Wednesday, May 30, 2007

The thin red line...

...that is soaked in blood and greed...
Ever wondered as to why does Africa have most of its international boundaries as straight lines? Well, as an accident of history that was deliberately heaped on Africa, the European colonial powers used scale and rulers to carve out territories for themselves during the infamous Berlin conference of 1885. This sinister move which earned the sobriquet of ‘Scramble for Africa’ in history not only brought rival tribes in the same national domain but segregated national groupings in different political landscape. As a result these lines have not only divided tribes and communities but have also caused internecine warfare in Africa killing millions of people.

The European quest for exploiting the resources of Africa, gift ed the region with blood and bullets that has ever since kept the countries in the region perpetually at odds against each other. The result of such quixoticism has been that, Eritrea and Ethiopia have been at war against each other while the Somali population has been splattered across different countries fuelling tension and war. The legacy doesn’t end here rather the political bigotry that has led to creation of artificial international boundaries have led to severe repercussions elsewhere as well. The 38th parallel that divided the Korean Peninsula into warring North and South was the creation of the infamous Korean War. Even before the ceasefire in 1953, the line separated the Soviet and the American controlled sector after the World War-II.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2007

An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

Monday, May 21, 2007

And the Bakwaas Ads...

After you have gushed over the blockbuster ads of this fortnight, here are some, which – we are absolutely sure – will never make it. 4Ps B&M lists the three worst ads of the fortnight... Ads that almost made you swear that you won’t ever buy the advertised brand. And even if you managed a peek at it, you were left with a bad taste in the mouth. Medium error, complex message or just plain bakwaas communication!

BRAND: Getz Prime
BASELINE: Drive Global
AGENCY: Innocean
4Ps TAKE: In a time and age when India Inc. is bent on proving to the world that its goods and services are second to none, Getz Prime in this ad is going all out to drive home its German antecedents. Come on guys, you could have done so much more (just look at some recent four-wheeler ads!) and the only power idea that you could come up with was Getz’s German connection? What’s more, in terms of features, the ad only highlights the car’s air conditioner, elbow rest, glove box, luxurious interiors, et al. Get real guys, those features are found in most every car today. So, what is Getz Prime’s USP? As the ad says: ‘the European favourite, now in India’. If with such jaded advertising communication, Hyundai plans to wean away market share in the segment, which Suzuki’s Swift stole a long time ago, they are in for a real shock. No reward to prospect and no focus, what’s up Hyundai?

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2007

An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

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Tuesday, May 01, 2007

Cross-cultural cinema’s champions

The year was 1988, Mira picked up an unconventional story of Mumbai’s street children to narrate, and made the world sit up an take stock of her talent as Salaam Bombay! went on to receive an Oscar nomination for the Best Foreign Film, the second earned by India. Mehta’s first feature film was no masala fare either. Sam & Me was about the friendship between a Muslim boy and an ageing Jewish gentleman, which scooped up an award at the 1991 Cannes Film Festival.

The two took on blatantly honest stories, which predictably, created quite a furore. 1996 was a particularly interesting year for the two, for while the first of Deepa’s elemental trilogy–Fire–rankled conservative-Indians’ propriety, Mira battled similar ire as her film Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love was banned in India and Pakistan. The two fearlessly filmed bold scenes and brought to the fore subjects such as lesbianism – a relationship so taboo that our national language hasn’t even a term for it!

The two are fiercely faithful to the subjects they chose and have gone to great lengths to make their scripts come alive on celluloid. Where Mira stealthily shot KamaSutra in India with a phoney title to bypass trouble, Deepa showed extraordinary courage as she filmed Water in Sri Lanka under a different title too, after Hindu protesters destroyed the initial sets in Varanasi. And victory awaited both at the end of the road, for while Mira’s movie received honours at film festivals, Water got Deepa an Oscar nomination this year.

Where Deepa is now as much a Canadian as an Indian, Mira’s identity is a product of not two but three nations. Mira spends about 8 months of a year in the Big Apple, a month in India and the rest at Kampala, Uganda, where, interestingly, she feels most at home. They’ve got exciting projects in hand too, with Shantaram starring Johnny Depp and Munna Bhai’s Hollywood remake expected next from the lady who delivered the phenomenal The Namesake, and Deepa is planning a movie on the Komagata Maru incident and is titled Exclusion. They’re ambassadors of India who have mastered the technique of winning over foreign audiences, by portraying India just as it is, sans any cosmetic touch ups. They’re true to their art and that is how Deepa Mehta and Mira Nair have turned into formidable forces, who are pioneering free and fearless cinema.

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