Life is Beautiful

Yesterday, i happened to purchase this film not knowing how it would be. Can say just for the heck of seeing, it got way in my collection. But, it is really a beautiful movie as the name suggests. A must see classic. A collector's pick, it is.

Life Is Beautiful (Italian: La vita è bella) is a 1997 Italian language film which tells the story of a Jewish Italian, Guido Orefice (played by Roberto Benigni, who also directed and co-wrote the film), who must employ his fertile imagination to help his family during their internment in a Nazi concentration camp.

The first half of the movie is a whimsical, romantic, slapstick comedy set in the years before World War II. Guido Orefice (Roberto Benigni), a young Italian Jew, arrives in Arezzo where he plans to set up a bookstore, taking a job in the interim as a waiter at his uncle's hotel.

Guido is both funny and charismatic, especially when he romances a local school teacher, Dora (portrayed by Benigni's actual wife Nicoletta Braschi). Dora, however comes from a wealthy, aristocratic, non-Jewish Italian family. Dora's mother wants her to marry a well-to-do civil servant, but Dora falls instead for Guido where he ends up stealing her away at her engagement party from her aristocratic but arrogant fiancé.

Several years pass in which Guido and Dora marry and have a son, Giosué (Giorgio Cantarini).
Dora and her mother (Marisa Paredes) are estranged due to the unequal marriage. Later on, a reconciliation takes place just prior to Giosue's fourth birthday.

In the second half of the film, The Second World War has already begun. Guido, Uncle Eliseo, and Giosué are forced onto a train and taken to a Nazi concentration camp on Giosué's birthday. Dora demands to be on the same train to join her family and is permitted to do so.

In the camp, Guido hides his son from the Nazi guards, sneaks him food, and tries to humor him. In an attempt to keep up Giosué's spirits, Guido convinces him that the camp is just a game, in which the first person to get 1,000 points wins a tank. He tells him that if he cries, complains that he wants his mother, or says that he is hungry, he will lose points, while quiet boys who hide from the camp guards earn 1,000 points.
Guido convinces Giosué that the camp guards are mean because they want the tank for themselves and that all the other children are hiding in order to win the game. He puts off Giosué's requests to end the game and return home by convincing him that they are in the lead for the tank. Despite being surrounded by rampant misery, sickness, and death, Giosué does not question this fiction because of his father's convincing performance and his own innocence.

Guido maintains this story right until the end, when—in the chaos caused by the American advance—he tells his son to stay in a sweatbox until everybody has left, this being the final test before the tank is his. After trying to find Dora, Guido is caught, taken away and shot dead by a Nazi guard, but not before making his son laugh one last time by imitating the Nazi guard as if the two of them are marching around the camp together.
Giosué manages to survive and thinks he has won the game when an American tank arrives to liberate the camp. He is reunited with his mother, not knowing that his father has died. Years later, he realizes the sacrifice his father made for him, and that it was because of that sacrifice that he is still alive today. In the film, Giosué is around four and a half years old; however, both the beginning and ending of the film are narrated by an older Giosué recalling his father's story and sacrifice for his family.

Awards

At the 71st Academy Awards in 1998, Benigni won the Academy Award for Best Actor and the film won both the Academy Award for Best Original Dramatic Score and the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. The movie was shown at the 1998 Cannes Film Festival, winning the Grand Prize of the Jury. It then went on to win the Academy Awards for Best Music, Original Dramatic Score and Best Foreign Language Film; Benigni won Best Actor for his role. The film was additionally nominated for Academy Awards for Directing, Film Editing, Best Picture, and Best Original Screenplay. An inspired motion picture masterpiece, LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL was nominated for 7 Academy Awards winning 3 Oscars, including one for Best Actor Robert Benigni.

A wonderful comic masterpiece – Chicago Tribune.

Sorry, could not absorb within me, so i let the story flow out.

Madonna - a fading brand?

In 1985, Madonna's navel ruled the world. That year - which opened with "Like a Virgin" perched at Number One, and would later see "Crazy for You" knock "We Are the World" off the top of the charts...

Coming off her last album, the tepid American Life, the fifty-two-year-old mother of two wants to show that she can still stay up late. Confessions on a Dance Floor won't stand the test of time like her glorious early club hits, but it proves its point. Like Rakim back in the day, Madonna can still move the crowd.

