Confused?

Well, this letter was sent to all the shop owners in our area.. this one is regarding the rule of having shop names in Maharashtrian language. The rule was passed by BMC in 1960.

And this letter?

Well, it was sent by Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS).

So what does this letter say?

You would have understood if you know to read Marathi. But for the ones who cannot understand Marathi.. here we go..

(I am translating the whole thing, specially the highlighted areas as a summary.)

By not putting your shop hoarding in Marathi, you are insulting Maharashtra & a common Maharashtrian man, which is a sin / not legal. On behalf of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, we are giving you period of 1 month to put up the boards in Marathi. (As this law was already passed in 1960)

And if you do not change your boards in Marathi and do not speak Marathi with your customers, we will make sure we teach you Marathi in our terms and I will personally take care of the things.

If you do not take this warning seriously then we will make sure that how to tackle you. It’s better you understand this and implement in a month, otherwise we know how to handle the issue.

I am not able to understand who authorized them legally to send these kind of threatening letters to anyone.

The things they have mentioned might be right but the way it’s been put up is completely wrong and unethical. And apart from that, our current ruling government is allowing this kind of “dadagiri”.

I am really worried about the future of our country, every political party is running behind the votes. No security for a common man. And I am not even sure, how a common sensible man will vote for them? (After seeing all these things)

And we call it Democracy.. haha

If you wish to read whole letter, then do check it here

9 bomb blasts in Bangalore, 16 in Ahmedabad, few live bombs and explosives found in Surat.. more than 50 people dead, more than 100 injured..

Some terrorist group email the officials warning about the blasts.. the terrorists openly send out warning emails to everyone, asks Muslim actors not to act in movies..

Government officials make false promises.. money is given to the blast affected family.. but nothing happens.. the same cycle goes on and all..

I go through the same set of thoughts every time I hear the news about the blasts..

I do not see any security for the common man.. No CCTV cameras, the security gets tighten up only when these kind of incidents occur.. but there are always many loopholes behind this tight security..

The security check depends upon the earlier bomb blast incident.. if earlier incident had bomb planted in the cycle.. the security guys check the cycles, leave aside the cars..  no one bothers to check the stuff properly, all they do is, open up car’s deck, look around for the things and that’s it.. no proper security devices.. nothing…

It is still easy to plant the bomb anywhere in Mumbai or India…

Still money takes the high priority compared to security of a common man. Corrupted officials play big role in this. And once their part is done, the government goes easy on the terrorists. why? Just for the sake of votebank..

Afzal is still in Jail.. government do not have answer about why he is not hanged till now.. they have forgotten the people who got killed in the parliament blast..

The terrorists are laughing over this and these kind of incidents are encouraging them more..

But the things will never change..

Money, votebank.. a common man.. 

Well, what should I say about this movie? Masterpiece.. one of a kind.. OK, enough of joking. Let’s get back to the serious mode.

So, the movie.. what is it about?

Well, it revolves around a journalist named Vikas Sagar (Zyed Khan) who is working for Indian news channel. He moves to Istanbul for 3 months to assist well established news channel Al-Johara. (They wanted to setup their roots in India)

So our hero, reaches Istanbul, there is meets our stylish anna Sunil Shetty aka Owais Husain, who tries to impress the audience with his chatur dimag alias super brainpower.. both guys exchange their history in less than 2 minutes.. anna speaks some polished British style English and again tries to impress the audience..

Now, they reach the office and meet the owner of the news channel.. Ghazni (Nikitan Dheer), Now, our Hero and the owner tries to impress the audience.. and bummer.. grr.. a song.. now the next day, our hero goes to Afghanistan for news coverage.. there they meet another hero (Hero had met him earlier too), now, the hero, anna and pure Hindi speaking Afghan Shabbir Alhuwalia, try to impress the audience with their English.. (back off.. back off.. haha I still remember that funny scene) and with some hero giri stunts..

Ok, I think it should be lot more quicker now.. Anna dies.. hero cries.. the new guy tries.. new guy? Eh.. yea, we have one more hero, Rizwan (Vivek Oberoi) who always tries to save our main lead hero by giving him warning messages..

Ok, so the hero gets to know that the main news channel chief is behind all these things and he needs to get into the 13th floor of that building, hack the systems and get data in his so called X Drive, which supposedly hacks into the machine, copies the data and spreads the virus in whole network..

So, the reporter turns as a Hacker.. he hacks the machine.. I am still wondering how did he manage to decrypt the system password LOL..

Okay, the chase begins.. the heroine who is crying in India returns to Istanbul to find the Hero.. dhishum dhishum.. guns.. bombs.. and they save India.. kiss each other and the movie is over.. haha

So, now the main part.. the bashing time aka the review..

First of all, what was in the Director’s mind while making this movie? Ok, did he want to make a movie or a sponsorship program for the news channel (Aaj Tak) and a cold drink (Moutain Dew). These guys crossed the limits this time… the movie’s tagline was same as Mountain Dew’s (Dar Ke Aage Jeet Hai). I mean, the whole thing was total crap.. the news reporter who always boasts stuff like exclusively on Aaj Tak, Terrorists show up the board saying “Only Aaj Tak reporter for interview” and all.. come’on guys, don’t you understand, it doesn’t work?

And what’s up with the George Bush part? Why was he needed? Just to waste time? And, I am still wondering why there was any need for the lead heroine? Why these guys always think that, the movie cannot be made without the heroine?  And, what’s up with Abhishek’s item number? Pathetic music + bad choreography + super bad clothing? And, clone of Osama Bin Landen? Did they want to show younger version of Osama? haha..

There are many things like this in movie but if I list them all, the page is never gonna end..

OKay, director bashing done.. now, actor bashing..

