Shah Rukh Khan smilingly admits that punctuality is not one of his virtues, having made us wait five hours for the first interview. But then, in conversations spread over two days, a chilled out Khan tells Dhiman Chattopadhyay and Anusha Subramanian about plans for his growing business empire, on why he is passionate about everything he does and the lessons he has learnt in his journey towards becoming India's most successful "actorpreneur" till date. Edited excerpts from a candid interview.
By: Dhiman Chattopadhyay and Anusha Subramanian (Business Today)
Please define Shah Rukh Khan the businessman. Is business a means for you to invest the money you earn, or are you passionate about actually building businesses?
(Laughs) I am not a businessman, honestly. I am Zero on 10. I am not as intelligent as people think I am. If I were a businessman, I would be happy with how KKR (Kolkata Knight Riders, the IPL team owned by SRK) has fared till now. They were the first team to become profitable and they continue to make profit. But am I happy? No, I am not, I'd rather win the tournament, even if it means making a financial loss.
So what made you start up Red Chillies Entertainment- was it a business vision you had or an avenue to invest your earnings from films?
I never really thought of being an entrepreneur when I started Red Chillies (in 2002). Yes, there was this feeling about wanting to contribute something to the entertainment industry, but then or now, I do not see myself as a businessman in the true sense of the term like you say Mukesh Ambani is a businessman. And most definitely, my enterprises are not just a means to invest my hard-earned money. These businesses are my passion. You will notice that they are all related to the entertainment industry. If you ask me in one sentence to say what my aim is, then it is to help promote all these very talented people working with me, so that one day each of them can become producers, film makers, do their own VFX work; and that all the divisions give me a busy time once my acting career is over.
The Rs 1500 crore hero
What is your core business philosophy?
When things go right, everything goes right. I believe in striking when the iron's hot. My basic philosophy is very retail-like: "Subah ko dukan kholo, raat ko shutter down karo" (open the shop in the morning, close it at night). I have seen people like Mukeshbhai (Ambani) and Lakshmisaab (Mittal). I have sat at their meetings and tried to understand what they say and do. They are awesome. I am nowhere close to them. For me, "bijli paani ka kharcha nikal jaaye" (if I am able to pay electricity and other bills and salaries I am happy)-that is how you start business.
So, you do not start a business to make money?
No, that is not the main reason. I didn't buy an IPL team to make crores of rupees. For two years now, we have made a profit, but not because of the cricket! My theory is simple: If I am going to be earning from a business that is not working because of the business, then it is redundant. This is where I feel I have a certain amount of honesty left in my business. I still haven't sold my soul. If my team is not going to play good cricket this year then woe be upon the fact that they make money this year. It amounts to zilch. I can make money by dancing at weddings and I do. Why do I have to stress about the controversies, feel sad when the team loses?
The sports industry seems to take up a lot of space in your mind. Why?
Because I want sports to be a big thing in this country. I feel bad when I hear we are lagging behind in (preparations for the) Commonwealth Games. Look at our stadiums! I wanted to do a promo shoot for Chak De! I went to Pune because I was told that the Balewadi Stadium was the best. And we made it look better because of the ad. How cheap is it that a guy who comes to shoot for a night does up the stadium better than it should be done by the sports people! I want my son to come and say, "Dad, I want to play hockey." I want that option to be there.
I feel sad when I see sports suffering. Athletes come from small nations and win every race here. Their facilities are far better than in India! I am a genuinely good hockey player. I have played in the Ambedkar Stadium (in Delhi), in Bombay also.... But when we went for Chak De! in Australia it was completely different. I couldn't play on the astroturf field. I thought to myself, I haven't seen this in my country. Look at football. Every developing nation is fantastic in soccer because it is the cheapest game to play- Surinam, Nigeria.... I want to inculcate a sporting consciousness. I am a movie star. I endorse so many things. Why can't I endorse sports in my own way? I had wanted to make a stadium. I spoke to Nike, but it didn't work out. Now, this is my way of giving back.
