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Can we sue Film company that makes a bad film?

: Can we sue Film company that makes a bad film?
Can we sue Film Companies making bad films?
Can we sue Film Companies making bad films?


If a company that makes a faulty light bulb can be sued by consumers then why can't a film company that makes a horrible film meet the same fate?


After all, both the cases amount to cheating the consumers of his hard earned money and in both the cases, guilt can be scientifically proven - a bad film is preceded by misleading advertising and promotions promising all together a different content and experience. Further, Lack of coherent script and character development and logical flow of story can be easily proven even if garish use of colours, tacky props/sets, insipid acting and ear drum shattering sound are debatable.

Being a writer and a filmmaker, I completely understand and respect the freedom and long rope that needs to be provided for producers of creative products. However, we need to see this current economic persepective surrounding film exhibition. A family of 4-6 being enticed to watch a film would set them off by 50-100 dollars including travel & f & B. Each hit Film is grossing in millions and billions.

Most of these revenues are by first rush over the weekend which is created by the trust people have in film personalities who come out and promote the film with clever marketing & advertising which is often misleading. Now, shouldn't these companies also be subjected to some sort of corporate governance? or is it okay to mislead and cheat people as far as you are hiding behind a cloak of creativity?


What stops the bulb manufacturer saying in court that the bulb failed because he was trying to be creative in his manfacturing process. Personal preferences can be debatable - you like action, i dont , you like jack nicholson raising his eye brows I may not.

But if the film has a coherent screenplay missing or many plot points are unexplained till the very end. Or if the film is marketed as a thriller when actually its a love story with one murder which has no relevance to the story as such? what if the film is marketed as say a tom cruise movie when he only has a two minute walk on part? then how is that not quantifiable? that's my point, why shouldn't we have legal guidelines that differentiate creativity from plain cheating.



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January 8th 2009 @ 05:15

Posted By: Amit Mehra - Category: No Category
   


The World, is coming to an End

: The World, is coming to an End
The World, is coming to an End
The World, is coming to an End


The world, is coming the and
And you better, have a story to tell

Because he will ask you, what befell?
To all the seven billion odd he sent

Why even million yells, couldn’t get any help
Why all roads lead to hell

The world, is coming to an end
And you better, have a story to tell

Because he will ask you about that child
Who killed his father, mother and hundred others
and didn’t even cry

He will ask you about that teacher that you hired
who taught hatred and fanned many fires

He will ask you how dare you made a gun
That was stronger than the Earth, Moon and the Sun

The world, is coming to an end
And you better, have a story to tell
Because he will ask you, what befell?
To all the seven billion odd he sent

Why even rivers of tears and mountains of pain
Couldn’t move even a soul or make anyone sane
The air, the trees, the sky, the meal, it’s all gone

“Adam and Eve, now all is left is you two and me
This, wasn’t meant to be”
That really will be all finally said by thee

The world, is coming the and
And you better, have a story to tell
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December 26th 2008 @ 06:21

Posted By: Amit Mehra - Category: No Category
   


Rules of Engagement

: Rules of Engagement
Rules of Engagement
Rules of Engagement
So, innocent people got hit. Politicians got hit. Business got hit. Media got hit. Terrorists got hit and now it looks like even Pakistan might get hit. So, who got away scot free? Someone has to. Someone always does. I think the high echelons of our security agencies – they got away very cheaply. They were conveniently hiding behind brave soldiers in the front in this war against terrorism. Let’s not mistake the brave hearts that fought in Mumbai with their cobwebbed big daddies. That will be a huge mistake and leave us with huge gaping holes to plug.
I agree that Politicians are responsible for leading the state and passing appropriate laws and jurisdictions and taking the right decisions at the right time. However, my question is who is manning the outposts? Who are the gatekeepers? Who are listening to that intelligence radio? Who is on a day to day basis supervising the patrolling of our land borders and sea fronts and airspace? Who are sitting in that RAW offices and strategizing on best ways to get reliable Intel? Who are training our forces on basics when facing a crises situation?
The answer is not politicians but the big daddies of our intelligence that were caught napping. Forget getting good actionable intelligence in advance, once the attack happened and the NSG was on the crime scene – why wasn’t their commander trained to cordon off the area and shoo off the media and bystanders? Agreed we do not have budgets for heat sensing radars that could have detected the positions of terrorists in seconds in Nariman house but what about basic training that no one except the action task force during the operation and forensics post operation will be allowed near the crime scene. Even the investigators are only allowed once the location is completely scanned by forensics for all evidence as sometimes even the cops can contaminate the crime scene.
Now look at what happened – not only were hundreds of media hounding the crime scene during the operation but they were all over the locations the minute the encounter finished. Electronic media was doing talk show against the backdrop of Taj even as the firefighters were trying to douse the flames. Second day into the operation – common public had started gathering around Taj, Oberoi and Nariman house. I understand one bystander got hit by a stray bullet as well. I saw people bring their kids to the crime scene while the action was going on. Young people, media, neighbors were all on top of their terraces watching Nariman house encounter from barely 20-30 feet away.
I won’t get into the irresponsible behavior of media and general public in this post as that deserves another blog by itself but my question is what kind of genius trainers have we got who haven’t even taught the basics like cordoning off the crime scene. You don’t need big bucks for that. You don’t need great political leaders for that. You need guys who are not sleeping on their jobs.
The commander of NSG or whoever agency is on crime scene should have the power and the protocol to override any other person except head of the country to take all action necessary to provide best possible safe and secured action ground before sending his boys into the jaws of death. Nobody and nothing should compel him to compromise on this aspect.

