Roadshow Romeo : 5 1/2 Thoughts

Didn't really think could get around to doing a post during Diwali break. But here I am...typing hard on the clanky keyboard while Neo sleeps...

1. Saw Roadside Romeo yesterday - Neo, his mama and myself in a theatre in Patna called Ashok - Rajdhani Ka Gaurav. It's a 59 year old theatre that doesn't hide it's age. Musty, somewhat smelly but full of happy memories from my childhood!!

2. You can read a quick review by Subhash K Jha here...

3. I enjoyed the movie and so did Neo. Though not sure, who liked it more...LOL. Technically, (with my limited exposure) I feel it's perhaps the best made Indian animation fillum till date. The Disney magic touch is definitely there. And the arranged marriage between Yash Raj films and Disney has worked!!

4. Though it's a bit difficult to slot the movie for any particular age-group. It's needlessly romantic/ syrupy for a kiddy film. 5 year old Neo was yawning through the second half...Too simplistic and linear for the movie buff. Too Bollywood for the animation purist. But I guess this is the first of a new wave. The Bollywood effect on animated movies has just begun. Maybe this is how Bollywood could enter the global movie market.

5. Javed Jaffrey as Charlie Anna is just too good. His seasoned voice brings great vigour and vivacity to the slum-lord's role!! Maybe there is life beyond the movie for Charlie Anna.

51/2. Neo has declared he will watch it again on VCD, so there you are - the TG has given a thumbs up! But the Rajdhaani Ka Gaurav didn't have pop-corn(Unpardonable)!!!

Big Idea : CauseCast

Yesterday received this RSS feed from TrendCentral.com It's about social media meeting cause. A site named Causecast.org!!

Trendcentral says 85% of youth today think it's important to make the world a better place (The Cassandra Report, May 2008), and Causecast is looking to reach these socially conscious consumers by acting as a powerful online social medium that connects nonprofits, leaders, brands, and individuals to those who want to make a positive impact on the world.

Boasting a roster of well-recognized celebrity activists and leaders, and 30 nonprofit organizations, Causecast is a one-stop-shop for philanthropy, including a social network, news outlet, and entertainment source.

In an effort to increase popular interest in social causes, the site makes it easy for users to give back and do good on their own. Users can highlight their favorite causes by adding a widget to their own personal sites and profiles. Additionally, cause-related news from around the world is available at Causecast, as well as a weekly news show, with shorter segments available on the site's YouTube channel...

Need to create something like this closer home!!

Tribal Goes Social

Tribal DDB London got into social marketing mode last week. It launched Radar DDB for social media. You can read the write-up here...

Till now, such services/ this space has been a place for smaller, independent agencies. Now Tribal DDB, one of the big three agency networks alongside WPP and IPG, is creating its own social media division to add to its UK roster…

Radar DDB, which already operates in Canada, is pegging January 1, 2009, as a start date. Radar DDB will focus on building brand strategy, social media monitoring and conversational branded content for Tribal clients, which include VW and Philips.

We have been working to create our own social media division for some time now in India. Time to get in touch with the London office for some tips and inspiration...

Schmidt Speak

On adage.com, browsed through Eric Schmidt's interview. It's always fascinating to tap into the mind of this internet era sage...Some nuggets from the article.

1. The internet is fast becoming a "cesspool" where false information thrives! Brands, therefore are the solution, not the problem. Brands are how you sort out the internet cesspool.

2. Branding may be an essential element that helps people navigate the world. Brand affinity is clearly hard wired. It is so fundamental to human existence that it's not going away. It must have a genetic component.

Interesting stuff...Chewable!

Sunday, The Book and Javed Saheb's Angst

It has been a very busy and hard working Sunday. I am now in week 4 of writing my book - broadly around the theme - 'New Marketing learns from Bollywood'...

Writing a book does demand a very different level of conviction and attention. I thought my 2 years of blogging would be discipline enough but the book is a totally different monster...

Just managed to browse through the papers. Read this view-point piece on 'Terrorism and the Muslim community' by Javed Akhtar...

The problem of our times is that the best and the most learned and talented are silo-ing themselves from the real India - the angry, festering with violence(mostly engineered) India. So a departure from the normal rants on media and advertising...

Javed Saheb's angst ridden voice on 'Terrorism and the Muslim' in this DNA piece here made me restless...

1.'Muslims only get toothless commissions’ - Whenever they are killed, raped or burnt alive or their property destroyed, all they get is a commission which sits on the case for years, and ultimately gives a report. It may indict some people, but the report eventually finds its way into the dustbin.

2. You don’t have to be Sherlock Holmes to figure that the VHP and Bajrang Dal are behind the church attacks in Orissa and Mangalore, but somehow this is not discussed. After all, this is also terrorism.

3. I recently heard a TV anchor ask someone if it was time for the Muslim community to do some introspection. This is a loaded question, even if it was not intended that way. It suggests that the Muslim community is, in fact, responsible for the various acts of terrorism its members have been accused of. Would you say that since the Bajrang Dal is burning churches, the Hindu community should do some introspection? I won’t ever say that because I don’t believe that the Hindu community as a whole should have to bear the responsibility for the actions of some of its members.

4. In our country, ‘Terrorist’ seems to be a word reserved exclusively for Muslims. Those indulging in unrest from the border of Nepal to Andhra Pradesh are naxalites; in the Northeast they are insurgents. And in the case of the Bajrang Dal and VHP, they are ‘social activists’.

Couldn't agree with you more Javed Saheb. But we need many more angry poets and angry common men/ women in this country...