MxMIndia

Author: mxm_india

  • Trade sentiment upbeat as over 15k professionals attend Scat 2011, the annual 3-day satellite and cable TV trade show

    Digitisation ups mood at trade show

    By Insiyah Rangwala

    The announcement of the new regulation enabling the rollout of digital addressable systems in the country, upped the mood at the Satellite and Cable TV Trade Show last week. Organised by the Satellite & Cable TV magazine, the show, now in its 20th year, SCaT saw the attendance of over 15,000 people from the industry and networks.

     

    Mr Dinyar Contractor, Editor and Executive Publisher of Satellite & Cable TV, said the response to SCaT has been overwhelming. With hardware prices having fallen from three years ago at 100 channels being Rs 1 crore to last year’s Rs 60 lakh and this year’s 200 channels at Rs 27 lakh, this has positively affected the mid size networks, as digital is now no longer inaccessible to them. The critical new element at SCaT has been the discussions of pricing and buying.

     

    The technologies showcased at SCaT this year were the digital set-top box, MPEG2 and MPEG4 along with emergence HD channels. Mr Dharmesh Gandhi, Product Marketing Manager at NDS, said their key aspect was content protection and providing the middle ware for pay TV. They were showcasing new features such as the search option and targeted advertising. It helps a user with browsing and discovering more related content.

     

    Mr Vikram Nagda, Marketing and Operations Head, Channel Masters, stated that they feel very positively about the digitization of cable TV in India as it has enabled the internet to become an even larger commodity. Mr Saravanan Narayanasamy, Chief Technical Engineer, Indian CAT from Pace, said that with or without the government digital is picking up as it can be seen at SCaT with the tremendous turnout from newcomers.

     

    Mr Manoj Thakur Deputy General Manager, Catvision, said that even though currently digital in India is big only in the metros it is increasingly broadening its reach.

     

    According to Mr Contractor, the mood in the trade is so buoyant that most operators have reconfirmed their presence in a bigger way for next year with stalls being pre-sold.

     

  • Digital mandate to benefit the industry and the consumer: Media Partners Asia

    Digitization will boost TV industry: MPA report

    By Rishi Vora

     

    The government mandate to digitise cable networks across India will bring a significant transformation to the US $7 billion television industry with a positive impact on the nascent broadband market, says a report published by Media Partners Asia (MPA).

     

    Executive Director of Media Partners Asia, Mr Vivek Couto said, “India’s broadcasting and pay TV market is on the cusp of a high growth value phase, similar to North America between 1998 and 2003, Korea during 2003-2007, and Taiwan during 2005-2010. Valuations of the domestic companies in these markets during the high-growth value stage typically skyrocketed, as networks were upgraded and services to consumers expanded. In India, domestic players and foreign investors will both do well, to the benefit of consumers, when the government’s policies take shape.”

     

    The report, entitled ‘Investing in Digital India: The Dynamics of Mandatory Addressable Digitization’, underlines benefits across the value chain.

     

    A boost for the government and the economy
    If the current analog cable distribution model remains in place and digital penetration is limited, the cumulative value of the tax receipts lost by the government would reach US $11 billion over the next decade or more than US $1 billion per year. The government therefore has sufficient incentives to push digitisation and can also accelerate the process by offering tax incentives to a potential multi-billion-dollar industry. Digitisation will also help the government pursue India’s broadband goals and thereby help to boost economic growth. Potentially, a 10 percent increase in broadband penetration would increase India’s GDP by 1.5 percent. As of September 2011, broadband per capita penetration in India was only 1 percent. In its National Broadband Plan, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India sees a pivotal role for cable operators with digital network upgrades paving the way for broadband growth.

     

    Consumer will have the choice
    Digital cable television will improve the consumer experience and resolve legacy issues from analog cable services. Consumers will gain access to more channels; attractive tiering options with differentiated content across local, regional and niche genres. It will provide a better viewing experience; and improved quality of service. Digital cable television will also be affordable for the consumer. As per international benchmarks, spending on pay TV typically accounts for 5 percent of GDP per capita. In this context, digital cable television in India will be affordable given heavy subsidies on STBs (currently subsidised at 60-70 percent by MSOs), which will ensure that consumer spends fall within the 5 percent benchmark. Consumers will also benefit from new competition as digitisation in metros ensures that seven DTH satellite platforms (including free service DD Direct) compete for customers with digital cable operators.

     

    Cable transformation almost certain
    MPA expects a six-fold increase in subscriber revenues for cable MSOs, though not without at least a 20 percent churn in the cable subscriber base to DTH. Subscriber declaration levels will increase from 15 percent currently to 100 percent, while the retained ARPU will increase by six times after assuming a 30 percent base case revenue share with the local cable operator (LCO) will reduce the payback period on digitisation. Under a bundled model, the payback period could be reduced by a year to 24 months, as opposed to 36 months under a standalone digital proposition.

     

    The main challenges, apart from managing subscriber churn to DTH are one, the drop in carriage fees by about 20-50 percent; and second – incentivising revenue-sharing agreements that need to be struck with local cable operators to drive digital into homes.

     

    Opportunity for DTH players
    Phase I digitisation in the four key metros offers a good opportunity for DTH operators to grab high-ARPU customers and increase the platform’s reach in larger TAM markets. MSOs envisage about 15-20 percent churn in cable subs to DTH, though some suspect this could grow to 30 percent in the early stages of Phase I deployment. Subsidised HD offerings will also act as a key differentiator for DTH players as few cable operators have rolled out HD services.

     

    Benefit to broadcasters
    Digitisation will help boost subscription revenues and reduce dependence on advertising. Improved economics will also help broadcasters launch niche channels with a premium focus while carriage and placement fees will fall in certain markets and moderate in others. At the same time, consumer adoption of certain programming tiers and specific channels (over others) will ensure healthy competition while broadcasters will also be under pressure to produce content with differentiation, premium quality (potentially advertising-free) and with local relevance.

     

    Benefit to investors
    Upon successful implementation of the digital mandate, gradual consolidation of LCOs will become inevitable. This will shift industry profits and value to centralised distribution platforms and broadcasters. Valuations for cable/ pay TV operators in the USA, Korea and Taiwan during their high-growth value stage typically averaged 12-16x one year forward EBITDA, versus the current trading average of 9-10x for India’s listed cable/pay TV entities. MPA assumes similar or higher valuations for companies in India subject to successful execution. Most investors, especially strategic companies, will adopt a wait-and-watch approach, potentially making their bets after Phase I is completed.

  • Is FM radio losing out? Media agencies have their say.

    RAMcheck: Media agencies on new FM listenership numbers

    By Robin Thomas

     

    The latest RAM data on radio listenership for the month of September to mid-October has thrown up a few surprises in radio listenership. New leaders have emerged in cities that were once strongholds of their rivals. Barring Kolkata where Radio Mirchi continues its leadership position, the remaining three markets – Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru have new No. 1s.

