The Power Players

GROUND ZERO

ENTERTAINMENT POWER LIST

1.Aamir Khan: Jab life ho out of control, hoontun ko kar ke gol, seetebaja ke bol... all izz well - the new anthem from A Khan's latestmonster hit 3 Idiots - is rocking the nation. Already reckoned to bethe biggest grosser of all time, 3 Idiots was shrewdly marketed byAamir personally. Yes, for three years running Aamir Khan has chosenChristmas Day to deliver big ticket hit films - Taare Zameen Par,Ghajini and now 3 Idiots. Pump up the volume for the joust between theKhans has just got louder with Aamir Khan hitting the ground running.As producer, director and actor; Aamir Khan is now in a league of hisown. Following his convictions, Aamir is known to take well informeddecisions. At the very top of the power pyramid, Aamir has shown thathe is cerebral and insightful in his understanding of what the masses andclasses want. His appeal now cuts across all age groups and stratas.Aamir has learnt to aggressively market the films that he acts in andproduces. Without a doubt the first among equals, he is extremelychoosy about the subjects that he picks. His A list of endorsements isequally long and lucrative - Parle, Toyota Innova, Tata Sky, CocaCola, ministry of tourism's Athiti Devo Bevo and Samsung Mobile.Percept and Hansa Research's CelebTrack very clearly ranks Aamir Khanas highest paid brand ambassador. Each campaign is reportedly inexcess of Rs 10 crore. His name spells manna at the boxoffice and as a celebrity endorser, he remains peerless. The Rs 75crore (including commissions) 3 Idiots has already clocked Rs 100crore and counting in its opening weekend. He is definitely my numberone man in theentertainment world. Three films are on the anvil from his productionhouse in 2010 - Dhobi Ghat where he has a special appearance, DelhiBelly and Anusha Rizvi's Peepli Live which will be screened at theprestigious Sundance Film Festival.
2.Raghav Bahl/Rajesh Kamat: The men behind the amazing success of Colorswhich broke through the clutter in the GEC space to forge an identityof its own. Raghav Bahl was smart enough to architect a joint venturewith Viacom while Rajesh Kamat has led the channel to the zenith in ashort span of 18 months. By leaving blue sky between itself and StarPlus and Zee, Kamat using the jagged edge of disruptive programminghas changed the paradigm. NDTV Imagine, Real, 9x and Colors all beganmore or less at the same time, but while others have either shut shopor floundered, Colors has made rapid advances. India's Got Talent,Khatron Ke Khiladi, Big Boss were the reality shows that formed therump of the attack on established players, while the food and drinkshows Balika Vadhu, Bairi Piya, Bhagyavidhata and Uttaran provided theballast. Meanwhile Bahl has also beaten back the challenge ofpretender ET Now which was launched with serious acoustic damage. HisCNBC TV 18 remains steadfast as number one player in businesstelevision, while CNN IBN has also managed to stay afloat in the newstelly space. But Studio 18/Indian Film Company's script has all gonewrong this year with Luck, Shortkut, Little Zizou, Fruit & Nut, LifePartner, London Dreams collapsing in a heap. Other than GurinderChadha's international film It is a Wonderful Afterlife starringShabana Azmi which has been shot in London, they have no productionsslated for next year.
3.Kalanithi Maran: Remains the czar of southern telly and has alsomanaged to set up one of the largest FM radio networks (Red FM 38stations) in the land along with Big FM. His Sun TV network is stillhead and shoulders above everyone else south of the Vindhyas. Hisprice warrior strategy in DTH (SUN Direct) has also paid handsomedividends, as he enlargesthe scope of his business operations to become a vertically integratedmedia and entertainment behemoth. Even as Reliance Big and Airtelstruggle with the subsidy model, Sun Direct has made ra[pid inroads inthe southern markets using brand rub off and recall of the mothershipSun TV. Staring out with $84,000 in bank loans, he has constantlyadded mass and muscle to his business, remaining the one bastion thatglobal players are unable to breach. From a monthly news videoPoomaalai, Maran has used his family connections with great dexterityto earn the sobriquet of Television King of south India, as Forbesdescribes him.