The commander of the NSG, the first thing he would have done is cordon off at least 3-5 km radius within the crime scene. At that time – one should be able to say - To hell with freedom of press and political compulsions or addiction of common people for reality TV. Set up a command room which can have some media who can report exactly what the commander feels fit to release.
Just 2 days back, there was a report on one of the news channels that the Delhi cops found suspicious looking safe in CP area with some unidentified liquid in it. After making sure that there was no bomb inside it, they tried opening the safe. When they couldn’t open the safe, they used small explosives to open the safe with unidentified liquid in it. Again – the media was all around, the general public was all around and the cops were going about this safe opening business very casually since there was no bomb. Some of the cops were even giving sound bytes to TV channels.
My question is – what if it had a biological weapon? Wouldn’t opening the safe with a bomb spread it like wild fire? What if it had some sort of a liquid concoction that when mixed with gunpowder from the small bombs used to open it will actually result in bigger explosion? Thank God that wasn’t the case but what if it was? Did our security agencies act in accordance with basics rule of engagement when faced with such situations? The answer is NO.
This is not a reality show being played out on our roads. These are battles and wars with terrorists who have infiltrated amongst us and are using top of the line international equipment and technology to attack us. How are we going to respond? By making a spectacle out of a grave situation?
When are we going to get into a pre-emptive mode? Or are we going to always respond by posting extra security on the locations that have just been hit by the terrorists? What purpose does that serve? The terrorists are not idiots. They are not going to come back there and use the same modus operandi. They will innovate and select new targets, new methods, new technology and new means to deliver them. That safe in CP could have been one of it.
What’s the point of hyperventilating over the airports all the time? Please get over it and understand that these guys are not fools to walk into already heavily guarded airports. They will choose millions of other soft unguarded targets. We are chasing waterfalls. When you will reach A, they will go to B, when you reach B, they will go to C. And this will carry on. We have to pre-empt them and be at B waiting for them after they have attacked A. Now, we only need to look around and pay attention to identify what is this B and rest assured we can be waiting for them when they arrive.
But before we even get there, can we please brush up our basics on rules of engagement. Will the media allow a security person to peep into their Monday morning meetings when they decide which people they will fry on their channel in the following week? Will a common citizen who could be sales man or a shopkeeper allow a security person to sit on his head when he is doing his job? If the answer is NO then why are these people being allowed to hover around crime scenes when that’s a work place only for security agencies?
Clearly, we need a lot to be done in order to secure our country but first lets at least draft a basic rules of engagement before we can get more fancy.
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December 12th 2008 @ 16:24

Posted By: Amit Mehra - Category: No Category
   


Appetite for Destruction

Appetite for Destruction
Appetite for Destruction
I wanted to write this soon after the terror attacks but there was so much already being said, written and done that I wanted to take a step back and get down to expressing myself after I had processed all I had seen & heard and munched on my own thoughts for a bit before unleashing them on others. This is always a good idea but I am seldom non-impulsive.

While putting a lid on our defunct politicians was long due and well deserved, we must not forget to plug some other gaping holes – Administration, intelligence, security agencies, police and even citizens – we all have a role to play if we want our nation to collectively put more value to our lives.

However, the story of this rot started much before the stink caught our noses. At a time when we handed over the rule of our country to a chosen few and went our ways to hunt for our next meal.

As our appetite became bigger, so did our meals and we kept moving away from the centre that Governed us all till the day came when our own appetites became so big that to satisfy it the meal we ate slipped us in a long slumber. The slumber from which, perhaps we are yet to wake up, but yes, some of us have been in the very least a bit shaken up.

This coma like slumber has been so long and so deep that we had no idea when the sheep turned into wolves who took away our food, our homes, our security and most importantly our freedom. The servants became the masters. Now they tell us how to live, where to live and who to live with. They don’t police our country; they police our morals, our religion and our actions and to an extent even our thoughts.

So who made them so powerful? We did. When? Remember the time when we left our separate ways to hunt for our ever increasing appetites? Well…that’s when we took our eyes off these guys we left behind to run our country. The problem was, they didn’t want to run the country…they wanted to rule it, much like the greedy kings of pre-British India who once had a free run of their kingdoms without any accountability.

Today – whatever they say goes. You can scream all you want cry all day long and even sack or thrash few of them around but they will still be around. Very much in power, very much our rulers, our masters, who will again start telling us how to live our life, Ofcourse after few days of a break.