That's what Rolling Stone magazine had to say but I don't have as charitable an assessment. I am a Madonna fan but remain unmoved by this new album.

The 80's had dozens of female singers with catchy tunes going for them - Cyndi Lauper, Belinda Carlisle, Paula Abdul, Whitney Heuston, Janet Jackson et cetra. But Madonna had something more - she had attitude.

Madonna was no musical genius but one thing you could not accuse her of being was a 'me-too'.

Yet, 27 years into her musical career that's exactly what's she's become. The video of 'Hung Up' has the 52 year old prancing around in a neon pink bodysuit - the kind favoured by 16 year old Russian gymnasts.

"Ooh! she's 52 and can still look like that?" we're all supposed to gush admiringly. And hopefully, we'll be so busy looking we'll pay less attention to the music. And also forget to notice how much of a tribute to Britney Spears the whole effort is. (remember the 'Slave for You' video - note the many echoes in 'Hung Up')

And the strenuous dance movements? They reminded me of uthak-baithak style punishments at a military boot camp...

The thing is, Madonna has nothing to lose. Or to prove for that matter. I don't think she's out there to prove that she can still dance and fit into something that small. She's one woman who's got what she wanted and in fact has given hits one after the other and maintained the top spot. A tribute to Britney? Well, highly unlikely.
I have enjoyed a few of Madonna's songs when she was in her prime. Over the years I lost track of her releases and did not care much to follow her.


The thing is, when a 52 year old tries to emulate someone half her age she ends up looking silly. Like a mom desperately trying to be as cool as her 16 year old daughter.

Certainly Madonna should be proud about looking and feeling great, but it's time to style a whole new image, both musically and otherwise.

Because this looks hollow and fake. So despite amazingly positive reviews and great initial sales, the album is still a number on the Billboard charts . In fact, it did not climb beyond no 7.

A musician, after all is the brand. And this brand - in her quest for eternal youth -has abandoned her core customers. The fans who grew up on her music and are not getting any younger themselves.

They want the old Madonna who sang tuneful songs with simple lyrics that one could understand and hum along with. Not some dig-tik-dig-tik-dig-tik interspersed with mumblings. Call it dance or trance or electronica.

And no, looping ABBA's "Gimme gimme" into one of songs does not qualify as 'experimental'. It's just being smart and cashing in on a current trend. Although she did have to grovel for it.

Incidentally the 50-something, mother-of-two Sharon Osbourne recently pronounced that Madonna 'dresses like a hooker'. Talk about the pot calling the kettle as black!

The 'person' of the year problem

It's that time of the year again when we look back at the 'year that was.' And agonise over who might be worthy of the title: 'Person of the Year'.

Time magazine - the guys who invented the concept - just chose U2's Bono, along with Bill Gates and his wife Melinda.

"For being shrewd about doing good, for rewiring politics and re-engineering justice, for making mercy smarter and hope strategic and then daring the rest of us to follow," were the reasons given by the magazine .

One of the other 'persons' who made it to the shortlist was Mother Nature. In light of the tsunami, earthquakes, Katrina and other unusual natural phenomena shaking our world, a strong case indeed. But not one providing any inspiration or hope. You can't tame nature, can you?

But you can celebrate the good being done by mere mortals. Especially those who 'are not the people you expect to come to the rescue'. As the essay accompanying the mugshots elaborates:

Rock stars are designed to be shiny, shallow creatures, furloughed from reality for all time. Billionaires are even more removed, nestled atop fantastic wealth where they never again have to place their own calls or defrost dinner or fly commercial. So Bono spends several thousand dollars at a restaurant for a nice Pinot Noir, and Bill Gates, the great predator of the Internet age, has a trampoline room in his $100 million house. 
 
It makes you think that if these guys can decide to make it their mission to save the world, partner with people they would never otherwise meet, care about causes that are not sexy or dignified in the ways that celebrities normally require, then no one really has a good excuse anymore for just staying on the sidelines and watching.

Offbeat choice but eloquent justification. I buy it!

'Surprise'!
Once upon a time, the Economic Times also announced its 'Person of the Year'. No, not Manmohan Singh or the Ambanis or any of the usual suspects. It was Abhishek Bachchan.

Granted, a pink paper does not have to select a businessman to 'capture the new spirit of confidence that's emerging across India Inc. and represent the spirit'. But the connect they've tried to make between Aby's career and Indian business is well, not that convincing.