4.Shahrukh Khan: Public perception may have replaced the Badshah withthe Ghulam a.k.a Aamir Khan in pole position in B Town, but you cannever discount SRK. Khan's Billu might well have been a turkey at thebox office, his own enlarged presence proving to be a big damper; butthe expectation levels are peaking for his next big release - My Nameis Khan. Khan has no competitor as a romantic hero. With Karan Joharreturning to helm Khan and Kajol is what appears to be the story of anautistic protagonist agsint the backdrop of Islam and terror in theUS, expect the unexpected from SRK. Fox Star Entertainment has forkedout close to Rs 90 crore for this biggie. Khan might still bestruggling to come to terms with his cricket team - Knight Riders -but with a new coaching staff and Dada returning as captain, IPLseason 3 might finally see him performing better. So, not a greatyear, but SRK is SRK and as a power player in B Town, he is unmatched.Before My Name is Khan, there will be another extended specialappearance in Sushmita-Fardeen starrer Dulha Mil Gaya. His mega RedChillies project Ra 1, a sci fi flick directed by Anubhav Sinha willalso go on the floors in 2010. Also sometime in August 2010, expectFarhan Akhtar's Don 2 to go on the floors.
5.Reliance Big Entertainment: The largest integrated entertainmentplayer with businesses ranging from film processing to multiplexscreens to FM radio to content and of course distribution andproduction. Despite Cassandras claiming that the Steven SpielbergDreaworks joint venture was not fructifying, the $825 million deal wasinked in July. Though turkeys like Kal Kisne Dekha, Do Knot Disturb,Sikander dominated, Reliance Big Pictures ended the year with ablockbuster 3 Idiots. Demerger of the FM business, unprecedentedsuccess of Synergy Adlabs with its reality formats, the Amit Khannaled conglomerate pulled off two big coups - Pa and 3 idiots. More thanthat Big brought the fragmented industry together twice in the spaceof a month for big bang premieres of the two movies. At both functionsAamir and SRK turned up in support showing that the house has enoughclout and influence in B Town. Coming up in 2010 Shyam Benegal's WellDone Abba starring Boman Irani, Kites starring Hrithik Roshan, Maniratnam's Ravan starring Abhishek and Aishwarya followed by MadhurBhandarkar, Priyadarshan and Kunal Kohli helmed projects. There isalso Vinay Shukla's Mirch starring Konkona Sharma. Reliance Big's nextbig project will be SRK starrer Don 2 in August 2010.
6.Karan Johar: Another power player who is rising quickly. Karan Joharand his Dharma productions is one of the most influential players inHindi cinema. Notwithstanding his friendship with SRK, Karan Johar isset for a big 2010 with Lift Kara De a new show on SONY and of coursethe potential blockbuster My Name is Khan. Though 2009 was a mixed bagas a producer with Wake Up Sid which propelled Ranbir Kapoor tostardom with a Rs 36 gross, his big production Kurbaan hit skid row atthe B.O. Known for his consummate networking skills, Johar is the manwho people want to work with. Next year, he has My name is Khanfollowed by Kootchie Kootchie Hota Hai, an animation version of KuchKuch Hota Hai directed by Tarun Mansukhani. Sony Pictures-Karan Joharhave also come together for the remake of Stepmom starring Kajol,Kareena kapoor and Arjun Ramphal directed by Sidharth Malhotra.
