend the customer. Well, whatever it could be, Costa will never taste the same!!

Story of IDIOTS!!

Couple of years back a movie named “Hello” was released. The movie promos as well as posters claimed in bold, “Based on the bestselling novel, One Night at Call Centre”. Well I am quite sure, not even all the fans of that book watched the movie, as it was a dud at the box office. I thought what a loose story which couldn’t capture the imagination of audience for a week!

Cut to 2009. I read stories about Amir Khan’s most awaited movie, which is inspired by “5 point someone”. Being an Amir fan and knowing his skills for picking the right stories for his movies, I thought there’s something about this writer called..Chetan Bhagat. I made it a point to buy and read “5 point Someone” before the release of the movie and “loved it”. I even recommended the novel to my friends who did the same. I went on to read another novel by Chetan Bhagat and now have become a regular reader of him.

Recently I watched “3 Idiots” and I feel it’s one of the most intelligent movies ever made. It reminded me of instances of novel, but I never felt that I was watching the novel on the screen. The latest controversy of shedding tears over the credits have baffled me completely, for it was started by a writer, whose image and fan following has been increased by this movie. Lately, I heard Chetan has quitted the job to become full time screenplay writer. Well, let me tell you Chetan, going by the fate of Hello, not many movie buffs would have been thrilled by that. But yea, after watching “3 Idiots”, I would wait for your next film. And I only have one question to you, “If you were Vidhu Vinod Chopra” whose huge money was at stake on the movie, how would you have sold the movie. Would you have sold it on the name of the Super hit Jodi of Amir and Raju Hirani or on the name of the writer who has delivered “HELLO”......hello, give me a break!!

To sum up, I think Chetan has got lot of recognition and increased fan base because of “3 Idiots”. The more unnecessary noise he will make, it’s only going to harm his reputation. Well, this whole episode has at least proved one thing that the title of the movie is completely justified....as there are enough “Idiots” attached to this project.