"So, why is he on top of the heap these days? Because he worked at it. And that is our connection with the confident new India. None of these companies had it easy (care to elaborate "which companies?"), they faced competition and hurdles ("doesn't every company, and every individual?"), both nationally and internationally, and had to overcome their small-town image ("maybe in the year 2000! With India now the acknowledged hub for IT and outsourcing... what are they talking about??)

This part is more well reasoned.

"An Indian company becoming a global leader? AB Baby becoming a hot stud? Yet it's happened. With some luck and a lot more professionalism, hard work and sheer grit..."

Very true but 'hard work' and 'grit' are such boring cliches. Isn't it also about being in the right place at the right time? A number of factors have come together to script the 'emerging India story'. A youthful demographic, burgeoning middle class, low-cost worker advantage etc etc.

Same is the case with AB Jr. Shahrukh turned 45 this year. India needed a hot new, 'youth' star. Aby finally started working with better film makers. And he decided not to shave.

 The star's success was born out of working with the right people and the right projects. Just like business mostly is.

The problem really is not AB. Poor guy. His whole life, he'll try and prove to the world that he can be something as magnanimous as his father...what a complex (reminds of Krishna's pseudo brother Balram. Krishna had the babes, knowledge, respect, aura, brains, and a publication - The Bhagwad Gita :) ...and what did Balram have ?? A HULL !!)

Around Mallika, around MMS scam, around Delhi Univeristy (what bull) and other stuff...ET does it again! They keep exposing their dumbness everytime with their man of the year or personality of the year!!
If ET had selected NRN again as person of the year or some Business Tycoon, it may have had to throw a conservative party where the tycoons just speak in whispers and talk tall of the growing Indian community. Whereas, by choosing a film personality, ET can call more filmi people and add glamour to the show and make the party more "marketable". Pink paper will sell like hot cakes then!! And since, AB baby endorses some brands nowadays, Ad revenues too add to ET's kitty :) Apart from this, I don't see any reason for ET to choose AB baby as the person of the year..

The "go fida" ad really sucked ! What was Ford thinking? They thought they were getting a good deal in getting a not-shaven hunchback stud???!?!?!  No wonder FORD is going into losses! I guess this was the first campaign and hopefully the last with him.

I love Bono unquestioningly. Mostly for his music, but it makes me happy that someone in his position is doing something, no matter how haphazardly, to make a difference. At least, I think, he's informing many of us who can't point out Rwanda on a map that there are people much worse off than the rest of us who could do with a better deal.

In Hindi they say "Ugte suraj ko har koi salaam karta hai" Its exactly the same scenario here. If there are no gods, we create our own gods. Media can do it very easy. In the end, we the mass always look for someone who can inspire us. So here is just one more of those attempts.

With this post, my assessment of ET being a shallow paper remains intact. Only ET can stoop to this level and give an award to somebody who, even after more than a dozen flops, survived in the show business only because of his father's demigod status. No prize for guessing who will win the Filmfare award for Best Actor.
Why is the media sucking upto Abhishek Bachchan so much??? He is neither a tremendous looker..neither a great dancer...nor a great actor...then why is Indian media hyping a person only because of his lineage, contacts and power in the industry??? It really upsetting to see the "real talent" is being ignored and the undeserving walk away with all the glory.

"When Aby Baby rocks, India rolls..." says ET. For those still looking for their cool, offbeat, under-30 'person of the year'...

"When Sania serves, India lurves..."
"When Mallika reveals, India squeals.."
"When Irfan takes a wicket, India buys a ticket "...
"When Amitabh groans, India moans.."
"When Shahrukh dreams, India screams.."
"When Bollywood dances, India advances..?? 

The possibilities are endless!

The politics of public romance

Considering that India is the land which gave us Vatsayana's Kama Sutra, it seems perplexing that when Richard Gere kissed Shilpa Shetty (and only on the cheeks at that) would create a ruckus of indignation throughout the Indian subcontinent.

Perhaps because of Victorian colonialism or Mughal influence, Indians turned conservative when it comes to public displays of affection. Young couples were attacked by the police in Uttar Pradesh for hugging and kissing in a public park. One couple who kissed during their wedding was charged of violating obscenity laws in another case in India.