7.Yash Chopra/Aditya Chopra: Still remain the prima donnas in B Town.Maybe their influence is waning after several duds in recent times,but that doesn't prevent the Yashraj banner being the most soughtafter. After the multiplex-producers standoff, they delivered thefirst big hit in the form of the sleeper New York which garnered Rs 61crore at the box office. Dil Bole Hadippa sank without a trace as adistracted Aditya Chopra finds his magic touch at the B.O waning. In2009, it also powered its foray in to television production which willbe unveiled on January 1 on Sony Entertainment TV with a catalogue ofweekend shows. Coming up Pyar Impossible, yet another Yash Chopravehicle for his son Uday along with Priyanka Chopra. The much hypedRocket Singh from the Chake De duo Shimit Amin/Jaideep Sahni came andwent even before you could say Ranbir Kapoor. The days of being knownas the undisputed entertainment mogul seem behind them.
8.Amitabh Bachchan: The Shahenshah retains his chutzpah and alluring charm.Taller than one and all in B Town, Bachchan delivered a kayo punchwith his amazing performance as Auro in Paa. Alladin was forgotten,RGV Ki Aag was forgiven and as southern superstar Rajanikant said, 'Ifyou do all these roles, what will actors like us do?' Eight yearsafter his gangbuster debut on the small screen with Kaun BanegaCrorepati, AB returned to host Bigg Boss for Colors. In a mega dealwhich amounted to Rs 126 crore for the show, An redefined frotntiers.Expect another powerhouse performance in Rann and then Teen Patti withben Kingsley. Bachchan's aura remains undimished, his gravitasunmistakable.
9. Subhash Chandra: The combative SC as he is known by many remainsindestructible. In the GEC sweepstakes, he has powered his way backinto the reckoning, even displacing Star Plus to become number onebriefly and in constant battle with the same channel for number twoposition with Colors having opened blue sky between itself and itsrivals. By enlarging the prime time programming band from 7 pm to 11pm, and rejigging his shows, he has remained in touch with the top.Further, he has bifurcated corporate assets amongst his family membersfor a painless transition to the next generation without any feuding.Though his Indian Cricket League experiment has ended with a whimper,he can always retain the satisfaction that he forced the BCCI to thinkup the IPL. He remains the progenitor of the big idea. His experienceat UNI was also a disaster and his plan to rejig operations ended withhis exit. In the television space, Chandra remains an important playerand can never be taken lightly.
10. SAIF ALI KHAN/RANBIR KAPOOR: Though Salman Khan delivered a bighit in Wanted (Rs 75 crore), the real stars of the year with Saif AliKhan and Ranbir Kapoor. Ranbir Kapoor emerged as the next big thingwith three releases - Wake Up Sid, Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani arunaway hit (Rs 90 crore) and the turkey Rocket Singh. Ranbir washailed by one and all as the latest Kapoor boy to sashay into thepantheon of stars. Ranbir looks his age and that is a refreshingchange from 40 somethings acting like youthful romantic heroes. Saifturned producer successfully with Love Aaj Kal (Rs 73 crore), but someof the sheen wore off when Kurbaan landed on its face at the B.O.Salman unfortunately delivered two big flops as well - London Dreamsand Main Aur Mrs Khanna.
The biggest hits of the year - 3 Idiots (Rs 100 crore and counting),Ajab Prem Ki Gazab (Rs 90 crore), Wanted (Rs 75 crore), Kaminey (Rs 74crore) Love Aaj Kal (Rs 73 crore), All The Best (Rs 62 crore), NewYork (Rs 61 crore), Wake Up Sid (Rs 36 crore) and Dev D (Rs 21 crore).
TURKEY OF THE YEAR: Akshay Kumar with six mega flops which broke theback of his producers - Blue, De Dana Dan, Chandini Chowk to China, 8x 10 Tasveer, Jumbo, Kambakht Ishq.
MOST ANTICIPATED FILM of 2010: Prakash Jha's Rajneeti starring KatrinaKaif, Ranbir Kapoor, Ajay Devgn, Nana Patekar.