     

    Take Mumbai for instance, once a Radio Mirchi bastion, the latest RAM figures (category: all people 12+, all places of listening, shares) show Radio City as the number one private FM station in the city, slightly ahead of Radio Mirchi. However this time (i.e. week 38-42, 2011) Radio City had to share the No. 1 slot with the government owned FM radio – AIR FM2-Gold. Bengaluru where Big FM held its number one status for a very long time is now overthrown by Radio City. In Delhi Fever FM has become number one taking over from AIR FM2- Gold, Radio Mirchi which was number one in the city for very long time has slipped to number three position. These figures are according to RAM, All People 12+, all places of listening and all daypart (i.e. Sunday to Saturday 12 am to 12 am).

     

    In addition to these developments we find that when we compare week 35- week 38, 2011 (last week of August to 1st three weeks of September, 2011) and week 39- week 42, 2011 (Last 2 weeks of September and 1st two weeks of October, 2011) not all FM stations have witnessed growth in their listenership. When asked whether FM stations have reached a stagnation point in listenership, Mr Janardhan Pandey, Associate VP, Mudra Max explained, “It has not reached a stagnation point, but a period of stabilization. To further increase listenership, FM stations will have to take the quality of content and programming to the next level along with higher-level product promotions.”

     

    Mr Ajay Rao, Vice President, Dentsu observed, “FM stations do not have novelty working for them any more. It is today a force of habit for people who find themselves without a smartphone to keep them going. For the young people FM is losing out to other more engaging past times. Can one differentiate basis the content? Listeners tune in for music and switch channels during breaks.”

     

    AIR FM2- Gold which has been growing strong in listenership particularly in Mumbai and Delhi where it has emerged as a strong number two contender. What remains to be seen is whether this trend continues or will it see a decline or stagnation in listenership. Media planners are however of the view that since AIR FM2- Gold offer only specific contents it is not considered as often as the private stations. Mr Narendra Kumar Alambara, Vice President, Starcom Chennai was of the view that, “Since the entertainment content is limited in AIR, the advertisers do not consider AIR as often as compared to the private stations.”

     

    “AIR FM- Gold has been consistently delivering impressive numbers, this suggest that the music is most important content of a radio station and RJ/ innovations and promotions alone cannot keep you on top,” said Mr Janardhan Pandey.

  • Radio Audience Measurement (RAM) on December 2 released its latest radio listenership figures for Week 35-38 and Week 39-42. Some highlights

    RAMcheck: Some surprises in 4-metro stats for Aug to mid-Oct

    By Robin Thomas

     

    On Friday, December 2, Radio Audience Measurement (RAM) released its latest radio listenership figures for Week 35 to Week 38, 2011 (last week of August to 1st three weeks of September, 2011) and Week 39 to Week 42, 2011 (Last 2 weeks of September and 1st two weeks of October, 2011). RAM covers four key metros – Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata and Bengaluru.

     

    According to the latest RAM data, for listeners 12 years and above, from all places of listening and according to share value, Radio City, Radio Mirchi, Big FM, Red FM, Fever FM, Radio One, Oye! FM are some of the top FM stations in the big four metros.

     

    Mumbai:

    In Mumbai Radio City emerged as the number one FM station in Mumbai, followed by AIR FM2- Gold, Radio Mirchi, Big FM, Fever FM, Red FM, are the top six FM stations in Mumbai. The other FM stations in Mumbai include Radio One, Vividh Bharati, AIR FM1 Rainbow and Oye! FM.

     

    If we compare growth of FM listenership in terms of shares from Week 35 to week 38, 2011 and Week 39 to Week 42, 2011 we find that Radio City, AIR FM2- Gold, Big FM, Fever FM, Radio One and Vividh Bharati are the only FM stations to have witnessed growth. Interestingly, AIR FM2- Gold emerged as the fastest growing FM station, with a share of 12.59 per cent. Radio City, number one FM radio station grew 0.63 per cent in shares. Big FM, the fourth most popular FM station as per the latest RAM figures remained stagnant whereas Fever FM saw a marginal growth of 0.88 per cent. Radio One also saw good growth of 6.25 per cent.

     

    The FM stations which saw a decline in their listenership share are Radio Mirchi, Red FM, AIR FM1- Rainbow and Oye! FM. While Radio Mirchi is the third most popular FM station in Mumbai after AIR FM2- Gold then Radio Mirchi saw a decline of 7.19 per cent. Oye! FM on the other hand saw a decline of 11.43 per cent in their listenership share.

     

    Delhi:

    The RAM figures for Delhi too have thrown some interesting figures. Fever FM emerged as the number one FM station from week 39 to week 42 (i.e. Last 2 week of September and 1st two week of October, 2011). Fever FM took the leadership position from AIR FM2- Gold which was number one in Delhi from week 35 to week 38, 2011 (i.e. (last 1 week of August to 1st three week of September, 2011).

     

    Ranked one is Fever FM with a share of 20.7 per cent as on week 39 to week 42, 2011. Fever FM is closely followed by AIR FM2- Gold with a share of 20 per cent. Ranked three is Radio Mirchi with a share of 16.7 per cent and Red FM with a share of 11 per cent as on week 39 to week 42, 2011. While Big FM and Radio One received a share of 5.6 per cent and 5 per cent respectively, Oye! FM and Hit FM received 3.6 per cent and 2.1 per cent share respectively.

     

    The FM stations that witnessed growth in their listenership share (i.e. comparing ‘Week 35 to 38, 2011’ and ‘Week 39 to 42 2011’) we find Fever FM, AIR FM2- Gold, Big FM, Radio One, AIR FM1- Rainbow, Hit FM and Vividh Bharati are the FM stations to have witnessed growth. Fever FM which leads Delhi in terms of listenership share grew 5.61 per cent, Big FM grew 5.66 per cent, Hit FM grew 5 per cent, AIR FM1- Rainbow grew 4 per cent. Radio One emerged as the fastest growing FM station in Delhi with a listenership share of 5 per cent as on week 39 to 42, 2011 which is a growth of 8.70 per cent as against 4.6 per cent share on week 35- week 38, 2011.

     

    Radio Mirchi, Radio City, Red FM and Oye! FM on the other hand saw a decline in their listenership share (i.e. when we compare Week 39-42 as against week 35 to 38, 2011). Fever FM, AIR FM2- Gold, Radio Mirchi, Radio City, Red FM, Big FM, Radio One and Oye! FM are the top 8 FM stations in terms of listenership share.

     

    Bengaluru:

    Radio City continues its leadership position in Bengaluru, it is closely followed by Radio Mirchi, Big FM, Red FM and AIR FM1- Rainbow are the top five FM stations in Bengaluru.

     

    Big FM which held the number one position for a long time in Bangalore is now ranked three after Radio City and Radio Mirchi. However with a listenership share of 18.3 per cent (on week 39 to week 42, 2011), Big FM witnessed a marginal growth of 0.55 per cent as against its listenership share of 18.2 per cent (from week 35 to 38, 2011). The other FM stations to have witnessed growth are Radio City, Radio Mirchi, AIR FM1- Rainbow and Radio Indigo. Radio City received a share of 24 per cent on week 39 to week 42, 2011 as against 23.6 per cent from week 35 to 38, 2011, a growth of 1.69 per cent. Radio Mirchi on the other hand grew 3.65 per cent after receiving a share of 22.7 per cent on week 39 to 42, 2011 as against a share of 21.9 per cent from week 35 to 38, 2011.

