Completion of a Decade: 10 Years and this is where we are!

It was the second half of 2003 and most of us were worried of what lies ahead. Within a few months, our two year Post Graduation Programme would come to an end and each one of us was keen to get placed. With a batch size of 88 students, everyone had their share of fear, doubts, nervousness and all the other feelings that one gets before an important exam! There were questions on which companies would come on campus and which would not. There were meetings that took place with the Placement Committee where tempers ran high, with each one expressing his or her insecurity disguised in the form of a loud tone or argumentative statement. 

Today, as I write this, I smile at all of that as a decade has passed since we graduated. 

I smile at the fear that we had within us. There were questions that popped in each of our heads like:

• ‘Will I get a job?’
• ‘Will I be able to earn decently?’
• ‘I love brands. Will I be able to manage brands ever?’
• ‘Advertising is my love. Will companies allow me to show my creative or strategic side?’

All these questions and many more have been answered and have lost relevance. With the completion of a decade, when I look around, I see my batch mates and my people from my senior batch who have done phenomenally well across companies, countries, sectors, industries and brands. I see people with wonderful careers.

There are some who took the plunge and went the entrepreneurial route, few others who have been with their first company till date, there are some who still felt that they wanted to study more and went ahead and did another course/another programme, a few decided to get married and stay at home, a few decided to become writers. Some even managed to get very senior roles in the organisations that they are working for. 

So depending on who is looking at them with what lens, their level of success may differ as measurement of success is always relative and a point of perspective. How you see someone and how I see someone may be completely different and each one’s point of view is true in their own eyes. 

According to me, all of us have done quite well and all the trepidation that existed back then was useless. I remember going back to MICA a couple of years back as a Guest Speaker in the Alumni meet and I was asked to share my journey with the students. I said “Irrespective of whatever I may share about my journey, the reality is that all of you will find or create your own paths and ten years down the line, when you do look back, you will be proud of the distance that you have travelled. At that point of time, whatever I am saying today will seem like a distant memory in the past as no one else except you yourself will be able to decide where you reach and how you feel about that journey!”

Personally, it feels great to have completed a decade of corporate life. I know that I have a long way to go ahead, the destination is still far away but I am enjoying the ride, enjoying the wind as I traverse this journey with no idea of what lies ahead. 

I also feel happy, inspired and delighted to see some of my friends doing work which I know that I can’t even imagine doing and it feels wonderful to see each of them continuing on their beautiful journey where they cross different milestones at different phases at their own pace. 

I would conclude by saying:

Completion of a Decade: 10 Years and this is where we are!

Formula for a Successful Movie

If you are a film-maker and you have reached this blog with the hope of getting the magic potion that will help you in delivering the next block buster, let me tell you that you will find nothing of that sort in this article. 

Calm down. Now don’t curse me if my first paragraph has left you disappointed Mr. Film Maker. Because what I will offer in this blog is a view from a common man who loves his movies and the experience that they deliver. And who knows…maybe that is what you are seeking!

Over the last few years, there have been a number of films that have filled the coffers of the producers as they turned out to be super hits. Each one had its own story, script, acting, music and other reasons for success. I do not want to delve into that. 

The thought for this blog struck me after I saw the movie Queen – the latest hit from Kangana Ranaut. Here was a movie that everyone was raving about, people were urging others to go and see it, and the movie was picking momentum week after week through word of mouth. 

After watching this movie, while I was still trying to play in my mind the various scenes and the reason for its success, a pattern emerged in front of me. Two more movie names popped in my head – Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara and Dil Chahta Hai. I could see a common thread between the three movies. 

Think for a moment about these three movies. Does any common thread strike you as well?

Yes, the common theme for all three movies was ‘Escape’. Escape from the mundane life, escape from a crisis situation, escape from your own feelings. 

Queen had Kangana travelling to Europe to escape and get her head out from the messy situation that she had gotten into because of her wedding being called off. 

Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara had the three actors escape from their regular life and jobs to an exotic holiday to experience something new. 

Dil Chahta Hai had three escape situations. The first escape happens when the three friends decide to escape from boredom by going ahead for a holiday to Goa. The second escape happens when Aamir Khan leaves for Australia after a tiff with his friends. The third escape takes place when Aamir comes back to India to escape from the thoughts of Preity Zinta. 

Of course, just taking ‘Escape’ as a theme is no sure shot way to make a film work and nor was that the case in these three movies either. A powerful script, screenplay, acting and flow were crucial to the success of all three of them. 

But the key point that I want to make here is that the audiences lapped up these movies and came to see it again and again. This is where ‘Escape’ starts playing a key role. Human beings love to get out of the rut and experience something new, travel, see a new place, try a new activity - something which they always want to do or would love to do but circumstances, time or money does not allow them to do it as often as they would love to. 

These three movies allowed them to experience that ‘Moment of Escape’ that they crave for. Those three hours in a movie hall made people travel along with the lead actors. And when a movie makes you travel and become a part of journey, it touches a chord deep inside, it moves people and what people experience at the end of a movie is pure enjoyment. They want their friends and families to experience this emotion as well and that is why they recommend others to go for such a movie. 

I am not sure whether you agree or disagree, but to me this came out as a strong and common theme across these three movies.