All Izz Well!

RETROFIT

B for Badshah, G for Ghulam?

In the new gangbuster hit film, Aamir mouths a very simple dialogue,but laced with sarcasm which will not be lost on those payingattention. Sitting next to Virus Boman Irani, Rancho a.k.a Aamirinnocently states that the education system is much like the castesystem where B is for Badshah (a film starring rival Shahrukh Khan)while G is for Ghulam (a film in which he starred some years ago).Clearly hinting at the pecking order in B Town. A pecking order whichAamir Khan surely has been trying to change. Forthree years running, Aamir Khan has hit pay dirt at the B.O byreleasing his films on December 24 - Taare Zameen Par, Ghajini and now3 Idiots. All indications are that 3 Idiots will outrun and outgrossall the earlier box office busting hits in Hindi cinema. The bitterrivalry between thetwo Khans is not lost on anybody in B Town. Yet, SRK graciously camefor the 3 Idiots premiere in a rare show of bonhomie. Aamir Khan hasproved that not only is he a shrewd marketer, but an insightful actor anda cerebral director as well. In Taare Zameen Par, he sensitively handled thesubject of a dyslexic child, Ghajini was a southern remake and an outand out masala film, while 3 idiots is a fabulous critique on theeducation system.
More than that AK has understood what the hoi polloi wants, he hasdelivered fare for both the masses and classes. He is not afraid toexperiment with his cinema, he is willing to play a part in anensemble cast like Dil Chahta Hai, Rang De Basanti and now 3 Idiots.He has grown out of pure play commercial cinema to give the jaggededge of his talent a full range of theatrical experimentation. From a cop inSarfarosh to a boxer in Ghulam to a tapori in Rangeela and a peasantturned cricketer in Lagaan, AK has been engaging and watchable.Sometime in 1990, I was asked by my editor in the Illustrated Weekly,Pritish Nandy to write a cover story on Aamir Khan. The slug was COOLand we hailed him as the next superstar. The visuals were shot byGautam Rajyadaksha and were in James Dean hue with Aamir posingagainst a brick wall. People in filmdom thought that Pritish Nandy hadlost it completely, for while Aamir had given ample testimony of histalent, he was not quite the big star. Yet. Andmoreover, the Weekly didn't put film stars on its cover withoutreason. Anil Kapoor was the reigning star at that time - Tezaab was asmash hit - and he was so upset that he even came to see Nandy, askinghim to be put on the cover. Nandy refused. I am sure Nandy had hisreasons for putting Aamir on the cover. But believe me, he was provedright. One stream of thought was that Nandy had been influenced by hisclose friend at the time - Mahesh Bhatt who was helming Dil Hai KiManta Nahin starring his daughter Pooja and produced by Gulshan Kumarwhich turned out to be a huge hit. Potentially Bhatt believed thatAamir was a lambi race ka ghoda. Anyway, Aamir had QSQT, Dil and DilHai Ki Manta Nahin as big hits behind him, but he had also done a slewof extremely forgettable films in the first flush of QSQT and Dil'ssuccess. Names like Love, Love, Love, Tum Mere Ho, Dev Anand's AwaalNumber, Dewana Mujsa Nahin, Afsana Pyar Ka, Jawani Zindabad which I amsure a more mature Aamir would like to consign to the rubbish heap ofhistory very quickly.
I found Aamir to be an extremely intelligent individual during thetime spent with him. Remember that I was dealing with a star who wasmore or less my age and not someobody who one had grown up watchinglike say an Amitabh Bachchan or Vinod Khanna. I could relate to thisyoung man and from his recent oeuvre, I likened him to Michael J Fox whowas the rising star in Hollywood those days. AK was refreshing, butone sensed that there was width and depth in his being. He didn't talklike a star, he was understated. I instantly liked him. He seemedapproachable and yet mature for one so young. The cover story createda stir. In retrospect, Nandy's decision has been proved right.Similarly Nandy once put Kanshi Ram on the cover of the Weekly andpeople thought he had gone bananas. The story spelt the rise of theBahujan leader. As it happened, the BSP is a major political formationin the north today and an important political player at the centre.So, some of the calls that Nandy took may have appeared suspect then,but are now come out smelling and looking like roses.
Soon, Aamir began to get the hang of B Town and quickly realising hisown potential delivered a mixed bag. Some turkeys, but manyexceptional filmstypecast as he was as a romantic hero. Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikander, HumHain Rahee Pyar Ke, Andaz Apna Apna along with duds like Atank HIAtank, Daulat Ki Jung, Isi Ka Naam Zindagi et al. Then came theseminal perofrmance which really ratcheted him to the top - RGV'sRangeela. Soon, Aamir stopped doing more than one film a year,choosing his scripts carefully and devoting time, energy and effort tohis roles. The flight to quality served him well - Raja Hindustani,Ishq, Ghulam and Sarfarosh followed all hitting bulls eye. Aamir thestar had returned with a bang. Mann and Mela were two aberrations inwhat began as a march to the top. Lagaan and Dil Chahta Hai flooredone and all, everyone understood that Aamir had metamorphosed into athinking man's actor. Also read, very big star. Then for four years,he was gone estivating and hibernating as the season would have it todo Mangal Pandey. Takingmethod acting to a new level, AK grew his hair and sported a hugemoustache for the role. The movie sank without a trace, bombinginstantaneously. AK appeared to be in a trance in the film, even asToby Stephens walked away with the plaudits. I guess this convinced AKthat he needed to be even more choosy. Since the Mangal Pandey fiasco,AK has never looked back - Rang De Basanti, Fanaa,Taare Zameen Par,Ghajini and now 3 Idiots have fuilfilled the potential that Nandy andBhatt saw in him 20 years ago. By turning producer for Lagaan, headded another arrow to his brimming quiver. Taare Zameen Par saw himturning director, but what people forget is that AK wrote the storyfor Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak and was also the screen writer for Hum HainRahee.
