Of Towels and Packs!

The term metrosexual male is been in vogue for quite some time however it has taken a fillip to the next level recently. The advent of salman, hritik , john and also the others "i go to the Gold gym" club had really turned the concept of a male macho unkempt sexy look on its head. Now even parlours claim in bold words that they do facials, pedicures and manicures for men.

despite all this , even now , if somebody asks you ...

"Hey dude, are you a metrosexual " .. you are unsure "Uh Huh!" you go .."what 'exactly' do u mean by a 'metrosexual' ? " ...."i am pretty straight you know" ... to the layman there is still a vestigial perception that a metrosexual male can either be a filmstar or a gay.

Now even this vestigial peception will be thrown out lock stock and barrel..... as on today.. the diwali . welcome the advent of the TOWEL and THE Six packs ...have you noticed , two of the most hyped movies in recent history are selling themselves on the towel and the six packs !!! where have the rain drenched sari clad heroines gone ?

Already i am reading in the reviews about how there is an 'item' number in both these films .... uh huh! Where are we headed ?

for the first time (in my limited knowledge ) the censor board has cut a scene from a sequence which happens to be a solo song of the ............HERO !!!!!

movies reflect the current culture , they say. they also act as tipping points for a culture to accept and change somethings . these two movies will probably bring about THE most fundamental change in the popular culture .

Finally guys will be able to claim that they are a metrosexual and not feel doubtful about it .

But where does all this lead the girls!!

I guess the filmmakers are killing many birds with one stone . Have an item number with a guy .. you get the girls swooning in , and you get a happy and gay section of the guys hooked .... at the end of the day you get the other guys too as most of their friends - guy or girl, is already hooked in so you dont have a choice . neat huh !

think Ms sawant will have to find an alternative career .. Looks like that the" Item song " market is in for a complete change where the product itself has changed. Sari sales will be the next affected.

I am getting the reviews that both Saawariya and Om Shanti Om are a dissappointing final product .. and if they dont do well then it is good news for all those engineering college guys who culd revel at the oppurtunity to watch a good item number , however if they do well .. then boys get ready to watch every tom , dick , harry , raj, rahul, vijay .... sporting a towel and low rise jeans, getting drenched in the rain and who knows even saying the line "Bachaooo Bachaoooo ".. very sooon.

Cheers

The BOSS!

Hi ,

Even if you dont know how to read/write/speak tamil the chances are really high that you would know that the above poster is of 'Sivaji' and the funky hairdo is on the superstar Rajini.

So What.... you may ask ? ..... okie , let me ask what was Rajini's last film's name ? , Which was the biggest release in Telegu recently. Who was the superstar of Kannada Filmdom?

Chances are that you may not be knowing these facts . BUT ask anything about Sivaji ..and i am quite sure you would give me at least some basic info . So it is not a regional matter anymore.

Sitting in country where the 'Sivaji' hype has not reached through word-of-mouth , i have been an objective viewer to the frenzy which has been kicked up back home. Have been following the pre-realease hype on the Hindi/English News Channels and Websites (cuz i dont watch Tamil channels out here) . And i have been made to believe that Sivaji is the biggest thing happening in India . Go to google's news page and type Sivaji and you find that the hype is not restricted to Tamil Nadu ,

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Sample this :

Gulf Daily News
1000 Rajni fans may get to see Sivaji: The Boss for freeFinancial Express, India - 17 hours agoDUBAI, JUN 18: Around 1000 labourers here, including housemaids, will be able to watch Tamil superstar Rajnikant’s mega-budget movie Sivaji - The Boss free

...Rajini becomes the boss of downloads! Indiatimes

Sivaji The Boss: Sudden Emergence of a Massive Film Desicritics.org

'Boss' Rajnikant rocks Bahrain too Hindustan Times

Bollywood fans line up to see the 'Boss' in BloomingdaleChicago Tribune, United States - 3 hours ago... turned this weekend's Chicago-area premiere of the South Indian action movie "Sivaji: The Boss" into a party that drew fans from as far away as Seattle. ...

Sivaji opens with Indian tamasha Hindustan Times

Film fans riot over delayed screening The West Australian

‘Sivaji’ likely to break box-office records New Straits Times

Daijiworld.com

New Delhi: Rajanikant - Reigning Boss of Indian CelluloidDaijiworld.com, India - 6 hours agoNew Delhi, Jun 19: The hype and hysteria surrounding the release of Sivaji: the Boss in India and overseas needs to be seen to be believed but there is no ...Southern lights Hindustan Times

Sivaji-The Boss tickets for freeDaily News & Analysis, India - Jun 18, 2007PTI DUBAI: Around 1000 labourers here, including housemaids, will be able to watch Tamil superstar Rajnikant's mega-budget movie 'Sivaji - The Boss' free of ...UAE's poor Rajni fans to feast on 'Sivaji' Hindustan Times'Sivaji': Free tickets for 1000 labourers in Dubai Hinduall 15 news articles »
Sivaji: the BossHindustan Times, India - Jun 18, 2007The hype and hysteria surrounding the release of Sivaji: the Boss in India and overseas needs to be seen to be believed but there is no doubt about who is ...First take on 'Sivaji'- The Boss' Televisionpoint.com

