Aamir Khan rules Bollywood now; Salman Khan-Shah Rukh hegemony ends!
Mumbai: News over Salman Khan-Shah Rukh Khan's spat is over as the two mighty Khans have been treading on bonhomie path with the hugging gestures. And silently another Khan has emerged on the success path with a new Bollywood box office record with Dhoom 3- And yes it is Mr Perfectionist Aamir Khan, his last release Dhoom 3 has hit the Rs 250 Cr club. With this new feat, Aamir Khan has overpowered his Bollywood colleagues, Salman Khan and Shah Rukh. Erstwhile, the never before pair of Aamir Khan and Katrina Kaif has been highly praised and the box office figures stand testimony to it.
However, success have literally rained on Shah Rukh Khan as Chennai Express is in the 200 Cr club and King Khan's company with Deepika Padukone has worked equally wonderful for the movie.
Salman Khan's 'Jai Ho' has now attained a respectable status with its 100 Club entry but he still has good figures with the success history of 'Ek Tha Tiger' which kissed 150 cr club where he was seen with his ex-flame Katrina Kaif.
And the 100 crore club still has Salman Khan's presence with Dabangg, Dabangg 2, Bodyguard.
The figures hints that Aamir Khan charisma is unfazed and despite Salman Khan and Shah Rukh Khan's success, he is the match winner. Guys is it So?
‘Gunday’ earns over Rs 40 crore in its opening weekend
Starring Ranveer Singh, Arjun Kapoor and Priyanka Chopra, the movie ‘has managed to draw crowd to cinema halls’, says Gautam Dutta, chief operating officer, PVR Cinemas.
“It is one of the much-awaited films. The response is very good. The occupancy (over three days) was about 80 percent. The songs, genre and two young actors with Priyanka... everything is well taken up,” said Dutta.
"We are positive about next weekend too," he added.
Dutta also said that some people liked the first half of the film more than the second half. He, however, added that the response has been welcoming irrespective of it.
Megastar Amitabh Bachchan, who watched ‘Gunday’ at its Mumbai premiere, called it ‘an adrenaline-packed movie’.
‘Gunday’, which has been made on an approximate budget of Rs 50 crore including promotions, reportedly hit over 2,000 screens across the country.
Balaji Motion Pictures, Emami tie-up for Ragini MMS 2
Mumbai, Feb. 17:
Ekta Kapoor promoted Balaji Motion Pictures Ltd (BMPL) has tied up with Emami for using the word ‘Zandu’, in a song of its next movie ‘Ragini MMS 2’, which is being promoted as Indias first horrex (horror & sex) feature. In exchange, the Kolkata-based FMCG firm Emami will run a media campaign to highlight the exposure of Zandu in the soundtrack, which includes a shot of the product.
Tanuj Garg, CEO, Balaji Motion Pictures said that the partnership is going to be a win-win for both as the track is poised to be a chartbuster. ‘Ragini MMS 2’ is slated for release on March 21.
Zandu is the pain-relief brand of Emami, which it acquired in 2008. The brand shot to fame after Emami slapped a legal notice to Arbaaz Khan Productions Private Limited for using their brand's name 'Zandu Balm' in the song 'Munni Badnaam' in Salman Khan-starrer Dabangg. The company claimed that ‘Zandu Balm' was used in the song without their consent.
However, industry experts feel that such partnerships are being inked to avoid such legal tussles. Recently, John Abraham Entertainment also was dragged to the Bombay High Court by auto maker Bajaj Auto over the title of the formers’ movie titled ‘Hamara Bajaj’ thus forcing the producers to change the title. They also feel that such tie-ups are becoming popular in the industry as in-film branding helps a product to get more visibility.
In past several products and brands have gone for subtle in-film branding to not only promote themselves as they realised that Bollywood is the biggest medium to reach out to a large audience at a time.
Fortis Hospital tied up with Krrish 3, Discovery Channel did it in Jab Tak Hai Jaan, where the actress Anushka Sharma plays a war journalist. Similarly Shahrukh Khan mentions about Nokia in Chennai Express.
Pooja Dhingra: Bringing Macarons to Mumbai
By the time she was a teen, Pooja Dhingra thought she knew a thing or two about desserts. She had grown up in a family with a sweet tooth, watched mum Seema run a baking business from home and was already a chocolatier of repute among her friends. At 18, she dumped law school and headed off to study hospitality management at Cesar-Ritz in Switzerland, the chocolate capital of the world. When she graduated, she thought her palate had been there and done that. Dhingra learned differently during her first week in Paris (where she was studying pastry-making), as the party chatter veered towards the dessert the French could die for: Macarons.
“In all my 22 years, I had eaten enough pineapple cakes and Dutch truffle pastries to last me a lifetime, but never tried a macaron. That very weekend, I went to a confectionery boutique store, and queued up for 15 minutes to get in. Inside, there were rows of macarons in exquisite colours displayed on tables and in the fridge. I ate one, and I was hooked,” says Dhingra. Even as the concoction of meringue and almonds was melting in her mouth, she knew what she wanted to do for a living: Bring the French confectionery to India.
Dhingra returned in March 2009, after passing out of Le Cordon Bleu, one of the finest culinary schools in the world, and started testing her Parisian recipes in her mum’s kitchen. Soon, she found she had far more than a geographical divide to bridge. While the hot and humid Mumbai weather often played spoilsport with the texture and consistency of her macaron shells, the local ingredients—chocolates, cream, butter—did not meet her exacting standards. That’s when the innovation began: She started mixing local produce with imported ones. After several trial runs (read: baking disasters), Dhingra finally zeroed in on the right recipe. Time to set up shop.
