The Gravity-Defying Economies of Bollywood!

The Gravity-Defying Economies of Bollywood!

The Eurozone may be passing through its worst crisis ever. The US may be on a double-dip (or is it triple-dip already?) recession.

Coke and Pepsi are on a continuous de-growth (at least the cola part of the equation). The new car launches are meeting tepid response.

Rupee is cheap. And stock markets are on a perennial stagnant mode.

Unemployment is high. Salary hikes are difficult to come by.

The Global economy may be out in the Woods.

However, there is one-industry that defies downturn of any kind – the good ‘ol Bollywood!

Its half-time 2012 and Bollywood has already registered 4 mammoth 100-Crore Blockbusters! Add a couple of ‘Almost there’ 100-crore sleeper-hits (Kahaani and Cocktail) and what we have is a money-spinner in virtually every month of 2012!!

The masses and the classes, the single-screen mango people and the Multiplex elites, all are consuming movies like never before. The Sold-out and Housefull indicators are now once again a frequent phenomenon. 

Don’t believe me? Well here are a few statistics –

·         The total Bollywood collections at the domestic box office in H1 2011 were around Rs. 610 crore. Same period this year i.e. H1 2012 has yielded upwards of Rs. 850 crore!!

·         July 2012 has been phenomenal so far.  Two huge successes – Bol Bachchan and Cocktail – that are going very strong!

·         The 100-Crore club that opened in 2008 with Ghajini was joined by 3 Idiots in 2009. In 2010 we had 2 more in the form of Dabangg and Golmaal 3. 

·         2011 was huge with 5 more such 100-crore extravaganzas.

·         However, 2012 promises to be the Biggest Bollywood year EVER! We’re just half-way through and we already have 4 Gorilla blockbusters in the kitty!

·         In typical Bollywood flamboyance, it’s easy to say that “We’re just warming up mate!” The best is yet to come. The Khans haven’t yet played a ball!  

·         And fortunately, all the 3 Khans have some red-hot blockbusters lined up for Eid, Diwaali and Christmas this year!

·         Throw in a couple of Akki and Ajay biggies, and what we have is a giddy concoction.

·         If you’ve already started feeling the hole in your pocket; if you think you’ve already splurged a bit too much on the movies this year, well you’re in for some real trouble.

·         Here’s a quick run through the Bollywood line-up for the rest of this year. Get ready to be spoilt for choices, virtually every week till the end of 2012.

·         Please start planning your finances right away! The Bollywood juggernaut has giant plans to rip apart your wallet this year.

·         In all probability, it’s gonna be a case of Bollywood gluttony this festive season…what with 4 sure-shot 100-Crore bonanzas lined up. Watch your Bollywood calories folks! How do you plan to handle -

o   Ek Tha Tiger

o   SRK-Kat-Anushka-Yash Raj untitled movie

o   Talaash

o   Dabangg 2

·         And well, if your wallet permits, there is a fair enough chance of 3 more biggies making it in this coveted 100-crore club –

o   Joker

o   Barfi

o   Son of Sardar

Ready to loosen up your purse strings buddy? If ever, there was a Bollywood Mutual Fund, it could’ve been our best investment option in these uncertain times!! At the same time, just like Financial Planners, we soon gonna witness another class of experts to guide us on our ruthless spending on the movies - The Movie Planners!!

“Sir, the market will peak up during Diwaali – with Son of Sardar and Yash Raj-SRK movie. Would advise you to not invest in Shirin Farhad, there is Joker coming just the next week. Also, it’s advisable to hold on to some disposable cash for Dabangg 2 at the fag end of 2012!”

For quick reference, pasted below is a ready reckoner of the movies lined-up for the rest of this year. Take your pick with care....as there is actually a lot to choose from! Spend wisely guys!

Your Movie Planner for H2 2012

*The Buzz and Expected Business have no mathematical backing, but influenced simply by my gut feel, the first look and on-air promos, the attractiveness index of the star-production house-director combination, the freshness and curiosity raised by the subject, the media and trade mentions of the said movie and well....my love and fascination for this fantastic industry called Bollywood! 

