I was recently invited by PepsiCo to join a dinner being hosted in view of the charismatic CEO Indra Nooyi’s visit to India. She was voted the most powerful woman in business in US for the third year in a row by Fortune Magazine. Irene Rosenfeld who heads Kraft was the second most powerful. Irene is a PepsiCo alumni as well. Moral of the story: Food and beverages make people powerful. So eat well, I told myself.

Pepsi is certainly one of the iconic brands of the world. I ask myself what could an individual learn from a successful brand? If you were to learn lessons from Pepsi and Shah Rukh Khan what would they be?

The evening dinner hosted in her honor has loads of PepsiCo alumni. There is much bonhomie that is there in every alumni meeting. Much backslapping happens and the lines that everyone hears when old friends meet.

“You still look the same.”

“I would have never recognized you. Hey, let us meet this weekend. How long are you in town?”

The PepsiCo board is meeting in India as part of their country immersion. The surprise of the evening is that Shah Rukh Khan is part of the invitee list. Full disclosure: I do not find Shah Rukh to be a great actor but he is certainly one of the biggest stars ever. But the hysteria he evokes in most of his fans is intriguing.

As Vineeta, a fan from Fiji says, “Shah Rukh Khan is inspirational. He has inspired me to become a better human being. He is a complete role model. His energy, intelligence, charm and love for everyone has completely changed my perception of what a good human being should be like. He is the best actor in the whole world.”

India is a cinema and cricket crazy country. So film actors and cricket players (as long as they keep performing well) are worshipped. They are mobbed. The adulation is unreal and universal. In my post Do You Have a Lovemark I had written

“Kevin Roberts (author of Lovemarks: The Future Beyond Brands) talks about some brands that go beyond and become what he calls “Lovemarks“. When you plot brands on a 2×2 matrix of Love and Respect, there are some brands that inspire love AND build respect for themselves. Those in that hallowed zone are called Lovemarks. When a brand achieves Lovemark status, the consumers becomes evangelists for a brand. The relationship between the brand and the individual is beyond the realm of logic. “

If you look at the top ten Lovemarks you see three Bollywood actors who have reached the hallowed zone.

A year back I had said, “The sobering thought is that, the No 1 Lovemark in the list of top 200 Lovemarks is not a corporation but Shah Rukh Khan. Apple at number 4 trails Kajol (another Bollywood Actor and Google is at number 9 followed by Rani Mukherjee (another Bollywood actor).”

A year down the line the top ten lovemarks list has a few names substituted. What has not changed is that Shah Rukh Khan (http://www.shahrukhkhan.org/) is still No 1 in the list and Kajol is still no 3, Apple is still No 4 ( while iPod is No 11),  Google is still no 9 while Rani Mukherjee is still tenth in that list.

A quick glance at the list shows Pepsi as No 153 on the list while its brand ambassador for thirteen years is the world’s no 1 Lovemark. He has been Pepsi’s brand ambassador for thirteen years and that evening he was inducted into the Pepsi Hall of Fame. He is the third brand ambassador to be inducted. the two others being Michael Jackson and Elton John.

Organizations spend millions of dollars building brands and promoting their products, yet Bollywood inspires hysteria that a brand never would. So what is special about Shah Rukh Khan (aka SRK)? Here is what I saw that evening.

Marketing gurus have said this forever, “Break the clutter”. SRK does by being punctual. A punctual filmstar is an oxymoron. SRK was punctual and prepared. He was waiting in the wings two minutes ahead of the scheduled timing. So that quality breaks the clutter - for any star in India. We are still looking for a punctual politician in India.

What makes you successful I ask him. “I know what I can do best and I do it with all my heart. If I have committed to doing something, I will do it without any short cuts.” Over the years he has sharpened his skills as an entertainer. That makes up for his not being a great thespian.  When he shares a stage with Indra Nooyi, he tells the audience, “I feel my IQ has gone up instantly … it did as soon as I hugged Indra (Nooyi).” Indra reciprocates by saying, “If I tell my Indian friends in US that I hugged Shah Rukh Khan, they would not believe me.”

Communication skills contribute significantly to the actor’s popularity. He is a skilled communicator especially in one to many scenarios. He can charm a crowd. That explains the mass hysteria. I noticed how he stopped to speak to not just the invitees (I guess he was paid for that appearance) but that he also stopped to pose with all the hotel staff as they whipped out their camera phone to capture the moment. I did the same.