SIVAJI ticket not available for Shriya SaranGlamsham.com, India - 5 hours agoSouth star Shriya Saran, the leading lady opposite superstar Rajnikant in the Tamil blockbuster ‘Sivaji - The Boss’, did not get tickets in Chennai to watch ...No entry for Rajni’s girl Daily News & AnalysisSivaji: All style but no substance Newindpress (subscription)Shriya flooded with offers NDTV.comall 4 news articles »
Newindpress on Sunday
Fans in city can’t wait for the BossKolkata Newsline, India - Jun 17, 2007Kolkata, June 17: When will Sivaji - The Boss, be released in Kolkata? This is perhaps the most frequent query posted online in various chat forums by the ...Who is the boss? Daily News & AnalysisSivaji heroine didn’t get tickets for her own film IndiaFM'Sivaji' reaches beyond Tamil Nadu Televisionpoint.comHindu - Merinewsall 8 news articles »
Sivaji fetches Rs 11 lakh a day in taxTimes of India, India - 18 hours agoThe big budget Sivaji - The Boss is raining big money for the commercial tax department. The Rajnikant-starrer has fetched more money than any other ...
Dubai - Who's the Boss7DAYS, United Arab Emirates - Jun 17, 2007Dubai - Hard-up workers will be given the chance to view South Indian superstar Rajnikanth's latest hit movie 'Sivaji: The Boss' thanks to the generosity of ...
Sivaji : The Boss – Movie ReviewApun Ka Choice, CA - Jun 16, 2007... the end product fully justifies all the hype and hoopla that surrounded the release of Superstar Rajnikant’s magnum opus, Sivaji : The Boss. ...

'Sivaji' is the boss in SingaporeTimes Now.tv, India - 9 hours agoTamil superstar Rajnikanth's new movie "Sivaji" has premiered to excited audiences in Singapore. Hundreds have passed through the movie theatre doors since ...
Rajnikanth's `Sivaji' Makes Up for Lackluster Bollywood ShowingBloomberg - 10 hours agoIt's a pity that language will restrict ``Sivaji'' to being a minority pleasure and that the funny bits will get lost in translation. ``Sivaji: The Boss ...

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You get the drift , the phenomenon is not only in India , it is almost all over !

I had heard about the making of Sivaji in 2005 , that Shanker wants to make a film with rajanikant, and he wants to make a stylish movie with rajani doing everything what a normal hero would do. I thought it was a ridiculous idea and would be the downfall of both Rajini and Shanker ( i remembered the days of toofan, Jaadugar, mrityudand, lalbaadshah of Amitabh) Seeing Rajini in real life without the glitz makes it unbelievable that shanker could comprehend a movie like that ............... but all that was 2 years back .

TODAY .... the movie is released , Rajini looks younger , fairer and full of style . The first two thanks to technology and the style all inbuilt into Rajini ! ... He has managed to carry it off , Shanker has managed to make the movie ....period!

So people who had joked about aging -superstar- dancing -around- trees -dating -daughteraged heroine ... should be eating their straw hats now .

It is not so because the movie has got a bumper opening , it is because the movie has got a 100% opening all across the world and once you are able to get people who dont understand tamil , to watch a subtitled version of a movie , then you have ARRIVED !

Hats off to the PR and Marketing team of Sivaji , this movie is by far the most hyped movie of all times and the hype has paid off . The word-of-mouth , the constant attention of all english news channels the mechandise , the use of the internet , blogs , readers comments have all made it one helluva of a marketing campaign .

This deserves a Marketing Case Study status . If I remember correctly the last movie of Rajini - Chandramukhi was a big blockbuster in South , but such hype was not visible at that point altough it was only 2 years back .

So case in point - There was something done for Sivaji , some real good PR initiative which has made this movie into something like a cult phenomenom.

I am desperate to see the Movie , but have no choice right now . And seeing it on a pirated DVD at home will not be befitting the BOSS ..yena per ketale atharudu!!!! Hope i get to watch this soooon.

The Great Pyramids of Giza

Seen this in Movies, Books, Magazines mostly through others eyes . This is how it looks through my eyes - Aweinspiring collection of 'stones' !
Hell, These Pharoahs WERE powerful!
More pics in my album

http://picasaweb.google.com/ramakrishnan.cn


I felt small - Period.

Brand Control Council of India

Brand Control Council of India

Perhaps the most engrossing news that has been doing the rounds nowadays, is the BCCI announcing new schemes regarding its conduct, pay schemes etc.
I was left wondering on why have they not introduced , Goals, KRA’s , the Deliverables , Hours of Training at the nets per year when they introduced performance based pay systems - in effect a full fledged ‘corporatisation ‘ of the Game.