How involved are you with your various businesses? Day-to-day running, key decisions, finances?
Finances? Zilch. But yes, in creative decisions I am totally involved. I let my boys and girls take the business decisions. There are people to manage the finances, do the deals, take decisions on the spot. My job is to provide creative inputs, come up with concepts and ideas to take a division forward in the general direction I visualise what could be in the medium to long term. You want to know how uninvolved I am in day-to-day activities? I haven't been to one of my offices for almost two years now! But yes, as I grow older, I am focussing more on how to centralise things. So, the new office in Khar that will be complete by end of 2010 will bring all of Red Chillies' divisions under one roof. My idea then is to go to office only on Saturdays and Sundays, so that the boys have to work twice as hard (laughs) and be present on those days as well. Jokes apart, I am proud of the people I have hired. They don't just work hard but each of them thinks of the business as their own. They think of ways to improve matters, not just like employees working to a mechanical plan.
What are the key goals you have set for yourself and your businesses over the next three to five years?
The past four years have been spent starting new businesses. The baby steps are over. The next couple of years will be crucial. I have set two basic agendas: First, I need to consolidate my existing businesses before getting adventurous again. Second, personally, I need to get more professional as an entrepreneur... learn to sound like one at least (laughs) and be a bit more handsoff- in a sense worry less if things are going okay or not-so that I can spend more energy building the creative side. After all, whatever we do, will be in the creative field.
Hollywood studios such as Walt Disney have evinced interest in picking up stakes in Red Chillies. How open are you to the idea of such partnership and stake sales?
I like my things to be mine-well, at least till I am able to prove that I have done most of what I set out to achieve. I like to invest in my own stuff! (Laughs). I also look at it from the other person's perspective and I can never look into your eyes if I have lost your money. When I am sure I will not lose any money in business X, Y or Z, I may want a partner. Not now.
As an actor and entertainer, what is your view on involving your family in your career?
Of course, I am an actor and an entertainer, first and last. But I am strangely formal with my family. And I never bring my family on the sets because I can never act in front of them. I say this with due respect to many of my women co-stars who bring their moms to the sets-I know they need the security or the feeling that they have people around. I have never really told my children how I do what I do. Being a movie star is a strange part of my life that my family does not know about.
I think the Discovery Travel and Living documentary (Living with a Superstar - Shah Rukh Khan) is the first attempt to bridge that gap. I saw some of the episodes after they were edited and I am really glad about what I've said about my wife and my family and my sister-things I will never be able to say to them directly. I am strangely formal with my family. I have still not opened my wife's cupboard. I do not open her handbag. I knock on my kids' door. My wife says "Are you mad?"-she is a Punjabi-"Why are you knocking. Just enter." But I can't get into personal spaces.
What is the next business opportunity that you see?
I am an entertainer. So, it has to be in that genre. I understand only that. Internet is one of the possible options. But not immediately.
What SRK's men have to say about the man
"SRK doesnt make you feel that you are working for him but with him. So whilst he is certainly the boss he does not behave like one." - Samar khan, Head, Red Chillies Idiot Box
"He has a keen sense of business, and knows instinctively what will work and what may not. But seldom has he tried to veto us if most of us have backed a project he is not sure about." - Keitan Yadav, COO, Red Chillies VFX
"We are blessed that we are part of SRK's company... but the flip side is that there is pressure because of the brand name we carry with us." - Sanjeev 'Bobby' Chawla, Head, Films, Red Chillies Entertainment
Lessons Learnt (And one I haven't!)
IN TOUGH TIMES, do not try to cut costs. Try instead to increase your income. This is something my mother would always tell me - my first lesson in enterprise.
THINK BIG. If you want to jump eight metres, aim for 16. You may not be able to jump 16, but to aim higher than the others is important. This is something Mukeshbhai (Ambani) taught me.
ALL BUSINESSES and friendships remain strong till they are profitable for both parties.