Do you make lists? A daily To-Do list? Maybe even an hourly list of things to be accomplished? Do you find these lists helpful or do you find them tyrannical? Lists bind me down. Worse still, I make lists and then forget where I have kept them. So making those lists doesn’t work for me. Yet there are scores of people who find lists a great help. They find it a source of joy when they keep ticking off the items one by one on that list. For someone like Amar Kaul (played by Vinay Pathak) in the film Dasvidaniya, (means goodbye in Russian) he lives for the to-do lists. That gives him a meaning in his life. He looks forward to the next to-do so that he can complete all those things marked in his list. For all his obsession with accomplishing tasks on his To-Do list, Amar Kaul is not successful in any sense of the term unlike his friend Rajiv Julka played by Rajat Kapoor. Vinay Pathak, Ranbir Sheorey and Rajat Kapoor have shared screen space in delightful films like Bheja Fry. This film is no exception. Neha Dhupia plays a tiny role in Amar Kaul’s life as does Saurabh Shukla (another delightful actor who I really like) who plays Amar Kaul’s boss. The Russian actress Svetlana is eye candy for sure and it breaks my heart to say she isn’t going to be ever nominated for an award for acting.

It is incredible how the film takes the audience along on each task. Amar has always loved Neha ever since they were kids but never managed to have the gumption to her so. Now when he manages to track her down, she is already married and has a cute daughter. So will that one task on his list remain unfulfilled? There are ten of those and the audience has a sense of vicarious accomplishment each time Amar Kaul strikes off one task. There are shades of the unassertive character that Amol Palekar played in Chhoti Si Baat. That was just a fleeting thought and not to be taken seriously.

Such a lovely film but such a lousy set of songs with really corny lyrics. That was the weak link in the film. Kailash Kher certainly can’t earn a living as a lyricist. And while I am on that cribbing spree, the music by Kailash Kher, Naresh and Paresh is forgettable. Compose some decent music for the next film should be on their To-Do list. 

The one who steals the show is Vinay Pathak. His performance is understated and tugs at your heart strings. His performance in Mithya, Khosla Ka Ghosla and Manorama Six Feet Under have all been noticeable. Dasvidanya is a film that will do well, not necessarily in the first few weeks at the multiplex, but on DVD. As you go and watch the film and talk about it to friends - they will all want to see this film. I loved the bit at the end when the cast of the film share what they would like to do before they die. Go and see the film and come back to make your own list - Ten Things To Do Before I Die.

There have been other films and books that exhort you to dance like no one is watching and to love like you will never get hurt, yet it is a reminder all of us can do with one more time.  Dasvidaniya sets you thinking about your own unfinished agenda in life. What if you discovered one day that you have three months to live. What would you do? What would you list as must do? What mental barriers would you cross? What untried things would you try out? Will you tell someone that you love her/ him? Will you learn a musical instrument? Will you travel to countries that hitherto remained only on the map? Will you learn a new sport - even though you are like me - born without a sporting gene? Will you learn to sing even though you have been told all your life that you cannot? Will you wear those clothes that you once bought for a grand occasion but no occasion seemed grand enough? Will you use that bottle of cologne or perfume that was just too expensive to use and is fading away in your cupboard? Will you make that painting that you wanted to? Get yourself a tattoo? Try bungee jumping?

 If you have so many To-Dos on your list, you better start doing it now!!

Rating **** out of 5

October 30th 2008: Bomb blasts in Guwahati

Hey October 30th 2008 was the day before yesterday. I was in the office when the news came in. Anxious calls were made. Was anyone planning a trip to Guwahati? Were there any people in our sales force who were supposed to be there? These are times when a “NO” can be a reassuring response. Everywhere in the country the citizens are trying to find the pattern. Where will it be next? How are we all coping in these times of uncertainty? People avoid crowded places - the shopkeepers moan as they struggle to deal with the slowdown in commerce. A loved one’s delay by a few minutes from the scheduled time results in anxious calls. Tempers fly. Then finally people learn to be immune to it all.

I was watching a film at a cineplex in Gurgaon on September 13th 2008 with friends when my cell phone started filling up with sms messages enquiring about my safety. There had been bomb blasts in Delhi. The film screening was interrupted by cops who swept the hall for bombs. After a few minutes of this interruption, we settled back again and continued watching the film as if nothing had happened. As we stepped out of the multiplex after the show ended we realized that the mall had been emptied and cordoned off by the police. Families were waiting anxiously to whisk the movie goers home who were still relishing the flavor of the film that had just got over.

When you inject a germ into the body in small doses, the body develops immunity to the disease. I think that is what is happening to us all. We flip the newspaper and read some other news item. Apathy can be a coping mechanism too. We pretend it only happens to others and ergo a part of the real world I can just shut off. Responsibility after all is made up of the words Response + Ability.

A great debut film is every film director’s dream. But not every director can be as lucky as Farhan Akhtar with Dil Chahta Hai or Aamir Khan with Taare Zameen Par. A Wednesday is director Neeraj Pandey’s debut film. A tad inspired by the Diehard series some might say. I am not sure. Two different recipes may have identical ingredients, but the flavor and the outcome may be totally different. Each character takes up mindspace - including the satellite characters. And that is a tough thing to do. Deepal Shaw as the TV Anchor or the two cops played by Jimmy Shergill and Aamir Bashir have bit roles but their screen presence cannot go unnoticed. I will say that even for Jimmy Shergill !! Anupam Kher as the super cop has inadequate screen time but how has that ever hampered him? A special mention must be made of Shree Narain Singh’s editing skills that never lets the pace slacken.