In December, she rented a two-storeyed place in Parel, renovated it and, in March 2010, started operations with a seed capital of Rs 10 lakh from her family. There was no marketing blitz, yet Dhingra and her Le 15 Pattisserie hit the ground running after a sample tasting at an Andheri mall turned out successful. She set up a counter at a Worli salon, but landed her first real break when the Lower Parel outlet of Good Earth, a lifestyle store, offered her space.
Soon after, a second outlet came up at the Palladium mall, rubbing shoulders with high-street fashion labels. With three outlets in close proximity, she shut the Worli shop and began scouting for another location. In March 2013, Le 15 opened in Bandra. Her decision was vindicated in 10 months as it became the best-selling outlet, just like her red-velvet cupcakes.
“Pooja Dhingra is a food hero of sorts for me. I have seldom seen someone work with such passion,” said Marryam H Reshii, food critic and author. “It’s one thing to attend a prestigious institute and learn the best practices, but it’s an entirely different ballgame to implement it the way she has.”
As Le 15 gears up to ring in its fourth anniversary in March, Dhingra continues to consolidate the sweet spot. She is the first choice for the HNI clientele: Bollywood biggies like Salman Khan, Deepika Padukone, Sonam Kapoor are on her client list as is the Mukesh Ambani family. Her book will be out in a few months and Studio Fifteen, where she not only conducts baking classes herself but gets experts to share culinary knowhow, has had enough takers, she says. A chocoholic herself, Dhingra is also researching a line for people who are battling the bulge: She promises to serve up desserts that are sinful in taste but devoid of the guilt.
Her balance sheet, too, is robust. While she had broken even in 10 months, she ended 2012-2013 with a turnover of Rs 1.55 crore and claims to have recorded a growth of about 250 percent in four years. Dhingra is looking to start outlets in Andheri and Colaba. On top of her bucket list, though, is a pan-India presence (besides visiting Japan that is. “Japanese pastry chefs are the best. There’s hardly anybody with such an eye for detail.”) and, to start it off, a shop in Delhi by year end.
With such furious expansion plans in the oven, Dhingra is even open to a buyout: “Yes, that’s a big option. We have received offers before, but I wasn’t ready then. I am not too keen on the franchisee route as it tends to dilute the quality of the products.” She’s in talks with different teams to decide on the future course. At home, she keeps bouncing ideas off father Jaikishan and brother Vaarun. But the final call has always been hers.
It seems her faith in the market potential isn’t misplaced. Tarun Jain, vice president (food services & agriculture) of Technopak, a management consulting firm, echoes her confidence: “In the organised foodservices industry, the share of standalone concepts [$10.5 billion] is about 4 times that of chain outlets. The bakery and confectionery market has largely been a standalone market, but the last few years has seen the emergence of some strong regional chains. The market offers sufficient space and opportunities to entrepreneurs who wish to provide an innovative, good quality and great value product.”
And, of course, if the chef has a sweet tooth, it can only help.
ThinkEdu Conclave 2013
Dr APJ Abdul Kalam lights a lamp inaugurating the ThinkEdu Conclave organised by The New Indian Express in Chennai on February 7 2013. Looking on are Mr Manoj Kumar Sonthalia, Chairman of TNIE Group and Mr Prabhu Chawla, Editorial Director, TNIE.
ThinkEdu Conclave, a TNIE initiative
Sixty two speakers, fourteen panel discussions and fifteen hours of education diction later, the two-day ThinkEdu Conclave has concluded with a slew of ideas, suggestions and directions towards “schooling India for a better tomorrow.”
From the self-effacing L K Advani to the vociferous Kancha Ilaiah, the conclave touched upon homegrown issues plaguing the country’s education system, bringing together eminent Indians to discuss the creation of an Indian education that is secular, deregulated, creative and student-centric.
Former President A P J Abdul Kalam kicked off day one of the conclave. Besides panel discussions on the Right to Education (RTE) Act, knowledge-driven school syllabus, deregulating education and
politicisation of education, the event witnessed a rare concurrence of political parties coming together for quality education.
Day two of the conclave deliberated upon secularism in education, gender/class bias in classrooms, status of Indian institutions globally among others. It was concluded by Minister of State for HRD Shashi Tharoor, who promised better reforms, better retention of children schools and higher investment in education.
ThinkEdu Conclave, an initiative of The New Indian Express Group, will be back next year in what will be an annual feature where India is discussed by Indians.
- Bharath Joshi, ENS
Headlines from the Conclave
Headlines from the Conclave
Kalam’s call to teachers
Advani and Dikshit agree on tri-lingual learning in schools
Diagnosis of and prescription for India’s education system
“Business interest of politicians stalling education bills” - Shashi Tharoor
“What is secularism in education?”
“Indian education needs to become elite in quality”
Politicisation of education - Rajnath Singh
Inclusiveness key to overcome gender bias
Politicos running teaching shops stalling education Bills, admits Tharoor
Global education has become a necessity
Opinion divided on foreign degrees
Rare confluence on three-language formula
‘Secularism product of Hindu ethos’
Multi-regulator interference detrimental to colleges
Graduates must be ‘learning-ready’
Pay teachers more, says Tharoor
Industry seeks big push for skill development
Wanted: World-class system
RTE’s no-detention clause under review
Push for flexible timings, more wages
Teach students to be good human beings
Kalam moots global human resource cadre
'Tie deregulation to performance'
Politicisation of education thwarts nation building
Rare BJP, Congress unanimity on lack of spiritual quotient among the youth
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