JohnAbraham.com

Just stumbled upon what appears to be the promotional website of the UTV film (Jhootha Hi Sahi)- JohnAbraham.com...

I quite like the simplicity and the peek into a celeb's life content. In one video John talks about his Tulsi chai(he drinks some 40 cups every day!!)

There is a very simple idea of 'pairing with John' where you can upload your picture and be paired with John:-)

I guess where many brands struggle to understand the conversational nature and playful content of social media, this JA site gets it right...Am bookmarking it for reference...

Aamir - the blogger Khan

There is a sliver of a chance that I may get to meet Aamir(Khan) for my book. One of my close friends has promised. Maybe post the release of Ghajini...

So, while I keep my fingers crossed, I also decided to google all his interviews and other facts and trivia. He is a meticulous man I gather and I better be prepared.

And so I spent about an hour on his blog yesterday. I had stayed away from these celeb blogs earlier because in my own mind I just couldn't reconcile the Bollywood stars(so used to fame and manipulating mass media) with the simple, democratic and conversational act of blogging.

But alas I was wrong as far as Aamir's blog is concerned. This khan gets it. I mean he really gets blogging!! While many of my clients and few of my digital savvy colleagues(from past and present)still don't get it:-)

1. The posts are written exactly in the manner one would imagine Aamir to talk in say an interview.

2. The posts sound real. He talks about his anger and helplessness at the Mumbai blasts. How he felt screening TZP in Seattle for the IDA (International Dyslexia Association). Even the fact that he couldn't sleep one night because of ants in his bed:-)

Now this isn't rocket science. The being real part. But brands and brand managers seldom get it right.

3. It's okay to make mistakes.Blog posts are never meant to be perfectly crafted messages. Often they are random thoughts. They are the first opinions. They are amateurish. They might reveal mistakes and flaws. They can have spelling errors. Aamir's posts have spellos. He even spells the movie Memento as Momento and later acknowledges the error:-) Brands too must learn and adopt this degree of humanness when they want to converse through the medium of social media. It is more important to be human and share honest feelings than to be correct and share dessicated facts...

4. Inviting feedback. Bollywood stars or any stars for that matter have largely communicated from a pedestal. That's part of their mystique. Yet when one blogs one has to be receptive to feedback. From the commoner. The audience of One. Aamir does. Even the micro-feedback of giving indents in his paragraphs for better readability:-)

5. Contextual. Again brands arrogantly assume their primacy all the time. That they are the centre of the universe/ conversation. Whereas when you blog(the general sort of blog), context is everything. The content is a variegated play of life, your work, the important and the trivial thoughts...Again, I have found it difficult for clients and their brands to appreciate the context when it comes to any form of social media.

So, if nothing else, star bloggers like Aamir can teach marketers how to converse with their audience. One on one...

However, on the content front, I was largely disappointed. I don't think he has articulated his thoughts as well as he acts in his movies:-)( on the basis of the 4-5 posts that I read randomly...)

You may want to read a few of his posts - 'Sleepless in Seattle', 'It's a bird, it's a plane' - by Abbas Tyrewala, 'Ghajini'...Ah, you will will have to register and then log on...a bit annoying!

Burrowing in the Book : Talking Films

After a week of mild depression(triggered more by 24X7 TV news, screeching Barkha, over-bearing Arnab and high-strung Rajdeep than the terror attack itself), like the rest of the city I have got back to work in almost full steam. Both at the day job and in my role as the week-end writer:-)

On my book front - All the googled information in the world is of no use, unless one is able to crystallise an argument. And that's a bloody difficult task, especially if you have to do it over 200 pages!!

Moreover, am struggling to find meaningful articles on Bollywood. Either frivolous actor interviews/ film reviews float on the internet or there are these academics who dwell upon such arcane themes around Bollywood with so much academic mumbo-jumbo that's it's of no real help!!

Within such constraints, one voice that has guided me in the past and continues to do so now is that of Javed(Akhtar) saheb...Right from his book Talking Films - Conversations on Indian Cinema compiled by Guru Dutt's niece - Nasreen Munni Kabir to his many interviews, Javed saab shares his nuggets on Bollywood...If only I could get some quality time with him and soon...

Stumbled upon this interview of at Glamsham.com. This one's okay...with a few worth a bookmark comments!

1.Are you convinced about remaking films like SHOLAY and DON? Please don't be politically correct just because Farhan has remade DON.
Let me tell you the backdrop of the original DON. That will help you get your answer. DON suffered despite an interesting script since it was made on a shoestring budget. Producer Nariman Ali could, somehow, complete the film. The remaking was justified as the film deserved it. As for SHOLAY, I don't think there is any scope or need for improvisation in the film. There is nothing new or original that one can add to the film. It's all there.

2.When are you directing a film?
Writing is an addiction and once you get addicted to it; it is very difficult to concentrate in other things. It makes you lazy and no job seems more interesting than writing. Often I think I will do this and that but ultimately land up with my pen and paper. I am too lazy to make films.

3.There is always a critical comparison between your and Gulzar's poetry. Would you like to comment on this?
I respect Gulzarsaab a lot. He is a true icon. So it will be unfair to comment on his poetry. But I can talk of my art form. I have always aimed at making poetry understandable even to a person who does not have the remotest idea of the art. If I can't communicate my lines to people what's the use of making it public? Some poets don't realize that. They go on writing abstract poetry and say they don't care if people understand them or not. Ambiguity forbids simple expression. This is definitely not my genre.