Release Date	Film-Title	Star-Cast	Director	Genre	Buzz	Expected Business (in Crores)
Jul-27	Kyaa Super Kool Hain Hum	Tusshar Kapoor, Riteish Deshmukh, Bipasha Basu, Angela Jonsson	Sachin Yardi	Comedy	Good	30
Aug-03	Jism 2	Sunny Leone, Arunoday Singh, Randeep Hooda	Pooja Bhatt	Adult, Thriller	Fair	30
Aug-08	Gangs Of Wasseypur 2	Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Tigmanshu Dhulia, Huma Qureshi	Anurag Kashyap	Thriller	Cold	20
Aug-15	Ek Tha Tiger	Salman Khan, Katrina Kaif	Kabir Khan	Thriller, Romance	Red Hot	150
Aug-24	Chasme Baddoor	Ali Zafar, Tapsee Pannu, Sonu Nigam, Rishi Kapoor	David Dhawan	Comedy	Cold	20
Aug-24	Shirin Farhad Ki Nikal Padi	Farah Khan, Boman Irani	Bela Segal	Comedy	Good	30
Aug-31	Joker	Akshay Kumar, Sonakshi Sinha, Shreyas Talpade, Minissha Lamba	Shirish Kunder	Sci-Fi	Hot	80
Aug-31	Zila Ghaziabad	Vivek Oberoi, Sanjay Dutt, Arshad Warsi, Minissha Lamba	Anand Kumar	Action, Thriller	Cold	40
Sep-07	Raaz 3	Emraan Hashmi, Esha Gupta	Vikram Bhatt	Thriller, Suspense	Cold	40
Sep-14	Barfi	Ranbir Kapoor, Priyanka Chopra, Ileana D'Cruz	Anurag Basu	Comedy	Hot	70
Sep-21	English Vinglish	Sridevi, Priya Anand, Mehdi Nebbou	Gauri Shinde	Drama	Cold	20
Sep-21	Heroine	Kareena Kapoor, Arjun Rampal, Arunoday Singh	Madhur Bhandarkar	Drama	Good	40
Sep-21	Ishkq In Paris	Preity Zinta, Isabelle Adjani	Prem R Soni	Romance	Cold	20
Sep-28	Kamaal Dhamaal Malamaal	Nana Patekar, Shreyas Talpade, Paresh Rawal, Rajpal Yadav	Priyadarshan	Comedy	Cold	20
Sep-28	OMG Oh My God	Paresh Rawal, Mithun Chakraborty, Akshay Kumar, Sonakshi Sinha	Umesh Shukla	Comedy	Good	70
Oct-05	1920 - Evil Returns	Aftab Shivdasani, Tia Bajpai, Vidya Malvade	Bhushan Patel	Horror	Cold	30
Oct-19	Student Of The Year	Siddharth Malhotra, Varun Dhawan, Alia Bhatt	Karan Johar	Drama	Good	60
Nov-13	Son Of Sardar	Ajay Devgn, Sonakshi Sinha, Sanjay Dutt, Juhi Chawla	Ashwani Dhir	Action	Hot	90
Nov-30	Talaash	Aamir Khan, Kareena Kapoor, Rani Mukerji	Reema Kagti	Suspense, Drama	Red Hot	100
Nov-30	Yash Chopra's Next	Shahrukh Khan, Katrina Kaif, Anushka Sharma	Yash Chopra	Romance	Red Hot	100
Dec-07	Aashiqui 2	Aditya Roy Kapur, Shraddha Kapoor	Mohit Suri	Romance	Good	30
Dec-07	Khiladi 786	Akshay Kumar, Himesh Reshammiya, Paresh Rawal, Ileana D'Cruz	Ashish R Mohan	Action, Comedy	Cold	60
Dec-21	Dabangg 2	Salman Khan, Sonakshi Sinha	Arbaaz Khan	Action, Romance	Red Hot	130

COP-y Cats bringing in the Moolah!

12 Habits of Highly Effective Leaders

12 Habits of Highly Effective Leaders
+ 12 Vices they should necessarily stay away from

A Foreword 

It’s simple to scan through some popular management books or do a quick search on the Internet to come up with some of the most prevalent habits of effective leaders. 

However, the real question – Do you actually believe in those habits? Do you actually practice what you preach? or in this case what others have preached?

I have consciously tried to a avoid sourcing material from any book or any other existing information to keep these 12 effective rules and 12 worst vices as close to my real behavior as possible.

The following takeouts are based on my personal managerial traits practiced over the past few years. Ofcourse, these are not some breakthrough practices or revolutionary-never-done-before concepts. But simple, common sense leadership beliefs.

They’ve more or less worked for me (you need to ask my team as well)….and I am sure they will work for OR are actually (consciously/sub-consciously) working for most of us.