Kama Sutra aside, it is the current opinion of most people in India, in Asia and in Philippines that public display of affection (hugging, kissing, even holding hands) is improper. Also for Muslims in the Philippines, a man and a woman unrelated must never touch each other. Even a friendly handshake between a man and a woman some Muslims do not countenance. What's acceptable in the West and in Latin America makes most of us squirm here.

How then should one in love conduct oneself in public? While we have every right to express our affection, we must also balance it with a due regard to the sensibilities of other people. After all, there is no social advantage to public displays of affection. If one must really be amorous, one can always retire to the bedroom or, lacking that, rent a motel room. There the possibilities are infinite and we are limited only by our imagination.

My personal beef about public displays of affection is that while I understand those doing it have probably found their one true love and would probably live happily ever after, but must they rub it in our face? Rather than promoting amatory feeling in the world, public displays of affection only breed contempt, envy and finally disgust on the part of the people who aren't in love and are witnessing the display. PDA is probably okay if we can all be in love at the same time. But then again falling in love all at the same time sounds too much like free love, so we may have another set of problems with that.

Public display of affection ?

References have been made to Latin America, and how it is very common to find public display of affection there. In fact, it is apparently an indication of the security of the place!

Sometimes I think it has become "fashionable" to condemn censoring of public affection. People sometimes make statements that India is becoming a medevial society, because we don't allow public display of affection. Why, I also hear that we need to grow up, and move on, because this is okay in other parts of the world. I don't understand this.

Let us take a historical perspective. Years ago, it is said, women used to walk around with few clothes on, they used to bathe in open rivers, and we were still one of the "purest" societies in the world. India is the country where the Kama Sutra was written. India is the land of Khajuraho and Konark, where you find scores of temples with erotic inscriptions. Why, even the Qutub Minar complex in Delhi has a few erotic inscriptions.

As time passed, salwars and bathrooms were invented, and women went back indoors. Somewhere along the line, sex was made taboo, and we began to fear our past. Maybe it was a Moghul influence.

But today, in this great land of Khajuraho and the Kama Sutra, we are still among those who condemn public display of affection. Is it wrong? The answer is that yes, it does make a lot of people uncomfortable. It does make elders uncomfortable to see people "getting it on" in public. That's their culture. That's what they have seen.

India is a country that is developing by leaps and bounds. A satellite channel influence means that the youth of today are becoming more and more foreign in their approach to life. But we should spare a thought for the previous generation, that still lives in a world where man-woman interaction before marriage is not allowed. This change is taking place too fast for them to digest. This change is in every aspect of our lives. And guess what, the lawmakers are still the elder generation.

We must change, I do not deny that. We must become more liberal in our outlook, I totally agree. But do spare a thought for those who condemn change. Change is never easy. Look at yourself. Did you get over your last girlfriend/boyfriend? Do you like your new job? I think that with time, we will all get used to it. But come on guys, give them some time.

Fcuk it all !

A religion is a pure bond between an individual and the Almighty. There are many religions, but there is one common characteristic. Religion is a unifier. It brings people together, by applying the same set of rules to a large number of people.

However, from time immemorial, it has been used by smart people, to manipulate the masses. Every walk of life: politics, marketing, culture, society, have seen instances where the religious sentiment has been adopted in order to unify people in a common direction, and for a common cause.

This is not necessarily bad, if the cause is worth it. But sometimes, it could be called plain manipulation.

Marketing around the world has been showing a marked change in the attitude that it is potraying. There seemed to be an era, where marketers around the world were completely oblivious to the fact that religion could be used successfully in marketing their brand.

However, they soon awoke, and began to use faith to sell their product. The first example of a gigantic success in this direction was the Mel Gibson movie "The passion of Christ". In some time, there were clever entrepreneurs across the world who took advantage of this religious sentiment, and tried to push their product.

To be frank, this has been too little, and way too late. None of these products are capturing the imagination of the masses, and none of these are proving to be high sellers. There are many reasons for this. Most importantly, religion is no longer a powerful force in our society. Hate crimes, religious politics, caste based crimes, and of course, media, have ensured that people do not think highly of their weekly visit to the religious places anymore. 

Also, religion just does not seem to make sense to a lot of people around the world. I'm an Indian, a Christian, and for long, I have wondered why my religion is so complicated. I have wondered why my religion will only try to give me long and convoluted stories, when all I'm looking for, is a simple answer. Hindus have wondered why their religion won't grow up with the times. Muslims have wondered how their religion gets misinterpreted and misused so easily, and so often.