What Aamir Khan has proved over these last few years is that he is asbig a bankable star as SRK at the B.O. Perhaps that is the genesis ofthis intense rivalry. Actually Salman Khan had a head start overthe other two Khans because of Maine Pyar Kiya, Sajan and Hum AapkeHain Kaun followed by Karan Arjun. Salman Khan had an amazing recordthat several of his films the including Biwi No 1 in 1999 were the biggestgrossers in the year they were released. But while Salman fell away,Shahrukh became the romantic hero of the neophytes churning out hitafter hit. It is only after Raja Hindustani that the battle with SRKwas joined by Aamir and since then he has delivered some of thebiggest hits of his time. In fact the rivalry got so acute that whenRab Ne Bana Di Jodi became a big hit last December, Aamir respondedwith his hammer of Thor in Ghajini and swept all comers aside. Theprevious year had seen Om Shanti Om blast its way to the zenith, butagain Taare Zameen Par landed the kayo punch, garnering criticalacclaim and earning many accolades for the sensitive handling of thesubject. Imagine Aamir Khan arrives only in the second half of thefilm and the hero is without a doubt Darsheel Safary. By producingJaane Tu for his nephew Imran, Aamir once again proved that he is athinker. Both AK and SRK are big box office draws, but they are alsoproducers now helming Red Chillies and Aamir Khan Productions.While Salman and Aamir have acted together in laugh riot Andaz ApnaApna, SRK and Salman have acted together in Karan Arjun and Kuch KuchHota Hai. SRK and AK have never acted together yet. Will that be acasting coup or not remains in the realms of conjecture?
On Monday night I saw a PTI story which said that the weekendcollection of the Aamir Khan starrer '3 Idiots' hassurpassed the actor-filmmaker's last release 'Ghajini' by 30 per cent.I wasn't surprised because the film rocks, you can identify with thecast, their families and of course characters like Omi who is simplywow. The gross collection worldwide of "3 Idiots" is Rs 93 crore tillSunday night which is 30 per cent more than Aamir's last film'Ghajini', trade sources said. PTI also reported: "Similarly, themovie's paid previews garnered over Rs 9 crore worldwide, whileGhajini's paid preview collections were Rs seven crore. '3 Idiots' wasreleased on December 24 with 1550 prints in over 1760 screens andoverseas with 342 prints in over 366 screens. This was the widest everrelease for a Hindi film in India and overseas, aspokesperson of Vinod Chopra films, producers of the movie said'
"The Anil Ambani Group firm Reliance Big Pictures said itsjust-released Bollywood flick '3 Idiots' collected over Rs 100 crorein the first four days."The Rs 100-crore collection in four days isphenomenal and we are confident that the film will continue to blazenew records in the weeks to come," company chairman Amit Khanna said.Commenting on the success of the film, producer Vinod Chopra said,"response has been overwhelming from all over the world."Vidhu Vinod Chopra was actually striking a distribution deal with ErosInternational when Reliance Big Pictures ran interference and pickedup the same on a revenue share basis. That I must say is paying themin spades now.
Hirani's film is full of homilies, every scene well crafted, everydialogue nuanced. Hirani is true to type, the nature of the beast issuch that he is faithful to the new genre that he has given birth to.The cast of 3 Idiots needs to be given credit for delivering such asmart and sensible film. To Vidhu Vinod Chopra who is a betterproducer than a director. His films like Parinda, Khamoshi, 1942 LoveStory, Eklavya were good cinema, but never hits. Hirani with hisMunnabhai and finely etched characterisations of Rancho, Rastogi andFarhan has delivered the hits. Like Dil Chahta Hai and Rang DeBasanti, Aamir doesn't mind sharing screen space with accomplishedactors. In 3 Idiots you will find that Boman Irani, Madhavan, SharmanJoshi and Omi have all got their space, without Aamir impinging on it.That is the beauty of Aamir Khan's style of acting. Blend into anensemble castand allow the director to be true to himself. This despite having areputation of 'directing' films helmed by other directors. Maybe that iswhy AK plunged into direction. Now watch out for Dhobi Ghat producedby him and directed by his wife Kiran. The movie reportedly has Aamirin a meaty role, though it is being billed as special appearance. Asof now this is the only film in which Aamir is acting. He has nothingelse on his table, other than producing Delhi Belly. Now, one needs tosee what project will fascinate AK next. The industry and the payingpublic also wait. For Aamir constantly challenges himself, raising thebar. In 3 Idiots, the 44 year old passes himself off as an engineeringstudent. Maybe that is his genius...