DRESS CASUALLY at work-not shabbily but casually. People need to be comfortable, feel cool, to be able to give their best.
I NEED TO LEARN this-Close deals fast! Haggling over small things is a waste of time.
Saturday, February 20, 2010
He is the King... The Richest Actor in India..!!!
The fast, furious and fleeting appearance of King Khan in Gurgaon takes the revellers' breath away. Even more breathtaking, however, is that SRK flew back to Mumbai the next morning, richer, reportedly by Rs 5 crore that was paid for his 10-minute cameo.
December 31, 2009: Time: Close to the witching hour. Location: A party hotspot in Gurgaon on New Delhi's outskirts to which a city-based gutkha baron has invited hundreds of celebrities and wannabes to usher in the New Year. A string of performers-from singer Shankar Mahadevan to starlets such as Minissha Lamba-strut their stuff. Suddenly, out of nowhere emerges an eminently recognisable bundle of nervous energy-a certain Shah Rukh Khan. He jokes, shakes a leg and does a quick song-and-dance routine. The fast, furious and fleeting appearance of the 44-year-old Badshah of Bollywood takes the revellers' breath away. Even more breathtaking, however, is that SRK flew back to Mumbai the next morning, richer, reportedly by Rs 5 crore that was paid for his 10-minute cameo.
November 2009: SRK is shooting a new ad for direct-to-home (DTH) service provider Dish TV-a film in which SRK as a senior citizen relives his romantic heydays thanks to the pictures beamed by Dish TV on the telly. Between shots he quizzes company COO Salil Kapoor on the DTH business, and is keen to know how it works. He also doesn't lose the opportunity to tell the agency, McCann Erickson, that the ad was conceptualised by him. "But what impressed me most was his knowledge of consumer behaviour and marketing. He could easily give a lecture at an IIM on the subject," says Kapoor. The ad is shot over three days after which SRK walks away with a Rs 7-crore cheque.
February 12, 2010: My Name is Khan, produced by Karan Johar's Dharma Productions, is slated for release. The story of an autistic Mumbai Muslim who marries a Hindu could add some Rs 10 crore to SRK's kitty if audiences lap it up. Eleven days prior to this, Shah Rukh rang the opening bell at the New York-based NASDAQ stock exchange, an honour usually reserved for CEOs.
February 26: Discovery Travel and Living's 10-part series, Living with a Superstar-Shah Rukh Khan, will go on air. The biggest Indian show on TV, with a budget of nearly Rs 20 crore, delves into different shades of SRK's life: As a father, a husband, a businessman, and of course, an entertainer. SRK personally will not earn much from this show. Red Chillies Idiot Box, an arm of SRK's Red Chillies Entertainment, which is co-producing the show, stands to gain much of the spoils. Discovery has already sold all ad inventories for this show.
Every step he takes, every move he makes, somebody's out there watching him-and somebody's out there willing to pay a small fortune to see him perform. Whether he's acting, or endorsing a brand, or just being himself at an awards ceremony, SRK mints money. And let's not forget the company he owns along with wife Gauri: Red Chillies Entertainment, which has diversified into highgrowth areas of entertainment like visual effects, television commercials, television programming, in addition to the mainstay of film-making. Put all these interests together and you have a superstar with a net worth of roughly Rs 1,500 crore, making him arguably Bollywood's richest star.
Bollywood's Richest Actor
THE Rs 1,500* cr HERO
BRAND ENDORSEMENTS : Rs 238 cr, 34 brands; charges Rs 7 crore for each
SHOWS AND EVENTS: Rs 75 cr
ACTING IN FILMS: Rs 12 cr Per film or a share of the profit
RED CHILLIES ENTERTAINMENT (Including Kolkata Knight Riders): Rs 500 cr
MISC. ASSETS: Rs 10 cr Includes luxury cars, designer watches, etc.
