Indian Film Industry- the insurance factor

India has the world’s largest movie industry in terms of the quantity of movies produced. Since 1931, after the advent of talkies, the film industry has produced more than 67,000 films in more than 30 different languages. The year 2006 saw a great leap when the industry produced 1,013 films becoming the world's largest film producer.

The FICCI report states that the Indian Film Industry has a yearly profit of Rs 40 billion with employment to more than 6 million people. Making a film today involves a huge sum of money- huge sets, risky stunt scenes, latest equipments, let alone the huge salary paid to the actors. These factors demand some kind of mechanism through which a producer can safeguard his losses. This is where ‘Film Insurance’ comes into play.

Ironical but some untoward incidents prompted the emergence of insurance in Bollywood. After the arrest of Sanjay Dutt during 'Khalnayak', Subhash Ghai decided to insure his next movie 'Taal' by paying Rs 1.5 million as premium. Since then, producers have insured their movies against unforeseen risks. Some block busters that were insured included Mohabatein (Yash Raj Films): Rs 150 million, Lagaan (Aamir Khan Productions): Rs 150 million, Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham (Dharma Productions): Rs 220 million and Kuch Na Kaho (Ramesh Shippy): Rs 100 million.

Simultaneously, ad films too are seeing insurance. Today’s advertisements and promotional demand new concept and that needs more funds and set ups. The stunt scenes shown in the Akshay Kumar Thumps Up ad are pretty risky demanding insurance. All these factors lead the ambit of insurance to stretch to even ads.

Film Insurance is a healthy indication that Bollywood is now ready to recognize the new concepts which will help make it lucrative.   

                                            

Indian FM radio: not grown up yet

6:30 AM: Rahul gets up from bed. The weather’s cool outside and it gets his mood going. While readying for college he switches on the FM. But then something goes wrong, the station is playing the same Hindi song, he changes it and there too another Hindi movie song. Change after change, shuffle after shuffle, but alas he hears the same songs that he hears everyday- the same dull, drab Bollywood. Rahul turns off the radio in irritation. In a matter of minutes, his mood has changed from good to bad!

Well, not only Rahul, it can be your or mine story too. We at times feel irritated and over fed by the FM radio. Tell me how many times can you listen to the same songs over and over again? Whether it is the new ones or old songs, it’s Bollywood all over FM radio in India. And to add to it, you have those gyrating DJs blabbering drab and dull bullshits. The FM, it seems will never be able to get out of the boundary of Bollywood and think otherwise. And this is where it lacks behind the radio culture of other nations. I doubt how many programmes are aired on the FM channels, apart from Bollywood, Bollywood and Bollywood? Hardly few!

According to popular singer and composer Remo Fernandes, the FM channels here still have a long way to go to match the channels in western countries. There you have different stations for different music genres- if you like rock, you can turn on the rock stations, while if you like classical you can switch on to the similar ones. That’s how radio should be, but here its all absent, he laments. His concerns are echoed by real music buffs (not those stupid Bollywood music fans), who are sick and tired of listening to depth less Hindi film music. The situation is so under developed that you will only find a handful of regional FM stations.

Yes, our good old All India Radio does play a variety of music programmes, starting from talk shows to classical ones. But then there you have other problems (often illogical ones). Suddenly in the middle of a song, the news starts or an advertisement springs out of nowhere (which the human brain is incapable to understand). The result: your whole enjoyment is marred.  

Sadly, FM radio, being one of the major mediums of urban mass entertainment, is still in its embryonic stage. To be a perfect entertainment medium, it needs to shed the Bollywood image and act beyond that.

           

At last Govt. wakes up to e waste management

India, as we now know, has become a den for electronic goods. With the software boom and globalization taking full effect, India today has become a huge platform for electronic and software products, with renowned e giants setting up bases here. Well, all things said and done, it’s unfortunate that (amidst all these electronic and economic so called boom), our government has never really thought or looked at the problem of e-waste. The result- heaps of broken and shattered electronic products in almost all streets, lanes and by lanes, in the rivers, seas, mountains, forests everywhere. No, it’s not a sci-fi movie or some unrealistic Bollywood trash. Given such negligence, our nation will soon turn into an e-waste junk yard.

However, there is something to be optimistic about. Thanks to the campaigns of Greenpeace and some other NGOs, the center has decided to think about the issue of e waste management. The efforts have borne fruit and the Environment Ministry has drafted a regulation, to be sent for people’s feedback shortly.

                                              

What exactly is this e waste management? Simply, it is a law which will limit the dumping of e waste and reduce pollution significantly. Lots of nations already have e waste laws in place and the awareness is spreading fast enough. The law will include some clauses which

• Will hold electronic producers responsible for the disposal of their raw materials. Moreover, they also have to guarantee the life cycle of their goods, thereby ensuring proper recycling.
• Will pressurize e firms to use less hazardous raw materials and substances. That means less FBRs, less PVC and lesser degradation of our eco system.
• Will also ban the import of used and second hand e products in India. This will have a positive impact as developed nations will be disallowed to dump toxic e waste here.

To start with, these clauses can lead to effective e waste management. Let’s keep our fingers crossed. It’s high time that the government does something to prevent India from being an electronic trash heap.

                                                                                                                                   

                                                                                                   

                              

Center too laid-back on Maoist issue

When it was reported about dozens of Maoist camps in Shilda, West Bengal or when 6 policemen were killed in Sheohar in Bihar (among the numerous Maoist insurgencies), the Home Ministry was quick to pass the buck saying that it was the duty of the respective states to tackle the Maoist problem. The Home Minister went on to say that as per the constitution, the center is helpless and cannot intervene in the states’ affairs to maintain law and order. So much so, he may be right to some extent.  The Seventh Schedule of the constitution states that” public order and police (including railway and village police) subject to the provision of entry 2A of List I”, which makes them completely a state subject. However, it does also mention, unless the situation deteriorates to such a degree that central aid becomes necessary, thus meaning that if the situation goes out of control, the center has every right to intervene. So how can our Home Ministry evade responsibility on the issue of Maoist Insurgency which has acquired such a grave shape? 

Taking hint from the constitution again, there is a caveat in the public order which states, “not including any naval, military or air force or any other armed forces of the Union or of any other force subject to the control of the Union or any contingent and unit thereof”. Simply speaking, this means that wherever (in any part of the country) the center has deployed other armed forces apart from the army, navy or air force, it should share the responsibility. The Home Ministry therefore cannot or rather must not shy away from the forces act and make the states only liable. 

If the central home ministry does not have any role to play in the states’ internal problems (how grave they may be), one really fails to understand the use of keeping such a huge paramilitary force, which is more or less as big as the Indian Army, thus wasting a significant amount of taxpayers’ money. Well these forces do remain under the state’s control when deployed there. Fair enough, but then the right to deploy the forces rests on the center, and judging the situation, it should strengthen the counter terrorism measures in full flow. “It shall be the duty of the Union to protect every state against external aggression and internal disturbance and to ensure that the government of every state is carried out in accordance with the provisions of this Constitution”. (Article 355).

Thus, constitutionally speaking, the Union Home Ministry should be more responsible, dutiful and rather accountable for safeguarding the citizens in the Maoist prone areas. A blame game or dodging responsibility will take us nowhere.