The fact is that there are no easy choices. It is like say the telecom service in India – you have 3-4 players in every city– all of whom charge the same rates, provide the same pathetic service and they are not even sorry about it. Why? Well because they know that what goes around comes around. So you will jump from one network to another till you land up right back in their lap and before you know it, your will to jump again would have died.


So you would keep cursing the network but not even bother to change it. Because the previous jumping around dawned on you the fact that they are all the same. It doesn’t matter; you will land up losing your money and your sleep. The only difference will be that you will be writing the cheque in a different name.

Congress, BJP, CPI, CPM, SP, BSP and whatever other abbreviated breeds exists, they all laugh at our huffing & puffing because it really doesn’t matter where we go, all doors lead right back to them. This was always the case but now it is more open, more in your face.

No more coy, shy – we are different, we are opponents, blah blah. These days, they all loot their individual kingdoms in the day; meet in the new privilege club known as NEWS Channel talk show set and they hook up later for drinks to make merry and laugh like hyenas recollecting the new innovative ways in which they fooled us again.

So, how do we fight this menace? Very simple – use their weaknesses instead of focusing only on our strengths. They survive because they have vote banks. Become a vote bank. For decades, they have fueled their surge to power from these vote banks based on religion, caste, creed, class and morals.

What if we were to make a vote bank based on education or professionalism or human rights or so many other issues that should be the reason to slot us into a large enough group that can be called a vote bank.

This Ofcourse will have to be done at the grass root level because as far as they win 90% of the parliament seats from non metro regions, whatever change we want will come from this section of our political class.

Next, we have to drastically reduce our tolerance level. We can not and should not allow any one person to become so powerful that he or she is beyond the realm of reality that we exist in.

Till we continue to walk or drive on the roads with pot holes, buy flats next to open drainage & leaking roofs, live with unscheduled power cuts and move our face away, plug our ears, shut our eyes, every time we see someone in trouble with the authorities – till we continue to be tolerant, we will continue to suffer.

Tolerance is an amazing quality but I think we have displayed it excessively for the last 60 odd years towards people and systems that rule us and now the time has come to try something else.

Demands, deliverables, executions and monitoring are some of the words that come to mind. Let’s explore these concepts for few years. I am sure there will be time in the future when we can be tolerant again but as of now that cup is full.

Last but not the least – we need to introspect, engage and get involved. Let’s stop playing Frankenstein and create monsters that we can’t control and then sit around and repent when they run amuck.

Let’s tune off, shut up and nip all misleading, misdirected and manipulative politics right in the bud. Because what may seem like a harmless pet that will serve you will soon become your predator and you, his dinner.

Let’s curb our appetite, so that we don’t have to go so far and wide to satisfy it that we can’t keep an eye on the ball. We must grow, have ambitions, aspirations and make money and buy wonderful things and see the world but none of these at the cost of slipping back in that slumber that brought us thus far.

We must never have any appetite for destruction.
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December 9th 2008 @ 12:02

Posted By: Amit Mehra - Category: No Category
   


I want my pot made of Gold

I want my pot made of Gold
I want my pot made of Gold
The right question – Can we not succeed without aspiring for the obnoxious?

The adage born with a silver spoon has lost the sheen in post e reforms India and not because silver spoon is not a valuable commodity anymore but because almost everyone today has one. Everyone also has a cell phone, credit cards, mode of transport, branded piece of clothing and even a hyper market loyalty card. This is the good news


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December 9th 2008 @ 12:00

Posted By: Amit Mehra - Category: No Category
   


Who's afraid of the big bad wolves?

Who's Afraid of big Bad Wolves ?
Who's Afraid of big Bad Wolves ?
The right question – why are we afraid to discuss the causes of terrorism?

Terrorism, like inflation, poverty, backwardness and malnutrition is a consequence, a disease and surely like all things that ail humanity, we need to work aggressively to find its cure. However, is any cure for any disease possible without investigating, analyzing and understanding its causes


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December 9th 2008 @ 11:56

Posted By: Amit Mehra - Category: No Category
   


Brand that Cash Cow

Brand that Cash Cow
Brand that Cash Cow
The right question – Why is it that the minute an event occurs, the first thing the media does is brand it?

I wonder if it’s because the line has blurred between news and a consumer product which can not be sold without a proper branding, positioning and advertising


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December 9th 2008 @ 11:46

Posted By: Amit Mehra - Category: No Category
   


Whack the Dogs

: Whack the Dogs
Whack the Dogs
Whack the Dogs
The rot in our system is not the root cause of our decline as a race but the silence on this rot is. Let's yell, wrangle, groan and rant till we can hear an echo.

Oops we did it again. and again. and again. and I don’t think we will ever stop


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December 9th 2008 @ 11:32

Posted By: Amit Mehra - Category: No Category
   


Ode to the Motherland?

: Politics Olympics



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August 14th 2008 @ 04:00

Posted By: r loveday - Category: No Category
   


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