Circle of life is completed at DDCA

NAKED EYE

Jaisurya takes evasive action against a Zaheer snorter which climbsfrom a good length on the fourth ball of the third over.
Dilshan doubles up in pain after he is poleaxed by a Zaheer lifterwhich catches thebatter in his chest on the second ball of the 10th over. It is an ugly sight.
Sudeep Tyagi flier on the final ball of the 12th over has Jaisuryaunsure of the climbing delivery.
These are a few instances of the inconsistent bounce on the Kotlawicket. There are many others where the ball practically shoots along theground, inconveniencing the wicket keeper Dhoni behind the stumps.
Delhi hasn't played a single Ranji game on its home ground the Kotlabecause it is unsure of the wicket and the tricks that it could play.They play at Roshanara or Palam grounds instead.
Unseasonal rain in the capital has impacted pitch preparation, butlong serving curator Radhey Shyam has been replaced by a powerful DDCAmember Vijay Bahadhur Mishra who is a manufacturer of kit bags. Forthe record he along with other members of the pitch and groundcommittee resigned in the wake of the disaster. Former Test openerChetan Chauhan was the chairman of this committee. As an openingbatsman of repute himself, Chauhan should have had a betterunderstanding of the dangers of playing on a 'overprepared ' wicketlike this. But the lure of lucre was so high that they decided to playa game on December 27 fior the very first time since the internationalagainst the Aussies on October 31. Nearly two months went by withoutany cricket on this wicket. Why did the BCCI allot this one dayinternational to DDCA knowing fully well that Delhi is not playing itsRanji games on the ground? Everyone knew that the pitch was suspectafter the low scoring games during the T 20 Champions League. And whatpray was Daljit Singh the chief curator of the BCCI doing about allthis? The blame game has begun with the DDCA trying to palm off thebuck to the BCCI's Technical Committee. But that was expected, forDDCA officials are known to be shameless.
The T 20 Champions League matches see unpredictable and varying bounce asthe matches produce very low scores. Australia plays India in a one dayeron October 31 and it is business as usual. Against this backdrop Indiaplay Lanka in a dead rubber and it takes over 23 overs to call off thematch. That too only after Kumar Sangakarra has seen enough. And whatpray was the match referee Alan Hurst doing all this while. Playingtiddlywinks in the pavilion. It is only after Sangakarra rushed tothe centre to prevent any grievous bodily harm and damage to hisplayers did Hurst make an appearance. Delhi is to play host to four2011 World Cup matches and a match abandonment could result in a 12 to24 month ban on the Kotla.
In any case the DDCA is known as a den of vices. It has a lousyreputation. Earlier this year, we saw Delhi captain Virender Sehwagthreatening to quit and go over to Haryana since he was unhappy withthe conduct of the DDCA officials. DDCA president Arun Jaitley makeslight of the insurrection and papers over the matter by convincingViru that 'all iz well.' On Monday, recriminations continue as the ICCdemands action from the BCCI. Sports minister MS Gill terms the entireKotla pitch fiasco as a "great embarrassment" and says the BCCI andthe DDCA owe an explanation to the country for the abandonment of thegame. "It is very unfortunate and a great embarrassment for thecountry. It should not have happened. I watched the match a bit on TVand it was terrible to see such an incident taking place," Gill said.
"What can I say, all those who are in-charge of cricket nationally andstate-wise can only answer on the issue," he added. A stingingindictment of the BCCI and the sense of fierce individualism that itdisplays. Registered under the Societies Act, it is nothing more thana private cosy club. It does pretty much as it pleases as it has shownrecently by not signing the WADA whereabouts clause. No diktat worksagainst the BCCI. So, when the shoe is finally on the other foot, touse an age old adage, it is really pinching. And all its critics areflaying it sensing an opportunity.
Now let us look at the DDCA's response system. Yes, it has finallymanaged to build a fancy stadium complete with lights. But what goodis a stadium if the cricket pitch is unfit to play? What good is apitch and a stadium if its own state team refuses to play Ranji Trophyon it? Allegations of mismanagement have abounded all this while.Critics and detractors have now got a genuine handle. Arun Jaitley'sresponse is so ineffectual and weak that it is laughable. Please readthe following: "DDCA regrets the inconvenience caused to allspectators and others.We offer our apologies to them. All gate tickets will be refunded. Adetailed announcment in this regard will be made shortly." On Mondaymorning local papers have issued an advertisement on how the ticketscan be refunded. Mr Jaitley you have egg on your face. But one cannotcriticise the DDCA alone. It is the system whereby the BCCI pays largesums of money to staging associations from its revenues to upgradefacilities. Further every international game brings large revenues tothe same staging associations. It is simply you scratch my back, Iscratch yours that works seamlessly within the sanctum sanctorum ofthe BCCI. The least that the BCCI can do is prepare honest pitches.The first couple of games against Lanka saw huge scores being run on'patta' wickets. Then we saw two slightly more sporting wickets whichsaw the Sri Lankans floundering. In the end we had this disaster atDelhi as the capital made its latest tryst with shame.
Crowd trouble normally associated with Kolkata also reared its uglyhydra head. I don't really blame the spectators who paid good maoneyto arrive at Kotla on a Sunday. And then they found they were cheatedout of a full game. Spectators hurled water bottles and broken chairsonto the ground.Putting a question mark over Kotla's prospect as a 2011 World Cupvenue since a similar incident 12 years ago had invited abrief ban for the Nehru Stadium in Indore.
Jaitley has expressed shock over the pitch. Did somebody tell him thathis own state team hasn't played Ranji games on the ground? ChetanChauhan and Sunil Dev were seen running like headless chickens onceSangakarra refused to play ball. On a telly channel, I saw ChetanChauhan mouthing inanities defending the indefensible as anotherformer cricketer Madan Lal waded into him. There was angst in Delhiover the fiasco. Bishan Singh Bedi squarely blamed the DDCA for thepitch fiasco.
"DDCA had made a mess out of the pitch and they should own up theresponsibility. I wondered how a pitch which was not used even forRanji Trophy matches was used for the one-dayer. Action should betaken against them (DDCA) but that is BCCI's job," he said. Isincerely hope that the BCCI's clout with the BCCI doesn't get DDCAoff the hook. Punitive action needs to be taken, a ban of 12 monthswill teach these fat cats in the association a lesson that they won'tforget in a hurry.
In a recent interview to sportzpower Daljit Singh, chief curator hadsaid, "The BCCI from this season has introduced pitch quality forms,which the match referees will have to fill up. This is a step in theright direction. I think there will be a paradigm shift in the comingtwo or three years. Already Ranji games are being played on seamingand green tracks, to enable the players to get used to conditions theywill encounter abroad. But to suddenly have Tests in India on suchbowling-friendly tracks is not easy. The strength of the home teamalso needs to be kept in mind. I think slowly this mind-set willchange."
Enough said.