     

    The other private FM stations in Bengaluru are Red FM, Radio One and Fever FM which received a share of 11.6 per cent, 5.5 per cent and 5.4 per cent respectively. Red FM for instance in Bengaluru received a share of 11.6 per cent (from week 39 to 42, 2011), week 35-38, 2011, the FM station received a share of 12.3 per cent, a decline of 5.69 per cent. Radio One declined 5.17 per cent after receiving a share of 5.5 per cent on week 39 to 42, 2011 as against 5.8 per cent share on week 35 to 38, 2011. Fever FM on the other hand received a share of 5.4 per cent (on Week 39 to 42′ 2011) as compared to its share of 5.8 per cent on week 35 to 38, 2011, a decline of 6.90 per cent.

     

    Kolkata:

    The top five FM stations in Kolkata are Radio Mirchi, Big FM, Friends FM, Aamar FM and Red FM. While Radio Mirchi continues to lead the Kolkata market with a share of 23.1 per cent (for week 39 to 42, 2011), the second most popular FM station as per week 39 to week 42 data, Big FM is a distant second with a share of 17.4 per cent. Friends FM maintains its third rank in Kolkata with a listenership share of 15.5 per cent, Aamar FM came next with a share of 10.5 per cent and rank five is Red FM with a listenership share of 9.3 per cent.

     

    The other private FM stations in Kolkata are Fever FM, with a share of 8.5 per cent, Oye! FM with a share of 3.9 per cent, Radio One with a share of3.8 per cent, Oye! FM received a share of 3.9 per cent and Power FM received 1 per cent.

     

    Radio Mirchi, Big FM, Friends FM, Red FM, Oye! FM, AIR FM1- Rainbow, Akashvani and Vividh Bharati are the only radio stations to have witnessed growth in the week 39 to week 42 data as against their numbers in week 35 to week 38.

  • Turner Broadcasting System Asia Pacific realigns executive management roles.

    Staff restructuring @ Turner

    By A Correspondent

    More than two decades after launching with pan-regional CNN and Cartoon Network services, and having grown to 23 channels and 29 websites in nine languages, Turner Broadcasting System Asia Pacific (TBSAP) is to realign its structure to reflect its considerable business outside of Hong Kong. The large, geographically-diverse Asia-Pacific region has over the years become a combination of distinct sub-regions, each with its own characteristics, business imperatives and growth challenges. In order to pursue the network’s ambitious new goals in an increasingly dynamic and fragmented Asia-Pacific region, TBSAP is to rebalance its resources to better seize the exciting opportunities in these territories of North Asia, South Asia and Southeast Asia/Pacific, each of which will come under a new management structure.

    Mr Steve Marcopoto, President and MD TBSAP, commented, “The driving principle behind our new set-up is to provide ownership and accountability to each Asia-Pacific sub-region in pursuit of growth. To better align us to meet the challenges and opportunities of these distinct markets in the years ahead, business will be run out of each sub-region with Hong Kong oversight and support.”

    Individual roles of the TBSAP executive team are to be realigned as follows: Mr Sunny Saha becomes SVP & MD Entertainment Networks, TBSAP, and takes on expanded responsibilities on strategic planning across the company, while continuing to oversee the functions in Hong Kong that support TBSAP’s new sub-regional operations. Mr Saha will also directly manage the company’s entertainment networks in Southeast Asia/Pacific, with the support of Mr Robi Stanton who assumes the role of GM, Networks Australia and New Zealand. Mr Saha will remain as TBSAP’s lead executive for all activities on global properties such as Cartoon Network.

    Mr Anshuman Misra will become SVP & MD of Networks and Content Distribution (NCD) Asia-Pacific, taking on full responsibility for Turner’s content sales business across the region. He will also assume responsibility for syndication sales.

    The North Asia region will be managed by Yew Ming Lau who will assume the new role of SVP & MD, North Asia. Mr Siddharth Jain will assume management of South Asia as SVP & MD while Ms Monica Tata, as VP & GM Networks, will now manage all of Turner’s India networks with the assistance of dedicated business heads reporting to her. The team at Imagine, until some months back headed by Mr Sameer Nair, will report to Ms Tata.

    In light of the increasing priority of CNN International News Source, Mr Ringo Chan will devote his major focus to this pursuit as SVP, CNN Broadcast Sales & Affiliate Relations, while maintaining his responsibilities for NCD in Greater China as well as the important liaison work he conducts for TBSAP with the PRC.

    Mr Jeremy Carr will assume important additional responsibility for growing TBSAP’s digital entertainment properties as VP Entertainment, Digital & Adsales.

    Finally, Phil Nelson will assume full regional responsibility for Business Development as VP of Business Development, Asia Pacific.

    These new operating arrangements will take effect immediately.

    “We have the best management team in the business and our new approach will focus each of our executive resources more deeply on specific areas, rather than across the entirety of the substantial and complex region of Asia-Pacific,” Mr Marcopoto added. “This is a positive, forward-looking, strategic and long-term initiative to continue to grow Turner Asia and deliver optimum performance to better seize exciting opportunities in the years ahead.”

     

  • Watch a movie? Maybe. Or read, shop, check out sports. Or watch a movie.

    The Anchor: 6 things you could do in the looooong Diwali break this week

    There’s an extra long Diwali break coming up. So you’ve had to cancel your Bangkok holiday because of the deluge there and find the tickets to every other touristy place exorbitant? You would’ve liked to watch Ra One at least once, but the endless promos have ensure that you have the movie coming out of your ears, eyes and toe nails?

     

    Worry not. Here’s a recommendation from the MxMIndia editorial team of what you could do.

     

    #1 No 1 on our list is the exclusive biography of Steve Jobs. Written by Walter Isaacson, this book shot up on the Amazon popularity charts from oblivion to the top after Jobs passed away. Since it’s got the blessings of Jobs, be sure of getting some rare insights.

    It’s going to be on all bookstores and is available for quite a steal on Flipkart (Rs 559) or better still, off uRead.com at Rs 543. Hey, the 16 bucks could buy you a world of things. Isaacson’s book is scheduled to be out today (Oct 24).

     

    #2 Go shopping for the Smart TV at Chroma, eZone, Vijay Sales etc. The Samsung Smart TV or the other brands in the same genre. It can do loads of things together, plus also play videos from DVDs and YouTube. Prices are high, but can be fitted into EMI plans.

     

    #3 Get yourself a couple of DVDs. Check the ones at Flipkart (http://www.flipkart.com/movies). Okay the new releases may not excite you much: Nutcracker 3D is a downer. Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara has already been on telly recently, but if you want to see it at one go and with deleted scenes and the making of a few of the songs, go for it at Rs 255 (Flipkart again). Some good giftables are available from among the TV shows.

     

    #4 Live events: Eden Gardens is going to come alive with an ODI tomorrow (Oct 25) and a T20 encounter on Saturday (Oct 29)… the games are between India and England and they’ll be on Neo Cricket (and DD). There’s Metallica in Gurgaon (Oct 28) and Bengaluru (Oct 30). Plus of course Lady Gaga and all the entertainement acts to coincide with the big F1 days on Oct 28-30.