REAL ESTATE: Rs 650 cr Includes homes in Mumbai, London and Dubai, and other real estate investments
December 31, 2009: Time: Close to the witching hour. Location: A party hotspot in Gurgaon on New Delhi's outskirts to which a city-based gutkha baron has invited hundreds of celebrities and wannabes to usher in the New Year. A string of performers-from singer Shankar Mahadevan to starlets such as Minissha Lamba-strut their stuff. Suddenly, out of nowhere emerges an eminently recognisable bundle of nervous energy-a certain Shah Rukh Khan. He jokes, shakes a leg and does a quick song-and-dance routine. The fast, furious and fleeting appearance of the 44-year-old Badshah of Bollywood takes the revellers' breath away. Even more breathtaking, however, is that SRK flew back to Mumbai the next morning, richer, reportedly by Rs 5 crore that was paid for his 10-minute cameo.
November 2009: SRK is shooting a new ad for direct-to-home (DTH) service provider Dish TV-a film in which SRK as a senior citizen relives his romantic heydays thanks to the pictures beamed by Dish TV on the telly. Between shots he quizzes company COO Salil Kapoor on the DTH business, and is keen to know how it works. He also doesn't lose the opportunity to tell the agency, McCann Erickson, that the ad was conceptualised by him. "But what impressed me most was his knowledge of consumer behaviour and marketing. He could easily give a lecture at an IIM on the subject," says Kapoor. The ad is shot over three days after which SRK walks away with a Rs 7-crore cheque.
February 12, 2010: My Name is Khan, produced by Karan Johar's Dharma Productions, is slated for release. The story of an autistic Mumbai Muslim who marries a Hindu could add some Rs 10 crore to SRK's kitty if audiences lap it up. Eleven days prior to this, Shah Rukh rang the opening bell at the New York-based NASDAQ stock exchange, an honour usually reserved for CEOs.
February 26: Discovery Travel and Living's 10-part series, Living with a Superstar-Shah Rukh Khan, will go on air. The biggest Indian show on TV, with a budget of nearly Rs 20 crore, delves into different shades of SRK's life: As a father, a husband, a businessman, and of course, an entertainer. SRK personally will not earn much from this show. Red Chillies Idiot Box, an arm of SRK's Red Chillies Entertainment, which is co-producing the show, stands to gain much of the spoils. Discovery has already sold all ad inventories for this show.
Every step he takes, every move he makes, somebody's out there watching him-and somebody's out there willing to pay a small fortune to see him perform. Whether he's acting, or endorsing a brand, or just being himself at an awards ceremony, SRK mints money. And let's not forget the company he owns along with wife Gauri: Red Chillies Entertainment, which has diversified into highgrowth areas of entertainment like visual effects, television commercials, television programming, in addition to the mainstay of film-making. Put all these interests together and you have a superstar with a net worth of roughly Rs 1,500 crore, making him arguably Bollywood's richest star.
Bollywood's Richest Actor
THE Rs 1,500* cr HERO
BRAND ENDORSEMENTS : Rs 238 cr, 34 brands; charges Rs 7 crore for each
SHOWS AND EVENTS: Rs 75 cr
ACTING IN FILMS: Rs 12 cr Per film or a share of the profit
RED CHILLIES ENTERTAINMENT (Including Kolkata Knight Riders): Rs 500 cr
MISC. ASSETS: Rs 10 cr Includes luxury cars, designer watches, etc.
REAL ESTATE: Rs 650 cr Includes homes in Mumbai, London and Dubai, and other real estate investments
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Wonder how / when products morph into something else?
The 'shelf-life' of products has decreased from decades to months : In the
'good old days', you could be sure of having the same old Ambassador or Fiat
car for years, the only difference being the addition of a cigarette lighter
or some such trinket with different versions being distinguished as 'Mark
1', 'Mark 2' etc.
Who sells the largest number of cameras in India?
Your guess is : Sony, Canon or Nikon.?
Answer : none of the above. The winner is Nokia, whose main line of business
in India is not cameras, but cell phones.
