Veenu Sandhu traces the collaboration between a reticent writer and an unconventional filmmaker in 7 Khoon Maaf.

Bonding with Bhardwaj

Business Standard

Unless you are attending the races next door, or taking a commuter train to Mahalaxmi, it's unlikely you will pass through Dhobi Ghat. So it might come as a surprise to you that the open-air laundry is a walk for &ldquo;poverty tourists&rdquo; along with Dharavi, Asia&rsquo;s largest slum.

Dhobi's itch no more

Last week, I attended a production called 100 Charmers. Director Roysten Abel had gathered five score saperas (snake charmers) from in and around Delhi to perform in an ensemble that was mostly music but presented with fine, dramatic flair. Set against the medieval Taramati Baradari on the outskirts of Hyderabad, the musicians lifted their beens to play an impressive repertoire.

Music without boundaries

V Anantha Nageswaran reviews the latest edition of Chennai&rsquo;s December Music Festival.

Ragas, talas and rasikas

Subodh Gupta&rsquo;s trademark steel bartan have taken on a new shape &mdash;the Absolut vodka bottle. India's best-known (internationally at least) and most expensive contemporary artist has made a four-foot tall sculpture in the iconic shape which will be unveiled this Sunday at an exhibition of the Absolut Art Collection in New Delhi. He&rsquo;s only the second Indian to have worked on the bottle, the first being fashion designer Manish Arora around two years ago.

Art all bottled up

The Nobel banquets are perhaps the only award ceremonies that have inspired a restaurant, the Stadshus Kalleren in Stockholm, which replicates the menus from banquets past. Deciding on the Nobel menu, for the organisers of the prize dinner, is understandably complicated: with 65 tables to serve, the dishes must be mass-produceable, limiting the chef&rsquo;s options, but they must also be dazzling. A typical menu from the first decade of the 1900s might feature, according to the Nobel website, poached fillet of brill, fillet of beef imperial and breast of hazel grouse.

The lives of the animals

The use of employees, CEOs or ordinary people is growing in advertising.

Realism gains ground

&nbsp;

    Whose new tagline is &ldquo;Be What&rsquo;s Next&rdquo;?&nbsp;
    &nbsp;
    What were also known as &ldquo;jumbles&rdquo;, &ldquo;plunkets&rdquo; and &ldquo;cry babies&rdquo; when they were getting introduced in the US?&nbsp;
    &nbsp;
    Name the brand which was the first to introduce animated characters in television commercials?&nbsp;
    &nbsp;
    With which brand is this classic ad line associated: &ldquo;There is no finish line&rdquo;?&nbsp;
    &nbsp;
    Which

The Strategist Quiz (#185)

The two stars&rsquo; endorsement rates may go up 40-50 per cent.

Brand Sachin, Dhoni on a new high

Within a couple of months of joining this industry, I was exposed to a lasting lesson. It was about the art and science of writing a good brief. Apparently, there were three kinds of briefs: the brief, the brief brief, and the good grief brief.

Good grief! It's the brief?

Mobile phone penetration is set to reach 60 per cent of India&rsquo;s population in 2011, but banking touch points lag at about 0.07 touch points per 1,000 people, said a Deloitte-Assocham&rsquo;s estimates.

Are you ready for M-banking?

    Name the rap song and the group that is linked to the fastest civil airplane in the world? This song became number two in the US Billboard Hot 100 last year.

Answers to last week&#39s quiz (#184)

Shemaroo and Eros to produce exclusive content for the mobile platform.

Catch your favourite flick on the mobile

Creating a website on your own may sound complex, but it isn&rsquo;t. There are hundreds of free programmes that let you choose templates (like a blog) to get going.

Build your world on the world wide web

Rebranding is a difficult thing to do correctly, especially if you happen to be Bajaj Auto. Why, then, is the company taking such a drastic step? Bajaj Auto wants to force a change in direction to once again steal a lead on the competition. How? To start with, by dropping the family name from its communication. One can only imagine the behind-the-scenes deliberations at Bajaj Auto headquarters preceding the decision, but it is one that has provoked more than a few raised eyebrows.

Life without 'Bajaj'

On the face of it, Bajaj Auto&rsquo;s decision to drop the family name from its products, showrooms and service centres is based on the hope it will present opportunities for a new marketing direction and a new customer perception. Here Shripad Nadkarni, founder director, MarketGate Consulting, and Anand Halve, founder, Chlorophyll Brand &amp; Communication Consultancy, discuss the pros and cons of the move.

Bajaj vs Pulsar

First, Bajaj decided to stop making scooters and now it is dropping the Bajaj name from all its other products, including its three-wheelers. The voluntary withdrawal of one of India&rsquo;s most long durable and trusted names is an extraordinary step &mdash; and one that begs deeper examination. For this a brand that has represented not only itself but an entire generation of the middle class and the values that it held dear.

Down memory lane

Hewlett-Packard India has unveiled a new advertising campaign for its recently-launched personal computer, the HP DreamScreen 400, which aims to bring together a host of services and online applications on a single platform. With the promise, &lsquo;Ek sapna ghar aya hai&rsquo; , the launch campaign for the PC targets the late adopter of a computing device. According to the company, one needn&rsquo;t be technology savvy to operate this device &mdash; it can be used just like another appliance such as a television or a refrigerator.

Plug and play

Britannia Industries wants more than just bakery and dairy products on its plate. Its new range of Healthy Start mixes of upma (semolina), poha (flattened rice), porridge and oats is aimed to garner a slice of the breakfast market. Estimated at Rs 500 crore, the branded market for breakfast food in India comprises ethnic products such as dosa, upma and idli mixes, ready-to-fry parathas and acquired tastes like cornflakes, oats, muesli, cereal bars, fruit juice and various spreads.

Britannia joins breakfast war

With competition in the online travel space intensifying, Cleartrip has unveiled a new campaign to break through the clutter. Cleartrip Chief Marketing Officer Niraj Seth explains, &ldquo;Most brands in this space are transactional in nature. With the new campaign we want to project our brand as more humane in its approach.

Clear and confident

In spite of gaining prominence in recent years, the sector has a history of being fragmented. The unorganised market is estimated at Rs 27,000 crore, while the organised market is worth Rs 5,000 crore.

KIT: The food services retail market

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