     

    #5 Go watch Ra One. Poor Shahrukh Khan. He’s invested huge sums of money and time for its promotion. May as well watch it. Meanwhile, visit MxMIndia next Monday for our expert view on the film and how we think the reviewers fared.

     

    #6 And last but definitely not the least, await MxMIndia’s Diwali special on Wednesday. Titled ‘It’s gr8 to be in the media’.  Guest writers plus Anil Thakraney, Ranjona Banerji, and, a little birdie tells us, even Mediaah! To those of you, who’ve been initiated to MxMIndia a little late, this may be a good opportunity to dig into our archives.

     

  • Amidst all the gush about AdAsia 2011, a senior mediaperson dwells on why it's OK if you've given it a miss.

    6 reasons why you can do without attending AdAsia 2011

    #1 Rs 40,000 for entry. Okay, you could get early bed or bulk entry discounts, but it’s still not small money. Plus travel – flight tickets, local travel and hotel. All of this amounts to around Rs 75,000 if you stay in a budget hotel. Rs 1 lakh if it’s 4-star-upwards.

     

    #2 Usual suspects, usual suspects, usual suspects. It’s the same old faces at all our industry events. AdAsia had Harish Manwani of Hindustan Lever on Day 1. But Shah Rukh Khan? Grrrr!

     

    #3 There is a need to draw younger professionals to AdAsia and not 40-plus and 50-year-olds.

     

    #4 The same old format of keynotes, speeches and panel discussions is boring. C’mon marketers and advertisers. You guys are creative, why not think of something innovative?

     

    #5 You network every day with your friends and aspirational friends on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. So conferences like these need to relook the role of these events for connecting with the fraternity. Agreed there’s nothing like meeting people face-to-face, and Facebook friendship is also fine.

     

    #6 Why Delhi? It was good to not do it in Mumbai. How about Bangalore, Pune, Amritsar, Calcutta, Chennai? Wasn’t Calcutta once the capital of the adwallahs?

     

    The writer of this is a senior member of the media industry. She/he prefers to stay anonymous as according to her/him, the industry is not much of a sport and may not take kindly to the criticism.

     

  • Assocham organized the 6th annual summit on entertainment and media, Focus 2012 where the topic in focus was Digitization for Inclusive Growth

    Full report of Assocham ‘focus’ on M&E

    By Shruti Pushkarna

     

    Assocham organized the 6th annual summit on entertainment and media, Focus 2012, inNew Delhion May 4 where the topic in focus was Digitization for Inclusive Growth. The event began with a keynote address by the Chairman of Press Council of India, Justice Markandey Katju, who came down heavily on the media once again, in his address.

     

    Justice Katju referred to the role played by the European media between the 17th and 19th century. He talked about the sacrifices made by writers like Voltaire, Rousseau and Thomas Paine to uplift the society and help it convert from a feudal state to a modern society. He criticised the Indian media for promoting superstition in form of cheap astrology shows on news television channels all day instead of promoting rational and scientific ideas. He said: “The function of the media is to uplift the intellectual levels of citizens, but our media instead has stooped down to the level of Indians, of which 90 per cent are fools.” He said that in the race for TRPs, the television channels focus on entertainment which constitutes 90 per cent of programming and leaves only 10 per cent room for real issues to be telecast.

     

    Justice Katju urged media professionals to play a socially responsible role at a time whenIndia, likeEuropein the 17th century, is going through a transitional phase. He emphasized on the need to promote rational ideas in this period of transition in Indian history. He also emphasized on the need for regulation as opposed to self regulation. He said, “I am the greatest fighter for freedom for press and that’s why I am not recommending control but regulation. In control, there is no freedom but in regulation there is reasonable restriction in the public interest.”

     

    Self regulation is no regulation, he added: “You cannot have absolute freedom to harm society. There is need for regulation, and this regulation cannot be from the government, it has to be from an independent regulatory authority which has penal powers.”

     

     

    Broadcasting & Digitization: India Goes Digital- Challenges & Way Forward

    The session on broadcasting and digitization was chaired by Supriya Sahu, Joint Secretary (Broadband & Policy), Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. The session was moderated by Preet Dhupar, Director, BBC World,India. The panelists included Anthony D’Silva, Group CEO, Sun Group; Hemant Upadhyay, Advisor, VOICE; Jehangir S Pocha, CEO, INX News; Roop Sharma, President, COFI; Vishal Mahajan, Sr. Director, Yes Bank; Himanshu Patel, COO Videocon D2H; Ashok Mansukhani, President, MSO Alliance; Joy Chakraborthy, CEO, TV Today Network; Pulak Bagchi, VP, Star India and SM Khan, DG, DD News.

     

    During the discussion, Ms Sahu said that the work on digitization, especially Phase 1, which looks at the four metros, was on track and with help from all stakeholders the government should be able to push digitization to happen in time. She defended the TRAI tariff order: “It is a win-win situation for every stakeholder. The clear winner, of course, is the consumer.” She said that the cities were almost ready for digitization, the government had made good progress as far as procurement of set top boxes (STBs) is concerned and the only area that needs attention is the seeding of these boxes. She agreed that for the target date to be achieved, around 20-25 lakh STBs have to be seeded and that makes it 1 lakh STBs to be seeded every day.

     

     

    Representing the MSO Alliance, Mr Mansukhani congratulated the government on taking up the challenge of digitization. He agreed that there were some concerns and issues on which they will seek clarification from the TRAI. He reiterated the commitment to digitization on part of MSOs and urged newspapers and business channels to clearly present all points of view to the debate on digitization.

     

    Ms Roop Sharma, President, COFI expressed hers and the cable operators’ disappointment at order issued by TRAI. She claimed that the order was unfair to LCOs and will result in putting them out of business: “Regulator wants to be the controller of the industry…the role of the regulator is very bad. We are all for digitization, but we are unhappy with the revenue share that has been decided in the order.” She added that 60 days are too less to meet the challenges of digitization and it is unlikely that the sunset date for Phase 1 is achievable.

     

    Jehangir Pocha, CEO INX News shared the plight of the broadcasters with the panelists on the issue of carriage fee. He said that a channel like Times Now had to pay a carriage fee of Rs50-55 crore to reach the viewers. He said: “I can’t applaud this order. Those who applaud this regulation perhaps benefit from it. It is the first time in the history ofIndiathat carriage fee is legalized, institutionalized and not regulated.” He said that the government claims to have taken the views of all stakeholders involved but their views were taken only in theory and not in spirit.

     

    The TRAI in its recommendations stated: “Keeping in view the fact that substantial investment for implementation of Digital Addressable Cable TV Systems is made by the MSO and the cost involved in carriage of channels, the Authority has decided that every MSO may fix the Carriage Fee.” But Mr Pocha argued that why should a channel pay for MSO investment. He said he would like the government to issue a white paper that looks at the earnings of all players.

     

    Sun Group CEO Anthony D’Silva said that the need of the hour is to get down to the nitty-gritties: “The lessons learnt from DTH are applicable to any other digital system. We need to look at how the subscriber management systems will work, what are the service parameters and who’ll set up the call centres because that involves huge costs.” He added that the government needs to look at  digitization as any other infrastructure project and support it by whatever means, whether its tax holiday or any other subsidies.