Reason being : most people don't really need a camera, but will use them, if
these cameras come bundled with cellphones.?
Now, what prevents the cellphone from replacing the stand-alone camera
outright? At present, cameras in cell phones are not so sophisticated, most
not having a Flash or better quality lenses, but its just a matter of time,
before?these are on the market.
Who is the biggest in the music business in India ??
HMV Sa-Re-Ga-Ma ??
Sorry. The answer is Airtel. By selling caller tunes (that play for 30
seconds or so), Airtel makes more money per day than what music companies
make by selling music albums (that run for hours).
Incidentally Airtel is not in music business. It is the mobile service
provider with the largest subscriber base in India.?
That sort of competitor is difficult to detect... even more difficult to
beat (by the time you have identified him as a competitor, he has already
gone past you in sales).?
But if you imagine that Nokia and Bharti (Airtel's parent) are breathing
easy, you can't be farther from truth.
Nokia confessed, that they all but missed the smartphone bus. They admit
that Apple's Iphone and Google's Android can make life difficult in future.?
But you never thought Google was a mobile company, did you??
If these illustrations mean anything, there is a bigger game unfolding. It
is not so much about mobile or music or camera or emails... as it is about
hidden competition
Know what the latest computer war is about ??
What is tomorrow's personal digital device gong to be ??
Will it be a jazzed-up Mobile or a Palmtop with a net-phone ??
What Apple did to Sony, Sony did to Kodak?
Explanation ??
Sony defined the market in the field of Audio... remember the Walkman /
Discman ??
What did Apple do to Sony ? Sony never expected an IT company like Apple to
encroach into their audio domain.?
Come to think of it, is it really surprising? Apple as a computer maker has
both audio and video capabilities.?
So, what about cameras ? ? ?"Elementary, dear Watson".?
Kodak had defined its business as Cameras.?
Sony re-defined its business as digital cameras, which led to the downfall
of conventional cameras.
In the digital camera, the two markets perfectly meshed. Kodak was torn
between going digital and sacrificing money on film technology or staying
with films and getting left behind in digital technology.?
Undecided, it tried to do both and lost its market share to Sony.?
The same was true for IBM, whose mainframe revenue prevented it from seeing
the true potential of the PC. Today, Chinese manufacturers are dominating
this field.
Bill Gates declared that the Internet is a just a passing fad !?
Google is now challenging its domination of the computer field, not in
hardware, but in software.?
The point is not who is today's competitor ??
Today's competitor is obvious. He can be countered.
Its the hidden competitor, who sneaks in from out-field, totally redefining
the rules of the business.
Who was the toughest competitor to British Airways in India ? Singapore
airlines? No, neither was it Air India / Indian Airlines.
The answer is Video-conferencing and webex services of HP and Cisco, who
have suddenly made physical travel redundant, since you can now
tele-conference or see your complete team in several countries real-time,
without having to leave the Office.?
Who is the biggest competitor in the Travel business ? ?Not the airlines or
the railways or even the transport companies.
Senior executives in India and abroad were compelled to use
video-conferencing to shrink travel budgets. Internet came to their rescue.
?
Remember the mad scramble for American visas from Indian techies ??
Outsourcing has meant that the techie can stay at home and earn much the
same, without having to leave the country.?
India has a quota of something like 65,000 visas to the U.S. They are now
going a-begging. Blame it on recession ?! ?
Maybe...but then again, its really not smart to have to emigrate and spend
in dollars, when you can earn abroad and spend it at home.
Remember the VCR craze ? Between 1988 and 1991, the prices of the now
defunct VCR crashed to one-third of its original level in India.?
Similarly, the PC's price has plummeted...lakhs to a few thousands.?
India has two passions. Films and cricket. The two markets were distinctly
different. So were the icons.?
> The cricket gods were Sachin and Sehwag.?
The filmi gods were the Khans ...Aamir Khan, Shah Rukh Khan.?
The film line was all about big money.