The stage seems to be set for a new form of marketing. A form where religion is now the enemy, and religion is now the force that divides.

Enter irreverence marketing. This is by no means a new phenomenon. One of the biggest brands in the history of mankind, Nike, has been built on the basic premise of irreverence. The tagline "Just do it" says it all. However, in time, they became the establishment, by leading the market. This required a mindset shift, and they have managed well.

Ever heard of a brand called "Cheap Monday Jeans"? A Swedish brand, its logo is a "skull with a cross turned upside down on its forehead." Founder Bjorn Atldax says, "It is an active statement against Christianity. I'm not a Satanist myself, but I have a great dislike for organized religion."

Atldax insists he has a purpose beyond selling denim: to make young people question Christianity, which he called a "force of evil" that had sparked wars throughout history.

Sweden lets him sell his brand peacefully, but other religious states might just have a problem. As of now, though, he is laughing all the way to the bank, after creating one of the fastest growing brands in Sweden.

 Fcuk is another brand that is making a living out of irreverence. Fcuk jeans are very popular in college campuses and among the youth, because of the very shock that the brand name evokes.

Closer home, in Hong Kong, a new furniture store brand is making good use of irreverence. The brand name: "G.O.D". No, don't be shocked. G.O.D stands for "Goods of desire", and the owner hopes to make a luxury brand for the Hong Kong customer, a brand far removed from the traditional images of the dragons and skyscrapers one might associate with Hong Kong. But a store called GOD? Irreverence at its best.

 India is at the throes of development. A large young population, religious confusion, and a fast rate of internet and cable TV penetration. India today sounds like a perfect recipe for irreverence branding.

Will the iconoclast please raise his hand?

Buy, all ye faithful

'Cos you gotta have faith' goes the old George Michael song. Sure. But the rise of religion-based identity is a vexing issue - as recent events in both France and Australia have shown.

Should we nullify differences, or acknowledge and celebrate them? That is the big question.

The French government's controversial ‘no headscarves’ rule in public schools is a reflection of the 'nullify' school of thought. But people will believe what they have to believe, is what any smart businessman knows. So let's acknowledge that and create products to cater to their unfulfilled needs!

Faith based products
In 2005, Paris saw the launch of a Muslim-themed fast-food restaurant - Buerger King ('buer' being the French slang for second generation Muslim immigrants from North Africa). The menu is standard but the waitresses wear head-scarves and all the meat served is 'halal'.

Then there was this ‘Mecca Cola’. Launched in 2003 by French entrepreneur Tawfik Mathlouthi with a shoestring budget of  €22 000, the soft drink cleverly capitalised on anti-American sentiment in the Muslim world. Additionally, Mecca Cola tom-toms its commitment to donate 20% of its profits to charity - 10% to Palestinian children and 10% to local organisations, wherever it sells.

Mecca Cola has spawned me-toos like the Qibla cola in the UK and a 7-up alternative - Muslim UP.

 Now what’s faith got to do with choice of a cellphone? Well, with a little imagination it well might. The Ilkone i800 is the world’s first- ever 'Islamic' mobile phone.

The handset includes features such as establishing Qibla direction (towards the Ka'bah at Mecca, which Muslims face to pray) from anywhere in the world and automatic precise prayer timing with inbuilt Azaan (call to prayers). Additionally, the Ilkone i800 contains the full text of the Holy Qur'an with English translations -approved by the scholars of Al-Azhar in Egypt.

The phone was the brainchild of Saqer Tellawi, a Palestinian telecommunication professional, who led a 2 ½ year R&D effort to develop the phone with the best technology, and highest quality 'Muslim' features. The product has been available in the Middle East since 2004 but was launched only in October 2005 in key
markets such as Malaysia. The company also targeted the 12-16 million strong Muslim population in Europe with a pre-Ramzan rollout in the Netherlands.

Other 'culturally compliant' products introduced by local entrepreneurs include 'Razanne' (a doll with a hijab) and Shukr Online (a store specialising in 'modest clothing').

Does faith sell?
But are these ventures small niche opportunities which make for interesting headlines, or do they signify an important trend marketers need to take note of?