     

    Pulak Bagchi, VP, Star India expressed a need to recognize the challenge government and the regulator had in thinking through the entire process of digitization and the fact that it’s difficult to make everyone happy. He said: “Government and regulator are out there to protect the public interest and not to add to company bottom lines. We entrepreneurs need to work out our own course.”

     

    Responding to the issues voiced by the various panelists, Ms Sahu said: “All concerns are genuine and we would try and address them as well as we can but please read the fine print to clarify some of the concerns.” As for cable operators, she said that if cable operators don’t move to digitization fast enough, they will be wiped out by competition from DTH.

     

     

    Films, Animation and VFX: Digital Cinema- Present and Future

    The session was moderated by Karan Ahluwalia, Executive VP, Yes Bank and the panelists included, Ramesh Meer, CEO The FX Factory; Sunaman Sood, Co-founder, Director, Acendo Capital Advisors; Siddhartha M Jain, Producer@iRock; Vishnu Patel, CEO-Special projects, UFO Moviez and Manoj Srivastava, CEO, Enternainmentt Society of Goa.

     

    Siddhartha M Jain of iRock started the discussion by talking about the paradigm shift occurring in cinema: “Low budget films without stars which used to be niche earlier are picking up. We’ve had hits like Ragini MMS and Vicky Donor. So there is huge investor appetite, provided you have the right content. The key lies in keeping the budgets low and using the latest technology.” He added that there is also a huge power shift happening from Bollywood movies to movies outside Hindi cinema.

     

    Sunaman Sood said that producers have now begun to treat regional cinema with some seriousness, realising its potential. But Manoj Srivastava added that there is no platform or agency in the country that promotes regional cinema well enough.

     

    Speaking of digitization’s benefits to cinema, Vishnu Patel said that digital technology has helped revive the industry which was otherwise on a decline. He said that regional cinema has also benefitted from digital technology because digitization has cut down the distribution cost in terms of prints. Now regional film producers can distribute their films better without having to worry about prints’ costs.

     

     

    Print Media: Challenges and Opportunities in Digital Age

    The session was chaired by Suprio Guha Thakurta, MD, The Economist Group India. The session was moderated by Vikas Mehta, VP & Executive Business Director, JWT Delhi. The panelists included, Sukumar Ranganathan, Editor, Mint; Vandana Das, President, DDB Mudra;Sudha Sarin,MD, Ipan Hill & Knowlton and Raghav Subramanian, COO, Lintas Initiative Media.

     

    Sukumar Ranganathan initiated the debate by making a strong point that print is here to stay: “We often look at the western trends to decide the future of print in the country but we forget that the dynamics of the western market are very different from the Indian market.” He said that Mint has never defined itself as a newspaper; rather it looks at itself as a ‘newsroom’. Talking about integration of content, he said: “We update a story online as soon as it breaks. We also use social media to amplify the news. And in the paper, we value add with analysis and so on. I think integration is key to what a newspaper needs to do to survive in a digital area.”

     

    Suprio Guha Thakurta echoed Mr Ranganathan’s views but he also emphasized on the fact that content for every platform needs to be looked at differently: “You can’t just cut and paste from print to online or any other device.” He added that The Economist, which at present has about 85 per cent of subscriptions from print, aims at converting these into at least 50 per cent in digital in the next two years.

     

    Raghav Subramanian said: “It’s not that print is going to go away but it’s being increasingly threatened by digitization. Print is slow as a medium and now with news all over the place, the tangible paper is eroding in terms of the first choice for the younger generation.”

     

    Concluding the debate, all panelists agreed on the need to integrate content across different media to reach out to consumers/viewers/readers at different touch points.

     

     

    Radio and Music: New Avenues for Revenue/ Social Media & Gaming: Creating New Markets

    The last two sessions on radio and gaming were merged into one discussion. The session was moderated by Uday Chawla, Secretary General, AROI and the panelists included, Anand Raj, Head- Non Traditional Revenue, Red FM; Geetanshu Anand, Head- Content, Mystica Music; Pallab Mitram Head- Consumer VAS, Tata Teleservices; Deepak Abbot, Head- Product, Zapak Digital Entertainment Pvt Ltd; Nikunj Jain, CEO, Inoxapps; Anshu Mor, Lead Entertainment & Media, Microsoft; CP Singh, CTO, Possible Worldwide; Akhilesh Saurikhia, Consultant, Department of Electronic and IT, Govt of India and Viraj Malik, CEO & MD, PK Online Ventures Pvt Ltd.

     

    Anand Raj of Red FM talked about alternate revenue avenues that radio stations can look at. He said that audio production is an unorganized market right now and if radio stations start looking at doing audio productions in-house, there is huge potential for revenues. He also pointed out initiative like the Mahabharata or Ramayana productions done by Fever and how radio stations can look at making money by selling productions like these to VAS mobile operators. Another area that radio stations haven’t exploited properly he said was social media. He said that radio can look at building communities on social media for commerce.

     

    Geetanshu Anand of Mystica Music said: “There is no lack of avenues for revenues; all we need to do is fill up the loopholes for revenues.” Radio industry, she said, plays a crucial role in promotion of music but when it comes to rights sharing then both radio and music companies get selfish and each wants a larger pie. She said that the need for the hour was to review the statutory licenses. She also said that it is important for radio to start promoting non-film music alongside film music.

     

    Talking about gaming and creating new markets for it, Anshu Mor of Microsoft said: “It’s important for us as an industry to change the concept of gaming and how we look at gaming.” He added that social media provides with an opportunity to promote the ‘Brand Me’ and hence plays a huge role in marketing.

     

    Viraj Malik added that mobile gaming is on a rise and will turn into a larger opportunity inIndiabecause mobile is fairly big in terms of reach and affordability. And this creates a huge opportunity for content and app developers, he said.

     

  • Every week, Deepa Gahlot casts a critical eye over media reviews of Bollywood releases… in Reviewing the Reviews

    Reviewing the Reviews: Ladies vs Ricky Bahl

    Ladies vs Ricky Bahl

    Key Cast: Ranveer Singh, Anushka Sharma

    Directed By: Maneesh Sharma

    Written By: Devika Bhagat, Habib Faisal, Aditya Chopra

    Produced By: Aditya Chopra

     

    Coming out with the notable YRF stamp, Ladies vs Ricky Bahl got mixed reviews, mostly on the negative side. The director Maneesh Sharma’s first film Band Baaja Baraat had been such a delight, that the second one had trouble matching up.

     

    The one who came out a clear winner is Parineeti Chopra who played a loud, chatty Delhi brat, and is likely to bag all supporting actress awards next year.

     

    Gaurav Malani, in the Times of India online, feels, “The major hiccup in this otherwise engaging film is that it falls prey to the typical trappings of Bollywood. As romance takes over the con-games, the smart-n-saucy film is substituted by a tepid tale where the conman wants to come clean and change his ways for that one girl in life. That makes for a lame climax and a conventional end. The graph of the narrative drops somewhere in the second half and plunges even further as one realizes mixing con with cupid might not be the best of ideas. Thankfully the pacing is perfect and the film never seems stretched.”