That was, when cricket was fundamentally test cricket or at best 50 overs cricket.?
Then came IPL and the two markets merged into one.?
IPL brought cricket down to 20 overs. Suddenly an IPL match was reduced to
the length of a 3 hour movie.?
Cricket became the film industry's competitor !?
On the eve of IPL matches, movie halls ran empty. Desperate multiplex owners
requisitioned the rights for screening IPL matches at movie halls, to hang
on to their audiences.?
If IPL is to become the mainstay of cricket, as it is likely to be, films
have to sequence their releases, so as not clash with IPL matches.
As far as the audiences are concerned, both serve the same purpose in India
'3 hour tamasha' (entertainment).?
Look at the products that have vanished in the last 20 years.?
When did you last see a Black and White movie ??
When did you last use a Fountain pen ??
When did you last type on a Typewriter ??
The answer for all the above is "I don't even remember !"?
20 years back, what were Indians using to wake them up in the morning ? The
answer is ?the?ubiquitous?alarm clock.?
The alarm clock was a monster made of mechanical springs. It had to be
physically keyed every day, to keep it running. It made so much noise, by
way of harsh alarms, that it woke up the entire colony.?
What do we use today for waking up in the morning??
Cellphone !?
An entire industry of clocks disappeared without warning, thanks to the
entry of the digital clock and now the cell phones.?
Swiss watch companies are as scarce as water in the Sahara. The IT industry
proved to be their downfall.
You never know behind which bush your competitor is hiding !
Nowadays, you can't be sure, whether the product that you buy today, will
even exist next year.?
VCRs, LPs, Tape-decks have already become extinct.
Even Laptops have all but?disappeared from the consumer's Radar, with the
appearance of sleek new Netbooks :)
Wonder how / when products morph into something else??
'good old days', you could be sure of having the same old Ambassador or Fiat
car for years, the only difference being the addition of a cigarette lighter
or some such trinket with different versions being distinguished as 'Mark
1', 'Mark 2' etc.
Who sells the largest number of cameras in India?
Your guess is : Sony, Canon or Nikon.?
Answer : none of the above. The winner is Nokia, whose main line of business
in India is not cameras, but cell phones.
Reason being : most people don't really need a camera, but will use them, if
these cameras come bundled with cellphones.?
Now, what prevents the cellphone from replacing the stand-alone camera
outright? At present, cameras in cell phones are not so sophisticated, most
not having a Flash or better quality lenses, but its just a matter of time,
before?these are on the market.
Who is the biggest in the music business in India ??
HMV Sa-Re-Ga-Ma ??
Sorry. The answer is Airtel. By selling caller tunes (that play for 30
seconds or so), Airtel makes more money per day than what music companies
make by selling music albums (that run for hours).
Incidentally Airtel is not in music business. It is the mobile service
provider with the largest subscriber base in India.?
That sort of competitor is difficult to detect... even more difficult to
beat (by the time you have identified him as a competitor, he has already
gone past you in sales).?
But if you imagine that Nokia and Bharti (Airtel's parent) are breathing
easy, you can't be farther from truth.
Nokia confessed, that they all but missed the smartphone bus. They admit
that Apple's Iphone and Google's Android can make life difficult in future.?
But you never thought Google was a mobile company, did you??
If these illustrations mean anything, there is a bigger game unfolding. It
is not so much about mobile or music or camera or emails... as it is about
hidden competition
Know what the latest computer war is about ??
What is tomorrow's personal digital device gong to be ??
Will it be a jazzed-up Mobile or a Palmtop with a net-phone ??
What Apple did to Sony, Sony did to Kodak?
Explanation ??
Sony defined the market in the field of Audio... remember the Walkman /
Discman ??
What did Apple do to Sony ? Sony never expected an IT company like Apple to
encroach into their audio domain.?
Come to think of it, is it really surprising? Apple as a computer maker has
both audio and video capabilities.?
So, what about cameras ? ? ?"Elementary, dear Watson".?