But the one I cannot praise enough in this crime thriller is Naseeruddin Shah. 150 films later this actor always manages to stun me with the breadth of his emotions. Whether it was the bit role in Omkara (Vishal Bhardwaj’s masterpiece based on Othello) or the 1983 comedy Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron जाने भी दो यारो(which I rate as one of the 5 best comedy films of Hindi cinema), Naseer is always effortless in his portrayal. I would love to tell you a lot more about the plot and the twists but only after you have gone and seen the film. It is a must see crime thriller after all!

In the photo above : (Senthil Kumar releases the novel. Karthika - the editor looks on)

The launch of a book is the closest experience to childbirth. The editor will keep doing the checkups and fine tune the diet to ensure a healthy kiddo. But the date of the launch is always unpredictable. Once the book goes in for editing, the editor takes over your life.

No good deed is ever left unpunished. The editor then gets to experience the same sense of helplessness when she jands over the edited manuscript to the Production Unit who will then design the pages and the cover and get the book printed.

Then you do a launch event. So what IS supposed to happen during a launch event? It could be anything. The trick is to put up some kind of a circus that encourages the spectators to finally loosen their purse strings and buy the book. Hence a lot of authors (yours truly included) read excerpts from the book. That gives the audience a flavor of the story and the writing style. I had recorded some excerpts that I had recorded with the extremely talented Madhu Rajesh (who runs the blog of Fritolay India and is part of their HR team).

“Why don’t you read a dramatized version of some chapters?”, suggested Lushin Dubey - the ever so experienced stage actor.
That’s finally what we agreed to do. Lushin did a marvellous job of changing her voice and diction and pace to create her own version of characters. Was she good!!

These photos of the launch party are all courtesy R Rajesh who is a very innovative shutterbug. My mugshot in the backpage of the novel which are also being used on the novel’s announcement posters for bookshops, is courtesy Rajesh. Check out his photos at http://www.pbase.com/r_rajesh1801/

The first review of the book is always awaited with much nervousness. Here is the first review of Married But Available as it appears in the Asian Age newspaper. I half expected Pramita Bose to do the review since she has covered stories on Mediocre But Arrogant and also did one of the early warning stories of the second :)  My book’s review was by Pooja Sharma and here it is from the web edition of The Asian Age of 25 Oct 2008 

    “The world goes around an MBA, at least in Abhijit Bhaduri’s Married But Available. The premise, coupled with an unassuming tone, works well for the book, a sequel to his debut Mediocre But Arrogant.Still wondering about the provocative title? That finds a hilarious justification right before the start. The humour promised there is served generously through the rest of the book as well. And it helps both, Abbey and Abhijit tide over tricky spots.”

Bhaduri draws on corporate experience to create a world where an MBA degree-holder charts his life. Nothing is high-brow and there are no pretentions to the same. But it’s a world well-sketched, well-peopled and one that has its share of action and drama. The narrative, in first person, flows unhindered and natural through the 270 pages of the book. Bhaduri moves in time, narrating most of the story from past. Though written about a generation that would be already past its prime by now, it hardly looks out of touch with the aspirations of the young and the daring.

The protagonist, Abbey, is an average grader at Jampot (Management Institute of Jamshedpur) and not particularly high and mighty at the start of his career. Most of the story is about his rise as a manager. The lessons he learns in due course are neither subtle nor symbolic as they come directly from the mouth of those who either take Abbey as their protégé or befriend him at some point in the book.

The author finds his way through locales in Jampot, Balwanpur Township and Delhi without any fumbling and is able to induce a degree of veracity into the frugal descriptions.

There is a little bit of everyone here — the collegegoer, the lover, the professional, the loser and, of course, the winner. Covering a variety of roles naturally risks distractions, but Bhaduri sticks to his line. And there are several elements that could have distracted him for the sake of not letting go a good opportunity, but his discipline pays to the final focus in the book. While Bhaduri draws on the stock types for most of the male characters in the book (authoritative boss Captain Sobti, management guru Rusty, honest union leader Arai), there is considerably more genius in the female characters, though he gives them few words. His women are unpredictable and Abbey’s relation with them remains hazy. There is also no attempt to create an illusion of depth where there isn’t any, which lends the narrative good footing.

New age booze-culture is allowed to run alongside traditional Indian-family setup. The sparks that fly highlight the palpable strains on society. Since the author does not take sides of any of the two parties, the sentiments echoed do not sound tiring.

The end, formed somewhat like a masque, tries to pack more action than it is comfortable carrying. But Bhaduri sticks to his virtues and carries it off without diluting the rest of the story.