     

    Sanjukta Sharma of Livemint is left cold. She writes, “The screenplay … gets tiringly predictable from this point. Forget being similar to Frank Abagnale, the smug, glorious con man in Steven Spielberg’s Catch Me If You Can. Sunny starts showing signs of a weepy lover boy. The film falls right into the Yash Raj formula of hinging all stories on soppy romance. This guy is not even a patch on the smiling assassin he is in the first hour.”

     

    Bollywoodhungama’s Taran Adarsh is uncharacteristically tepid. “On the whole, Ladies vs Ricky Bahl is, at best, decent fare, which appeals in parts. The film starts well, even ends well. It’s the in between that’s plain ordinary. One definitely expected more from the director of the immensely likeable Band Baaja Baaraat. Ideally, the film merits a two-and-a-half star rating, but that extra half star is for Ranveer and Anushka, who steal your heart with truly striking performances.”

     

    Rajeev Masand found the film watchable and went with2-1/2 stars, but also pointed out flaws. “Ladies vs Ricky Bahl nosedives further post-intermission because of script holes the size of craters. The trio of women track down our hero way too conveniently, and you can’t help but question how a seasoned conman could so easily be charmed into parting with his cash. Doesn’t help either that the narrative is interrupted far too often with unnecessary songs.”

     

    Raja Sen found it sluggish and predictable and gave it 1-1/2 stars. “It’s always tragic to see those who defy the cookie-cutter mould try and sanitise themselves in an attempt to fit in. Ranveer Singh, who was fantastic in last year’s Band Baaja Baaraat, here has his rough edges blunted by the generic sheen of wannabe stardom, and the result is most unfortunate. ”

     

    Shubha Shetty Saha of Mid-day settles for 2-1/2 stars too. “The script should have been as clever as it is trying to portray its lead man to be. For Ricky, cheating comes naturally, but disappointingly, it seems like he doesn’t even have to exercise his brain cells to cheat any of them. Ricky gets so lucky every time that things easily fall into place or his victims are so foolishly gullible that they are more than willing to fall into his trap, again and again. Also, the track where he becomes an art dealer, Deven Shah and cheats Raina (Dipannita Sharma) seems highly improbable.”

     

    Mayank Shekhar is kinder than usual with 3 stars. “The young Ranveer Singh plays Ricky Bahl, his character’s real name, which we don’t know yet. Given almost all Bollywood leading men now are forced to play proper characters (something they used to do back in the 1950s), as against portray merely themselves: a back-story might become slightly necessary. We know nothing about the motivations of this conman, besides what we see: he is single, looks like a loner, is pretty much sexually uninterested in the women he takes for a ride, and is interested in money for money’s sake. Placement of this kind of guy was handled much better in Yashraj’s previous, similar flick, Badmaash Company (2010), which had suffered for completely other reasons.”

     

    Soumyadipta Banerjee of DNA didn’t dislike the film at all. “Right from the first shot to the last shot, the film has stayed real without the usual loopholes that draw it away from reality. And yet, the film has stayed on top when it came to the entertainment quotient. It has been edited well which doesn’t let the pace slacken and engages you till the last moment. It seems that the film has been developed after consulting a lot of DVDs of Hollywood rom-coms, but who cares? Everybody does that and yet comes up with a shoddy film. This time, all the home-work seems to have paid off.”

     

    Sudhish Kamath of The Hindu nails it. “How good is a con if the stakes aren’t high? This is the safe, family-entertaining Bollywood film where the hero is virtuous even if he’s a con man (he wouldn’t even let the girl he’s conning kiss him) and turns out to be smarter than four women put together. The makers aren’t even in the mood to play Bluff. The film unfolds in a linear fashion and we are privy to all that’s happening and the only twist coming our way is that there is no twist.”

     

    And just by the way, none of the mainstream critics found similarities with Mohan Sehgal’s 1974 film, Woh Main Nahin.

  • Every week, Deepa Gahlot casts a critical eye over media reviews of Bollywood releases… in Reviewing the Reviews

    Reviewing the Reviews: The Dirty Picture

     

    By Deepa Gahlot

     

    The Dirty Picture

     

    Key Cast: Vidya Balan, Naseeruddin Shah, Emraan Hashmi

     

    Directed By: Milan Luthria

     

    Written By: Rajat Arora

     

    Produced By: Ekta Kapoor, Shobha Kapoor

     

    The promotions of Milan Luthria’s The Dirty Picture were such that nobody had any doubts about its content-for once the audiences get what they expect-an uninhibited Vidya Balan in a sex-on-toast film loosely based on the life of Silk Smitha, who blazed a trail as a voluptuous siren and then, shockingly, committed suicide.

     

    The film got 2 ½ to 4 star ratings and from all accounts a smashing opening. Which proves once again that sex sells and Ekta Kapoor knows that. If sleaze comes with a big banner attached, it ceases to be ‘dirty’. Everyone is unanimous in praise of Vidya Balan, however, and all awards next year will go to her-she has left the competition far behind.

     

    Shubhra Gupta of the Indian Express was one of those who was left underwhelmed by the film and gave it 2 ½ stars. “What ‘The Dirty Picture’ does is to place Vidya Balan and her heaving bosom, complete with the dirtier, orgiastic ‘ha-aaa’ sound, so much a fixture of so many oomphy ’80s tracks, at the centre of the narrative. Which is fine, and we are quite taken in by the sight for a while. But then we start looking for something more, and find it, only towards the end, only very fleetingly.”

     

    Mumbai Mirror’s Karan Anshuman is equally unimpressed: More Dirty Less Picture is the title and a 2 ½ star rating. “It just doesn’t quite come together. What gets plated is an entre overdone on the outside, and not entirely cooked from the inside. Director Milan Luthria falters. He is just in such a tearing hurry to tell us the dizzying story of the rise and fall of Silk and the hot-and-cold behaviour of her fans, detractors, and co-stars – inconsistent one-liner upon one-liner, the flashback in negative image (why?), just the lack of any buildup or lingering – that he doesn’t take a breath for the audience to appreciate and unravel Silk’s mind until much later. Because the film focuses so much on dressed-up cliches of sleaze in tinseltown and Balan’s carefully constructed look, there is precious little else to take in. Fewer incidents focusing to get the viewer involved would work better than too many repetitive ones packed in for the sake of impact.”

     

    Sukanya Varma of rediff.com gives it 3 stars, but writes, “The Dirty Picture, despite the comprehensive objectivity implied through its title, is not a full-fledged biopic. Instead of painting a layered portrait of Silk, it draws an outline of an unapologetic resident of a flesh-obsessed film industry responsible for her rise and ruin. But Vidya lends her so much transparency, aplomb and sauciness, the outcome is far more awe-inspiring than it deserves to be.”

     

    Commenting on the actors, the usually acerbic Kunal Guha of yahoo.com, gives it 3 and writes, “Vidya is scrumptious as the imperfect and unrestrained Silk, while Naseer is convincing as a superstar out to play shepherd to every newcomer. Tusshar may have dropped his surname for the credits but that hardly undermines the fact that he’s been cast in his home production, again. Emraan’s character gives itself more importance than you or anyone else does. Luckily, his presence is limited and tolerable.”

