Much has changed since that day when I joined a particular bank in the marketing division ..... much has changed since that day when I ventured into Operations for a very famous BPO (which was beginning it's operations then .... and much changed since that day when I become the fist ever non-HR management graduate to write a HR manual for a company ........ I have changed jobs and careers, companies and firms, Indian and multi-national and have found that the Corporate world is the same everywhere - the only difference is I am no longer what I was and I will never again be what I was ........
The other day, I saw Rocket Singh - Salesman of the Year and it felt like I was re-visiting a part of my own life, a time of own life when things were slightly different, times were slightly different and most importantly I was slightly different ...... the film is well-made and echoes of an understanding of the corporate sector that's deep as well as true...... one would be hard-pressed to find a film in recent times that engages the corporate sector as well as this movie - Well, one would be inclined to talk about movies like Gharonda, Golmaal, Rajnigandha, Naukri, and the recent Corporate, but that would be beside the point ..... Gharonda was a love story with the office serving as a background for the story to move on, Golmaal was a comedy where the workplace was incidental to the plot, Rajnigandha was basically about a woman's feelings while Naukri was centred on the unemployment issue - even Corporate was more of a eagle's view down from the mountains on a small town - but Rocket Singh is an ant's view of the world of cold calls and marketing tips; it is a study of monthly targets, sales figures and so on and so forth and any guy who has ever done a single cold call in his life will know what I am talking about ....................
Ranbir Kapoor is turning out to be worthy scion to the name of the Kapoor Khandaan ...... unlike his cousins, Karisma and Kareena, who took a lot of time and chances to prove their versitality, Ranbir has been a delightful addition to the pantheon that boasts of some of the greatest and best names in the industry - Prithviraj Kapoor, Raj Kapoor, Shammi Kapoor, Shashi Kapoor, Rishi Kapoor, and Karisma Kapoor.....
As the Sardar, Harpreet Singh Bedi who has always had a hate-hate relationship with numbers, Ranbir is earnest as earnest can be - He underplays the character to an extent that even though we know that his actions are suspect, he has our entire sympathy and at times, one can feel the sub-conscious connection of the actor with the role ........ For a career that started only a few years back, Ranbir has been growing leaps and bounds and the confidence of the actor grows on us as an audience within minutes of the film taking off
G Santosh as the pornography- addicted Southerner computer engineer, Girish Reddy is as effervescent as the bubbles in a Coke Ad. Everybody who watches this film, has met someone or been acquainted with someone like this guy who lives in a house that runs a close second to a site in Afghanistan bombarded by the Americans and reduced to a garbage dump - interacting with him is an interesting study in human psychology ...... The guy has done complete justice to his role; he's the Devil's Advocate, the Carping Cassandra, the Doubting Thomas who can see only negativity pervading from every event, every move, every movement ........ in fact, he reminded me of someone I knew on a personal basis, long back in a company which was the worst example I saw in my entire career of inter-personal conflicts at the top level.
Gauhar Khan as Koena Shaikh is as pesky and as uptight as a receptionist in any marketing company ........ she has an attitude that can teach a IIM graduate a thing or two and she has a talent that speaks for herself; she can teach modesty to the most perverted and be rapacious in her attitude .... And yet all that big show of smartness and confidence, at heart she is a girl who's vulnerable and soft and has a heart of gold ..... she will work like an oxen possessed and trust like a dog domesticated, silently filing away all her pains and frustrations, hoping for a silver lining in a dark night but when provoked, she will give a dozen to a six........ The director needs to be commended for the manner in which he has taken charge of an amateur and converted her into an actress worth appreciation!
Mukesh Bhatt as Chottelal Mishra, the ever-smiling, omnipresent but always neglected peon is a perfect example of that species that pervades our offices but is never seen by us, the top executives of the company ...... Managers should learn a thing or two about professionalism from these guys at the lowest rung of the corporate chain who earn as much salary as is spent by a middle level over-smart, cocky professional on a night of heavy drinking .... he is humiliated, insulted, shouted at and fired at the drop of the hat, he is given the most difficult of tasks, he does not have our ELs and CLs, he cannot expect to be given a 30 day leave in the year and still he bears it all silently - never speaking a word, never saying a word! He is always invisible to us, even when he is in front of our eyes and Mukesh Bhatt does perform this role with a vengeance ....... My salutations to the little guy and his performance .....
And then we have the boss, the one whom we hate the most and still try to keep always in humour - the guy or girl with whom we have the perfect love-hate relationship, the guy or girl whose name escapes our lips more frequently and more easily than the names of our girlfriends, the guy or girl who has been tortured in our dreams in more inexplicable ways and methods than can be imagined but who in reality has often been the source of all our tortures ....... Naveen Kaushik plays the role of that shark with the perfect aplomb that you can think of and imagine - Full points to Naveen for his portrayal of Nitin .... It just doesn't get better than this
And then there is the Big Boss - the man who screws up our appraisals, the guy who rejects our promotion bids, the guy who sits in the ivory tower and disdains to look at us, lesser mortals with anything but the fascination that a cat has for the plump rat that would soon be it's dinner ..... Manish Choudhary is as mean as mean can be and proves the dictum of business being nothing but the ability to use and abuse, to make money for self and make fun of your subordinate, to stoop as low as possible and to stop any aid even to the dying, if one's purpose is being fulfilled ..... The classic description of an Indian Businessman! My regards to this breed that even puts the sharks to shame .....
Prem Chopra is a revelation ...... it has been so long since I saw him in a purposeful role and in his role as the elder Sardar, the veteran actor does complete justice to his role ..... he is affectionate and simple, trusting as well as loving - I do not think this role could have been done any better
As far as Shazahn Padamsee is concerned, I am still trying to understand what she was doing in the movie - and when I find a good enough answer I will keep you guys posted! Pucca!
Jaideep Sahni has again proved that he is among the last ones of a vanishing breed of people whom we call script-writers, the last one of his kind, a prime example of how a film is supposed to be written - May his tribe increase!
Full marks to Shimit Amin for yet another excellent piece of direction - it's sad that he hardly gets appreciation for all that he does, while fat momas who are not worth the arse on which they sit are tauted as the next best thing that happened to direction!
And so it continues, the corporate world spins yet another web and yet another guy loses his ideals and virginity of thought and becomes just another clog in the corporate empire ....... Rocket Singh is an idea and I am not sure how many people will understand this idea ...... the sad part is that I am sure people will be confused about what the movie is all about and I do not think many will understand but to be frank, this is the kind of movie that's needed - the film has it's flaw but they can all be forgiven for the reason that the film dares - dares to walk the unfamiliar path, the least trodden path, the path least travelled
This is a movie where the protagonist is an idea - there is no Rocket Singh in the movie; it's a concept that modern India desperately needs to accept and if nothing I would still like to thank Jaideep, Shimit and Ranbir for daring to show that running a business is no rocket science if you have your heart at the right place and you have the guts to stand for your own conscience
Not all do that, most of the idealism flows away, leaving behind a ruthless machine who has no heart, no soul and no feelings ........
Running a business is no rocket science, all it needs is one certain Rocket Singh who knew that ultimately business is not about numbers, it's about people because numbers don't make a business, clients do!
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