So far so good - but wait did I miss out on something , I always used to believe that these people (players) have devoted their life to Cricket and becuz they were able to convert their dream to reality they are not in the Corporate rut and boy was I jealous . They were held in high esteem , not because they are famous, but because they dared to be different and had the guts to go out and play their heart out .

Now it is a different story now even they have to worry about year end
performance appraisals and month end paycheques poor guys , Crab Mentality cant have somebody happy ! .

Now lets focus on one of the rulings – No player can endorse more than 3 brands or is it companies or is it campaigns /Ads in a year . And no brand or is it company or a campaign/Ad can take more that 2 players at a time.

Now let me get one thing straight, Research people / Companies do research worth lakhs to find a ‘ brand fit’ between a celebrity and the Brand Values . Lot of MR people go to lots of places stay in great places to get out vital significant Quant and Quali insights into this whole process of Brand Fit . Clients Pay money , MR people spend effort and time period . But now …….
Although somehow all brand values seem to fit SRK or AB or Sachin or Dhoni for some weird reason . but we’ll let this thought pass for the time being!

So BCCI now has controlled how many Brand Fit possible in a year , C mon even if the MR people say that Uthappa is the purrrfect fit for your itch guard cream , you CANT do anything , you must go in for Kader Khan or Pawar (Not Romesh .. you twit ! ) …………Period.

What happens to the Sports Management firms ! nothing they will become like media managers , buy as much brands as possible and allocate it to the players………………. 2 each . Lawyers will get a lot of business as they would be fighting with the BCCI on how a Brand / Ad/Campaign/Company are all same things …. Uthappa would be doing Lux, Surf , Rin, Rexona but they are in fact Brand “Extentions” of only Two Categories ! (We might have some Players and lawyers taking up a crash course in MICA to understand the nuances …. Cheapo ! )


But but , having said that I am again slightly confused reg. the concept of a Brand Ambassador . In the case of sports , I had thought , a Sport becomes popular , more and more people watch it , few sportsmen become popular and their Brand Value is mapped and calculated using sophisticated matrices ( although Sachin will always get more than anybody no matter what he scores but that’s a different thing………! ) As higher number of eyeballs are captured , a brand thinks that by associating with this celebrity it can piggyback and get some leverage . So Far so Good.

So in effect it is supply demand thing , more the demand for a sports more the demand for the people playing the sport , and more the demand for endorsements . So in effect the people (public) who are raising a hue and cry over the endorsements done by players , when in fact it is due to THEM that they are getting any kind of work !

So stop watching cricket and they would stop getting endorsements !!!

hey ………. now that is interesting , I think the BCCI has actually done a BIG favor to the players . As anywayz they were not going to get any renewals of their contracts with Pepsi’s of the world , but now they need not get embarrassed they can always say that they have deliberately not taken up any endorsement for the sake of the country ! Kool Na .. BCCI wins, The Players Wins , The Public …… always the Ch#$@# a’s !


If you have read this far then I must appreciate your patience , anyhow the above thing did not make anysense to me and if it did to you , please please do comment . Would love to hear from you .

Btw, I am raising a PIL that SRk should reduce the ads that he is doing as his films are not upto the mark and also KBC is going down in TRP’s . there should be a cap on 1 ad every year and 1 extra ad for every hit movie he give . Sounds logical right , performance based incentive .. ha ha .


Leaving you with this thought, Turning a hobby into your profession is the most difficult thing to achieve, but once you do that it is no more a hobby!

Btw. If you wondering what has the image got to do with the article ...NOTHING ... I had just clicked it yesterday and was force fitting it .. thats all . Being a MICAn i could have given you a 20 point paper on the relevance of the pic , but lets leave it now.

Cheers

1st April

Happy 1st of April once more .

Watch this

http://www.ibnlive.com/videos/37480/04_2007/twtw010407_2/the-week-that-wasnt-with-cyrus-broacha.html

Good One... if you wanna know why Johnson & Johnson has expressed interest to sponsor the Indian Team and why on earth Virgin Airlines would not sponsor them.

Enjoy and would like your comments.

Cheers

Movement

Hi there ,

so me has moved again ! Just was getting a 'settling donw' feeling in chennai and now it is Alexandria in Egypt . Will be posting lots of pics from here (hope so ) some links are here

http://picasaweb.google.com/ramakrishnan.cn/AlexandriaFirstTour

This is a phenomenally historical City ... Alexander & Cleopatra name pop up immediately when we say alexandria and of course Egypt itself is steeped in history. however the modern upcoming Egypt is a far cry from the greatness of its past . But more of that later.

Thought of the day - When you start feeling comfortable and relaxed at a place understand that is time to leave.

C ya

cheers

Rama