     

    From Chennai, Silk Smitha’s playground, Sudhish Kamath of The Hindu writes, “The makers (Milan Luthria and writer Rajat Arora) seem a little too afraid to get into the darker aspects of the tragic life of a star like Silk and most of the sadness is limited to showing the dark circles under her eyes. Even when her life is spiralling down, the film wants to go away from the tragedy and show you a love song. Clearly, they don’t want to depress you because depressing films don’t do well at the box office. However, The Dirty Picture makes up for lack of depth with spirit and attitude.”

     

    Rajeev Masand also gives it 3 for Vidya. “What it suffers most from, unfortunately, is lazy writing. With a plot straight out of a Madhur Bhandarkar film, and a screenplay that follows a familiar graph, The Dirty Picture offers a superficial, simplistic view of the seamy, exploitative side of the 80s film business. There is little attempt to treat this material with sensitivity and depth. No sir, this film unfolds as a series of provocative scenes strung together on the strength of their sexually loaded dialogues.”

     

    Mayank Shekhar also comes up with a reluctant 3. “The film however, even when not mimicking its subject, somewhat retains its ’80s feel: excessive dialoguebaazi, often loaded with double entendres, some loud scenes with actors always in a state of emergency, and the ‘serial kisser’ (Emraan Hashmi) who must land a Sufi song, and a girl’s lips to satisfy his core audiences. Sometimes we remain suspended too much in disbelief. It starts to match the film within the film! This irony is oddly intriguing. It won’t be lost on anyone.”

  • Every week, Deepa Gahlot casts a critical eye over media reviews of Bollywood releases… in Reviewing the Reviews

    Reviewing the Reviews: RA.One

    RA.One

    Key Cast: Shahrukh Khan, Kareena Kapoor, Arjun Rampal

    Written and Directed By: Anubhav Sinha

    Produced By: Gauri Khan, Shahrukh Khan

     

    Of course, with a hefty budget and relentless marketing, RA.One was expected to be something of a breakthrough movie. That it turned out to be akin to an idol with feet of clay, caused disappointment across serious reviewing platforms — not the box-office counting ones, who are still arguing about just how much money the film made on opening day.

    Interestingly the film, which was released with thousands of prints worldwide and god knows how many red carpet premieres, was reviewed by several foreign critics—most of them ignorant of, or insufficiently exposed to, Bollywood cinema. So the tone was either cruel or condescending.

    Simon Abrams of Slant Magazine was brutal. “The film champions an incoherently hackneyed kind of morality where filial piety matters more than treating your fellow man well. Virtually every character in the film, save for Shekhar and his character’s nuclear family, are made fun of, and even they aren’t safe from ludicrously loaded assumptions of how both children and adults should behave. RA.One is consequently a flashy, gratingly broad action-comedy hybrid whose family values are meaningless.”

    In contrast James Luxford of The National fawned, “Khan demonstrates what a versatile actor he is, with his performances as both Shekhar and G. One feeling like completely different people. Elsewhere, the critically acclaimed actress Kareena Kapoor provides excellent support and has great chemistry with Khan, while the model-turned-actor Rampal oozes menace as the titular villain, in a role akin to the Terminator movies.” That he is a bit clueless is revealed in his line, “Not the best work of the director nor the star, but certainly their most spectacular.” Err, what was he counting as Anubhav Sinha’s best work?

    Kirk Honeycutt of The Hollwood Reporter seemed mildly amused by the hoopla. “The film, directed by Anubhav Sinha, is gloriously silly, with stunts, CG animation and music numbers bursting out all over yet its beating heart lies in a commonplace story of a family and most especially a father and son who don’t understand one another. Oscar Hammerstein II once said something to the effect that you have to believe in whiskers on kittens and warm woollen mittens to get away with writing about such corny banalities in a lyric and so Shah — SRK as he is known to billions of fans — really does believe in family values and the power of cinema.” Indeed.

    The rival trade magazine Variety, has John Anderson write, “Featuring superstar Shah Rukh Khan and festooned with enough CGI ornamentation to qualify as a subcontinental Christmas tree, RA.One is a frenetic, tuneful, full-throttle action-comedy that has reportedly crushed Indian presales records. Still, this videogame-themed outing seems unlikely to become a crossover hit: While South Asian auds will likely flock to a film that does what Bollywood does with a major techno bump, the aesthetics of overkill will make the result inaccessible to Westernized Americans, the campiness, as usual, muddying the translation.”

    Tamara Baluja of The Globe and Mail gives it one star and rants, “The film is as cheesy as it sounds. It falls into the very traps that Khan himself complained about: weak plotline, random song-and-dance routines and a plethora of tacky crotch-related jokes, which left me grimacing. And for audiences who don’t understand Hindi, the subtitles were frustratingly lagging – on occasion, almost a whole dialogue behind. RA.One is Khan’s baby and boy, are you not allowed to forget that. The actor almost never leaves the screen. It’s a pity, because he’s not really the one who shines in the film…”

    Rachel Saltz of The New York Times tries to be balanced. “You can see the money on screen, if not in the screenwriting. The exposition is longwinded and confusing, as are the rules of the game, in the virtual and the real worlds. The bumbling Shekhar is too clownish; RA.One is a dud demon (Raavan is invoked to little effect) who disappears for chunks of time; and you probably won’t hold your breath as good fights evil. But if the storytelling disappoints (shocking!), the film mostly doesn’t. It relies on action and effects and Bollywood’s trump card, star power, to carry the day. This is Mr Khan’s movie, and once he sheds Shekhar’s droopy locks, he shines as the deadpan, action-hero robot with digital snot and smooth moves on the dance floor.”

    Andrew O’Hehir of Salon.com nails it with, “I make no claims for RA. One as great cinema, and director Anubhav Sinha displays no particular vision, beyond that of a general who’s kept his enormous army moving in roughly the right direction. (Sinha and five co-writers, Shahrukh Khan among them, get credit for the story and screenplay.) What makes this movie worth seeing is its blend of aesthetic and technical approaches — some of the crew and special-effects team was Western — its immense scale and abundant confidence, and its utter shamelessness in trying to entertain nearly all imaginable viewers, from Abu Dhabi to New Jersey to Zanzibar. If you’re bored by the action scenes or the love story or the dopey domestic comedy, just wait three minutes for something else to come along — and whoever you are, you won’t be bored by the musical numbers!”

    Back home, most critics are underwhelmed. Mayank Shekhar in the Hindustan Times writes, “For most parts, this doesn’t seem a super-hero movie at all. It’s more of a weirdly boiled, Bollywood please-all: vaguely soppy romance, Salman-type sasta comedy, narcissistic SRK set piece. Die-hard fans of all three genres are likely to be disappointed,”

    Aniruddha Guha, writing in Daily News & Analysis: “But blame it on Anubhav Sinha, the director with slick-but-hollow films Dus and Cash on his CV (one worked at the box office, the other bombed). RaOne is no different; it is beautiful in appearance, but empty within. Which is a pity. Anubhav could have really made a mark with this one.”