4.After spending over 30 years as a lyrics writer I am sure words reside at your pen-tip. Isn't it?
Now-a-days I don't have to try hard to fit in the words to the music. But that doesn't mean that I don't have to do my homework regularly. I have my own set of vocabulary that needs to be upgraded every day.

You can read some nice excerpts from the book Talking Films here...

Interviewing Alex Bogusky : From Boulder On Bollywood

On Friday I finally managed to speak to Alex Bogusky - the rock star creative head and chairman of the US ad agency Crispin Porter Bogusky(CP+B) for my 'Bollywood and Branding book...

1. I had found some similarity in how Alex approaches work and the way a part of Bollywood thinks.

2. While over the years I have done my fair share of interviewing consumers in numerous focus groups, but interviewing the head of the edgiest ad agency in America made me a lil conscious...

3. An hour before the interview I changed my questionnaire...After going through many of his interviews on the net.

4. Here's a sample of what I asked Alex - (a)It seems till now advertising and branding has had a formula, a plan, a roadmap but going ahead with the infinite touch points that we have created will branding become pure art?

(b) I have read you saying that your agency's basic philosophy is to take a brand and make it famous. Does this principle apply to all brands?
Can the average soap brand also stand a chance of becoming a mini celebrity? What's the process like?

(c)Is surprise the new consistency?

(d)In this age of 24X7 global connectivity, and the fact that digital creatives like the BMW films have an infinite life will the size of the media budget cease to matter?

(e)How do you plan ( Burger King, VW) to lead the conversation in a category,in the culture?

(f)Tell me something about your strategic planning department? With sociologists, anthropologists and investigative journalists.

and a few other Qs...

5. It was supposed to be a 30 min interview but Alex gave me about 50...spoke like a clairvoyant with humility and brilliance.

6. One of the things I have often wondered about is the extreme elasticity of the Bollywood stars - SRK for example endorses close to 25 brands - from the sasta Nav Ratan Tel to Tag Heuer yet we don't have any problems understanding him. He/ Aamir/ Amitabh still manage to give meaning and stability to brands.

What I never figured out how they manage to do this so effortlessly. And I deal this in one of the chapters in our book.

Alex had an interesting take - he said people take ingredients from brands not consume/ believe the whole of most brands. So, under this ingredient theory, the 30brand SRK is easier to understand.

7. We talked of Paris Hilton, the return of the 30sec commercial and the changed role of mass media...

8. I liked both the sound of the questions and the texture of his answers...It was a thrilling experience.

Next on the list : Balki!!

25 Years of a Cult Classic

After finishing my usual dose of 4 newspapers this Sunday morning in under 30 minutes I was absorbed into the latest issue of Tehelka!

Read an engaging write-up by Naseer on Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro!! It completes 25 years! It may be a cult film today. Back then, during the making of the movie, Naseer says it was insanity. Read the complete article here as Naseer looks back on the gritty elation of Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro...

Jotting down a few lines that stuck...

1. In those days, the titles of films were not identified by abbreviations, we just called it “this f—-ing film we’re shooting now”. It was the pre-monsoon summer, the locations were the streets of Bombay...

2. The script of Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro seemed to have been revealed to Kundan Shah in an inspired moment of transcendental, if not downright hallucinogenic, lunacy. I had never read or seen anything like it at the time, and while I was not absolutely sure that it was even coherent, I itched to have a crack at it.

3. THE FILM was not an immediate success, but over time it has come to have a sort of cult reputation. I think it has struck a chord with audiences because of the unassuming way in which it speaks of corruption and the struggle of the underdog. None of these themes were novel, but Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro’s off-centre presentation caught people’s fancy.

4. What is not funny, however, is the question of why Kundan can’t follow it up. Talk has been rife for too long about a sequel. Only the man himself can answer why it hasn’t happened. And he’s not telling, but I think what he’s not telling is that to be able to generate that extreme and that intense an energy from that many participants takes some doing: it’s tough to summon that adrenaline on demand.

5. For those touched by it, the memory is goose-pimply, it causes sweat to break out on the brow, the blood to rush to the temples and the knuckles to go white. So actually, instead of vainly hoping for a sequel, let’s just give thanks that this one actually happened.
(From Tehelka Magazine, Vol 5, Issue 34, Dated Aug 30, 2008)

Made me want desperately to watch Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro yet again and soonest...

Phoonk and Ramu's Marketing Stunt

I love Ram Gopal Varma for his crazy and scary movies!! Though I couldn't muster enough courage to see RGVK Aag(came back from the ticket counter:-)

I was not aware of this movie promotion for Phoonk! My planner, Sonal just pointed out! Apparently Ramu is going to give 5 lacs to the person who watches the entire movie all alone in the theatre!!

Some of the rules for the contest are: (1) The film will have to be seen from start to finish, without an interval.(2) No cell phones will be allowed inside the theatre, which will be fitted with cameras to monitor the contestant.

Read the details here...

That's some kick-ass marketing idea!! You can see the Phoonk Trailer here...And Phoonk's officla web-site is here...

That reminds me I worked on the online strategy plan for Farhan's Rock On earlier this month...But it's gathering dust at the moment(the plan that is:-)