Ilkone sold 100,000 units in 2004, although it hoped that number will soon swell to a trillion handsets by the end of 2010. The lack of key features such as camera and MP3 player is likely to put off trendy young Muslims. As for Mecca Cola, although it did get off to a promising start, the brand has under 1% of the market share in its biggest territory - France.

However, the slow progress being made by faith-based products could have more to do with the limitations of the start-ups selling them, than inherent lack of market potential. But it’s unlikely that large corporations will actually use religion to sell products. And if they do, it will be cloaked under the garb of ‘cultural sensitivity’.

The Ikea store in north London recently asked TheHijabShop.com to design a ‘hijab’ with the brand logo sewed on - for employees who wished to wear one as part of the company uniform. A symbolic
we-accept-you-are-different gestures which well might attract more Muslim customers to the shop.

Corporations like McDonald’s have always taken cognisance of local dietary preferences - religious restrictions included. So, in India, it sensibly deleted pork and beef from its menu. Conforming to local custom, it’s ‘halal burgers' in the Middle East and similarly, there’s a ‘kosher’ outlet in Jersualem to satisfy Orthodox Jews.

The new trend however is that based on demand from the local population, individual McDonalds and KFCs offer 'halal' items - in cities like Sydney and Detroit. A response to rising immigrant populations who, instead of assimilating into what ‘is available’, influence the availability itself.

Helping to 'keep the faith'
A recent report in IHT noted that “Global financial institutions, led by HSBC, Citigroup, Deutsche Bank and BNP Paribas, are now setting up either Islamic divisions or separate banks.”

HSBC’s ‘Amanah Islamic Banking Solutions’ are currently offered in Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, USA, UK, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Brunei and Singapore. The ‘Amanah’ products and services conform to the requirements of Islamic ‘shariah’ law.

Muslims, with their very distinct religion-based preferences, form the largest and most attractive market for faith-based products. But ‘Born Again Christians’ are being targeted similarly, in the US. The entertainment industry, in particular, is looking at churches as a serious alternative marketing ‘channel’ to reach out to family audiences.

‘The Passion of the Christ’, which raked in more than $400 million at the box office alone was marketed intensively at churches. But then, the subject matter was such that the strategy made perfect sense.

But the Walt Disney film ‘The Greatest Game Ever Played’ has nothing to do with Jesus – it’s about golf. Yet Disney held sneak previews at influential churches, promoting it as a film with “very secular, but potentially Christian virtues”.  

Disney also hired Motive Entertainment, which handled "The Passion of the Christ" church-marketing campaign, to sell the fantasy film "Narnia" to Christian audiences. Incidentally, many view the tale as a "Christian allegory."

20th Century Fox went a step further and launched a website called foxfaith.com which sells ‘family-friendly’ home videos to the Christian audience . A ‘church resources’ link offers downloads of Bible verses that are relevant to scenes in particular films.

It’s all a numbers game – greeting cards giant Hallmark classifies 72 million Americans as ‘Born Again’ and 14 million as ‘Evangelical’. Recognising the need to cater to this giant market, in 1999 Hallmark acquired ‘Dayspring’, a company specialized in the production of Christian greeting cards.

A CNN/Money report titled “The Financial Power of Faith” reported that religious-themed books now represent the No. 3 publishing category by market share, after popular fiction and cooking. That’s $1 billion in book sales – excluding Bibles. While in music, Contemporary Christian music (CCM) recordings now outsell classical and jazz music combined. 43 million Christian ‘rock’ albums flew off the shelves last year.

Even gaming developers are eyeing this lucrative market. Companies like ‘Digital Praise’ aim to provide wholesome alternatives to the gory games currently in the market with titles such as ‘Bible Games’ for the Xbox, PS2 and Gameboy.

The India story
Given the political incorrectness of the idea, overtly faith-based marketing does not really find favour. So, for example, instead of labelling themselves as ‘Hindu’, channels like Aastha sell on a ‘spiritual’ platform.

Of course, in the late 80s, Godrej Soaps did try to market ‘Ganga’ bath soap – hoping that its ‘Gangajal’ content would attract the devout. It didn’t work. Even though around the same time Ramanand Sagar’s Ramayan was a monster hit on television.

Now the Sagars may have another winning idea on their hands. Shiv Sagar, son of Ramanand Sagar, has plans to build ‘Gangadham’ a 25 acre Hindu ‘theme park’ at Hardwar. Dubbed as the ‘Disneyland on the Ganges’ by the BBC, the park aims to recreate great moments in Hindu mythology through hi-tech rides, an animated mythological museum, a "temple city", food courts and a sound and light show. Expected completion date: 2012.