Kodak had defined its business as Cameras.?
Sony re-defined its business as digital cameras, which led to the downfall
of conventional cameras.
In the digital camera, the two markets perfectly meshed. Kodak was torn
between going digital and sacrificing money on film technology or staying
with films and getting left behind in digital technology.?
Undecided, it tried to do both and lost its market share to Sony.?
The same was true for IBM, whose mainframe revenue prevented it from seeing
the true potential of the PC. Today, Chinese manufacturers are dominating
this field.
Bill Gates declared that the Internet is a just a passing fad !?
Google is now challenging its domination of the computer field, not in
hardware, but in software.?
The point is not who is today's competitor ??
Today's competitor is obvious. He can be countered.
Its the hidden competitor, who sneaks in from out-field, totally redefining
the rules of the business.
Who was the toughest competitor to British Airways in India ? Singapore
airlines? No, neither was it Air India / Indian Airlines.
The answer is Video-conferencing and webex services of HP and Cisco, who
have suddenly made physical travel redundant, since you can now
tele-conference or see your complete team in several countries real-time,
without having to leave the Office.?
Who is the biggest competitor in the Travel business ? ?Not the airlines or
the railways or even the transport companies.
Senior executives in India and abroad were compelled to use
video-conferencing to shrink travel budgets. Internet came to their rescue.
?
Remember the mad scramble for American visas from Indian techies ??
Outsourcing has meant that the techie can stay at home and earn much the
same, without having to leave the country.?
India has a quota of something like 65,000 visas to the U.S. They are now
going a-begging. Blame it on recession ?! ?
Maybe...but then again, its really not smart to have to emigrate and spend
in dollars, when you can earn abroad and spend it at home.
Remember the VCR craze ? Between 1988 and 1991, the prices of the now
defunct VCR crashed to one-third of its original level in India.?
Similarly, the PC's price has plummeted...lakhs to a few thousands.?
India has two passions. Films and cricket. The two markets were distinctly
different. So were the icons.?
> The cricket gods were Sachin and Sehwag.?
The filmi gods were the Khans ...Aamir Khan, Shah Rukh Khan.?
The film line was all about big money.
That was, when cricket was fundamentally test cricket or at best 50 overs cricket.?
Then came IPL and the two markets merged into one.?
IPL brought cricket down to 20 overs. Suddenly an IPL match was reduced to
the length of a 3 hour movie.?
Cricket became the film industry's competitor !?
On the eve of IPL matches, movie halls ran empty. Desperate multiplex owners
requisitioned the rights for screening IPL matches at movie halls, to hang
on to their audiences.?
If IPL is to become the mainstay of cricket, as it is likely to be, films
have to sequence their releases, so as not clash with IPL matches.
As far as the audiences are concerned, both serve the same purpose in India
'3 hour tamasha' (entertainment).?
Look at the products that have vanished in the last 20 years.?
When did you last see a Black and White movie ??
When did you last use a Fountain pen ??
When did you last type on a Typewriter ??
The answer for all the above is "I don't even remember !"?
20 years back, what were Indians using to wake them up in the morning ? The
answer is ?the?ubiquitous?alarm clock.?
The alarm clock was a monster made of mechanical springs. It had to be
physically keyed every day, to keep it running. It made so much noise, by
way of harsh alarms, that it woke up the entire colony.?
What do we use today for waking up in the morning??
Cellphone !?
An entire industry of clocks disappeared without warning, thanks to the
entry of the digital clock and now the cell phones.?
Swiss watch companies are as scarce as water in the Sahara. The IT industry
proved to be their downfall.
You never know behind which bush your competitor is hiding !
Nowadays, you can't be sure, whether the product that you buy today, will
even exist next year.?
VCRs, LPs, Tape-decks have already become extinct.
Even Laptops have all but?disappeared from the consumer's Radar, with the
appearance of sleek new Netbooks :)
Wonder how / when products morph into something else??
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