    Going Going G.One is the title of Shubhra Gupta’s review in the Indian Express. “It’s not just Shekhar-the-appa, who is lame. The whole film seems to be dipped in the stop-start-go stutter of an overlong video game. As the bumbling Tamilian techie, Shekhar is single-tone; G.One seems to be a confused creature, ‘made-of-metal but-with-emotions’. And curiosity. He demonstrates this by asking Kapoor: what is Karvachauth? Got it, this is a Bollywood robot. The sfx is wonderful in parts but mostly derivative, with Shah Rukh mouthing such iconic lines like ‘I will be back’ (oh Arnie, my Arnie), and clutching a pole on top of a high building, like..? Spidey. That’s right. Go to the top of the class.”

    Sanjukta Sharma of Livemint writes, “Why ape Hollywood’s extravagance and technical virtuosity with limited resources? Despite the largely thrilling ride, Khan’s ambition for RA.One is misplaced. It is without real commitment to the art of storytelling or genre. The producer-actor is its only relentless, narcissistic showpiece. Anubhav Sinha’s RA.One is a spectacular disappointment.”

    Kunal Guha’s review in Yahoo Movies was one of the first to slam the film. “Shahrukh’s robotic expressions will remind you of his ‘My Name is Khan’ role, as he confuses machines with differently-abled humans. Kareena’s character covers the entire gamut of expressions but isn’t memorable or mentionable enough to be regarded. Arjun Rampal has bagged his dream role: an android with mechanical expressions who allows his body to do the talking. Good job, Arjun Rampal’s body!”

  • Every week, Deepa Gahlot casts a critical eye over media reviews of Bollywood releases… in Reviewing the Reviews

    Reviewing the Reviews: Rockstar

    Rockstar

    Key Cast: Ranbir Kapoor, Nargis Fakhri

    Written and Directed By: Imtiaz Ali

    Produced By: Ronnie Screwvala, Dhillin Mehta

     

    Imtiaz Ali whose Jab We Met got him a great fan following, had Love Aaj Kal in between and now Rockstar, which has united critics and the general public in their adoration for Ranbir Kapoor, who is a star actor and superstar material; poor Nargis Fakhri came in for an equal amount of battering.

    The film itself got madly mixed reviews with rating from one to four stars that must have confused the reading public.

    Aniruddha Guha of DNA loved it. “For about 15 minutes in Rockstar, the narrative tends to resort to ‘Bollywoodism’; true love having the power to cure a terminal illness (almost), for example, doesn’t exactly fit with what the rest of the film has to say. Yet, Imtiaz makes it work somehow, interweaving the fantastical romantic part of the film with the more gritty, dark bits deftly.”

    Taran Adarsh of Bollywood Hungama, is left cold, “Alas! Rockstar is a sumptuously shot movie that is disjointed on script level. The problem with Rockstar is that it starts off most impressively, has some terrific moments in between, but the writing gets so erratic and incoherent as it heads towards the conclusion that you wonder, am I really watching an Imtiaz Ali film?” Strange coming from one who is otherwise generous with praise.

    Saibal Chatterjee, NDTV.com observes, “The film, nearly three hours long, traverses long physical distances – from Delhi to Kashmir and from there to Prague and then back again to Delhi as JJ follows his lady love (who gets married quickly enough and settles down to drab matrimony in faraway Czech Republic to make matters difficult) halfway around the world, singing and dancing his woes away. But despite all the frenetic movement in space that Rockstar offers, the film really goes nowehere. It feels strangely static.” Which is one of its major problems.

    Shubha Shetty Saha of Mid-day pins down another problem area, “The film that is supposed to be following the journey of a nobody later turning into an insanely famous musician, leaves you uninvolved as many milestones in that journey have been left out. One day, Jordan is in Pitampura trying to regale a few bystanders on the street, a few months later, he is this huge phenomenon running away from the paparazzi.”

    Sumit Bhattacharya of rediff.com found it in the Devdas mould. “Don’t let the title fool you. This movie is more an old-school Bollywood love story than the advent of heavy metal in Hindi cinema. Jordan is more like Devdas than his idol Jim Morrison….On the surface, the film is about a guitar-toting dimwit transforming into an angry ‘rock star’, an expression that can perhaps give ‘awesome’ a run for being the most misused term in the English language …But this film is devoid of any insight into an artiste’s anguish, try as it might by quoting Jalaluddin Rumi.”

    Mayank Shekhar gives it three stars but a tepid review. “From its start, to the way it progresses, you can tell, the film’s been through various stages of editing and several second thoughts. Sometimes the patchiness shows. It’s a stretch. Anything that’s 18 reels long (close to three hours) in a flickering world of low attention spans would be. Something fizzles out towards the end. You still don’t begrudge a movie that’s been this engaging, entertaining thus far.”

    Komal Nahata is critical of the extra-marital affair of the heroine which is without justification, and says, “The extra-marital affair may have been overlooked by some of the orthodox audience if that affair would’ve had a magical effect on Heer’s illness in the end but when that doesn’t happen, the audience is unable to stop itself from seeking reasons for the affair – and not finding any. The narrative style is also a bit confusing for the audience as overlapping scenes have been used to further the drama.

    On the plus side, the making is fresh and the canvas, big and wonderful. Dialogues, penned by Imtiaz Ali, are very natural. The film is extremely colourful and youthful and for that section of the youth, which won’t question the morals of Janardhan and Heer, the film becomes a veritably enjoyable fare. Again, a minus point of the drama is that comic and light moments are few and far between. The second half, especially, becomes dark and even depressing. Emotions don’t draw tears.”

    Anuj Kumar of The Hindu is also unimpressed. “A film works when the pain experienced by the characters on screen permeates into the darkness of the theatre. No such luck here. After an explosive opening, you become restless for lack of ingenuity on the part of the writer-director even when he has got the ingredients to turn it into a never-before experience. A. R. Rahman’s soulful tunes, Anil Mehta’s breathtaking camerawork and a malleable lead actor, but still it remains a glazed canvas. It has a lot to do with inappropriate casting and an overtly indulgent director, who seem to have started with the idea of making a global blockbuster with Ranbir Kapoor and then started work on the content.”

    Rajeev Masand of IBNlive also slams the script. “The film’s chief lapses are its meandering script and its less than impressive leading lady both of which cost the film dearly… “

    Sanjukta Sharma of Livemint notes, “The second half is a mess, as it travels picturesquely but cluelessly from Kashmir to Prague in search of ideas. And it goes on for much too long, as we wait for something better to happen. Nothing of the sort does. Whatever happened to Imtiaz’s sure-footedness which made ‘Jab We Met’ such a breeze ? Shakiness was evident in his next ‘Love Aaj Kal’. Here, he seems to have very little idea of how to get his lovers to smoulder despite the liplocks : most of the romance feels constructed, and contrived.

    Kunal Guha one of the first to review it on Yahoo with a brutal one star, writes, “Watching ‘Rockstar’ once is like watching it many times over, thanks to the repeated montages that sporadically recap the film. If you thought being stabbed once was bad, here’s what a knife set can do. The film drives home an unscientific hypothesis that people who’ve endured sufferings/ heart break/ loose motions etc will reach their creative best. By this logic, each person in the audience will be blessed with superhuman creativity as they step out after watching ‘Rockstar’.”

    Nikhat Kazmi, of the Times of India is predictably soft. “The fact that this romance unfolds on screen in the form of an explosive musical, capturing JJ’s transmutation into Jordan, the edgy artist, makes the film an absolutely engaging affair.”