Zyed Khan – This guy seriously needs some acting lessons.. it really pisses me off when this guy opens his mouth.. he should simply keep it shut.. PERIOD

Vivek Oberoi – Better.. better than Zyed Khan but still can’t be called as an actor.

Sunil Shetty – He should seriously think about leaving his so called English.. he is bad at his accent.

Shreya Saran – She need to act in BETTER movies..

Rest – OK, I am not impressed..

Okay.. the music? Well, pathetic.. no more words.

So let me sum it up.. hmm.. wait.. some more important things which you might want to learn from this movie..

• There is only one good channel.. Aaj Tak.. they get all exclusive stuff and every terrorist loves this channel.
• Every reporter can fight like army men, they know how to handle the guns, they know how to kill those terrorists.
• Every reporter knowing some computer can hack high end systems using X Drive and by “unlocking” the password.
• Always keep Mountain Dew with you, it gives extra boost. And whenever you see bunch of guys coming with guns and all, just drink the Mountain Dew, crash the can and say “Dar Ke Aage Jeet Hai” loudly.. all those goons won’t be able to kill you.
• You can use Windows Media Player to read out data from your pen drive… LOL
• And the last.. this one is super cool. If you are a normal guy or reporter.. you are in a situation where your wife / girlfriend is with the goons, your hand are tied up.. just make your wife say.. “Go tiger.. get him” And the bad guy will be yours..

OK, that’s it guys… I hope you enjoyed the review.. I am sure you will understand whether to go for the movie or not.. haha

On the box office front.. well.. another Disaster..haha

Believe me, I am still Yawning.. what a pathetic movie.. I mean, did they even know what they wanted to achieve by mixing few Hindi movies? Some portion from Munnabhai.. old age home and stuff.. some portion from some other movies.. hit Music.. and some funny numerological movie title.. – surely does not make a movie hit.. They just presented old wine in bad bad bad new bottle.. (This one is copied version for English movie Just My Luck too)

Okay, let’s move on to the story, the plot..

Raj Malhotra (Shaid Kapur) is an intelligent person but due to his bad luck he never gets the things right.. he has lost his faith in the things.. but presence of one girl.. Priya (Vidya Balan) changes his bad luck to good luck.. but now in this, Raj lies to Vidya about certain things and the story moves on..

Wanna read a better version? Check it out on Wikipedia

Okay.. the movie starts of pretty well.. i.e. first 10 – 15 minutes.. but after that the whole thing becomes predictable.. the worst part was when Priya was shown running an old age home..  simply pathetic.. I do not have any words to define how pissed off I am..

Even, Juhi Chawla’s character was really stupid.. it did not make any sense to me.. she even couldn’t make anyone laugh.. she should retire from the movie scene or look out for some GOOD roles.. not any stupid roles like this one..

The music was good.. actors were good but the plot was the weakest part…

Shahid was good, Vidya was good.. even other actors were perfect (Except Juhi Chawla).

I really do not want to say anything more about the movie.. all I know is.. I have wasted my money on it and I do not want you to do the same..

STAY AWAY..

About the rating.. hmm.. Rating: should be more than enough.. the stars are only for the music and cinematography..

On the box office front.. the movie might get good opening due to heavy promotions but I do not see it doing good in long run..

I have argued about this with many people, some of them said, it is good that supermarkets are coming up, we are getting more options.. some of them said, because of supermarkets, small guys are shutting down their business coz everyone is getting things at dirt cheap rate there..

But ever thought why it happens? Just because those biggies have more money? No, actually most of the small shop guys get into unethical stuff, they do not provide good service, they do not keep themselves updated with the latest trends. I know, not all are same but most of them surely are.

Just few examples to make whole thing simpler.. We have a general store just near our building, I went there yesterday to buy some cold drink, the MRP was written as Rs. 20 but he charged me Rs. 22.. why? Rs. 2 extra to keep in the refrigerator.. Does it make any sense?

There is one more shop near my friend’s place.. his mom sometimes buys the stuff from there.. one day she bought some biscuit.. she paid the money and returned back home.. and after checking the pack properly, they found out that, it was the duplicate biscuit pack.

One more guy runs a general store, sells the stuff at higher price.. but when argued.. we get vague answers like.. you can buy from other shops if you want, my rates are going to be same..

Now, I know, these the experiences I had with shopkeepers and it does not mean that everyone must be facing the same issue but I am pretty much sure that more than 90% of the people are facing the same kind of issues..

Now, the question is.. if.. i.e. IF.. they stop doing these kind of activities, is it still going to help? What about the prices?

Well, now.. as the time moves.. we have to move along with that and look out for more options.. lookout how we can improve our business…

Say, for example.. if some wholesaler is giving heavy discount if you buy xx number of quantity and you alone cannot buy so much.. then simply gather other shopkeepers and buy together.. this way, everyone gets benefited and you can compete with other big guys too.

I have seen malls specially started for wholesale purpose.. there is a mall called Metro in Bhandup (Mumbai), it is meant only for shopkeepers and you get goods at very cheap rates.

Okay, now let’s assume that still supermarket rates are cheaper then yours.. so now what?

Now, here comes the personalized service in picture..

Supermarkets will never be able to provide personalized service to their customers.. and if they do, they will have to hike the rates a bit to meet the expenses..

So a small shopkeeper provides better service and the rates are bit higher than supermarkets.. most of the customers are not gonna worry coz they are getting the best service at their doorstep.

There are many other ways in which small shopkeepers can compete with the biggies but they just need to follow the right path.. they should be aware that customers are smarter than earlier these days..

SO, the purpose of this post is to say that, to stay in the market.. we should always keep ourselves updated.. this applies to any kind of business, any field.. and if we do not keep ourselves updated.. it won’t take time for someone to kick us out from the market..

Just my 2 cents though..