Last but not the least, there's ‘tele-shopping’ on late night television. Now, in addition to miracle knives and magical stain removers, religion-based products are being hawked.

Kader Khan is peddling ‘Allah ke darwaaze ka aks’ while Smriti Irani extols the virtues of ‘ShreeYantra’, invoking Ram, Sita and a host of other Hindu gods. Health, peace and happiness for just Rs 1999/- (posting and handling extra). All major credit cards accepted.

Mirza Ghalib, the greatest of all Urdu poet sums up the thing about faith in the following lines :

तेरे कूचे का है माईल दिल मुज़्तर मेरा
काबा इक और सही किब्लानुमां और सही
[कूचे = lane, माईल = obliged, मुज़्तर = restless, काबा = house of Allah in Mecca, किब्लानुमां = direction for prayer]

So, even when we all know that Qibla isn't the only direction where God may be sought, we all seek the direction nonetheless. And marketing can't be blamed, they'll use all notions that people have/talk about, believe in/criticize. We're all born 6 pounds before we become beings who gain 6 pounds per week.

It won't be long before faith based brands launch their secular versions as well. Another way to look at this phenomenon is the premium that politically-aware products have historically commanded. Environmentalist pay more for green-friendly products and bleeding hearts buy expensive shirts not made at "sweatshops" and health concious people burn their pockets buying organic food.

The newest niche market are economically empowered religious folks, who due to the current political climate around the world, are assertive about wearing their reliousity on their sleeve. For capitalists this is God-sent. (also available in Allah-sent and Bhagwan-sent flavors).

What our sadhus/saints (most) do is exploit the deep seated faith of people to get the best of lifestyle and money flowing from themselves. The marketers creating faith brands are very much the same except that they are more honest about their deeds.

I believe that a smart doctor in the US is now peddling the Jesus diet! Yeah, eat what He ate and lead a happy life. Apparently he chanced upon the idea after noticing the rise in obesity among young Americans, and decided that this diet was the only cure.

Out here in Tamil Nadu, religion's a truly big business. So many magazines, so many mutths, so many swamijis and sanyasinis...it's pretty big. But unlike the instances mentioned, the believers' market here is highly segmented. So a Sai Baba book or tape will not find favour among non-Sai devotees.

Faith does sell. But this we see as "the other". Most products sell to a very Euro/US centric, Christian market anyway. It's diversity in product, and religion is a way of life - So more than being a cash cow - I guess it's about supply and demand. Market mechanics at work, and as all good market mechanics go - they drive towards creating more demand.

Fad or otherwise, atleast they are bothering to understand their markets. Though I think trinkets (Aimed at the spiritual and healing market) is different from niche markets like mobile phones. What eats me is that it could possibly mean more stereotyping.. hhmm...

The truth of the matter seems to be that ghettoisation sells. As we move into a more fractious and polarised society, marketing is bound to get more target specific. That is not necessarily a new thing. Marketing has always, in order for the tail to wag the dog, artificially created new demands in niche markets to sell products. This is just an extension of that.

The problem lies not more in the sociological reasons that allow target fragments to be exploited by cynical marketers. From colas to Islamic Banking, marketers are actively enouraging this fragmentation so that they can mint money. This can potentially lead to dangerous situations. What happens if someone accidentally knocks over a bottle of Mecca Cola with his feet? What's the guarantee that someone will not consider this an insult to Islam? Similarly what will stop a rabid RSS guy from accusing someone of using the "pure" Ganga soap to wash unmentionable body parts? Or what happens if someone spots an HSBC employee having pork chops for dinner?

These maybe far out examples, but will the marketers take responsibility then for the potential fallouts? Where does business bend and responsibility begin? As long as there are gullible people out there, some smart-ass will make money out of their ignorance by selling them 'peace' and 'happiness'.

I have tremndous respect and admiration for all entrepreneurs who cash in on religion. I think they are really smart and gutsy folks. They have manged to see through the oddities of life and look at religion for what it really is - a cash cow.

As you might note from the rather formal tone of this piece, it was not written as a blogpost. Was felt to be potentially controversial, hence sees light of day here instead!

P.S. I am not for or against faith-based products - simply a keen observer of trends.