Money for jam

GROUND ZERO

NEWS FOR SALE - AN ABHORRENT PRACTICE

With so much clutter in media and the news tellywallahs bombarding youyou with all types of news day in, day out (some of it is pure drivel,particularly on the Hindi channels), there is no time to read newsweekliesanymore. The last good story written by India Today for instance wasthe composite air travel bill of the UPA Cabinet which waspainstakingly put together by a Hindi India Today journo using thepower and instrumentation of RTI. Outlook on the other hand triesdesperately to stay relevant by being provocative. Its dal scam storyrocked and now comesanother eye opening and cerditable effort - On Sale - Journalism. In a terrificexpose pinpointing the new and growing malaise inIndian media and its unhappy nexus with politicos, Outlook shoots fromthe hip. A confluence of news, money and politics though prevalent insmaller regional papers has now metamorphosed into a gargantuan scamspreading wildly across big media. Editor Vinod Mehta in a no holdsbarred fulmination attacksthis barefaced media-politician nexus. This is Medianet of adifferent, elaborate and scarier kind. A malignant sore which isgetting deeper rooted by the minute. Medianet when it was architectedbegan with the Page 3 types in the city supplements. It brought themovers and shakers of different cities to the pages of the citysupplements for a charge. Gradually the Page 3 wallahas morphed intoPage 1 denizens using this stratagem. It has gained currency rapidlyand more than one publication is known to use it now.The exercise hasover time become a robustnew revenue stream. It was taken to the next level when businessbriefs etc were also paid for. Now Outlook tells us that money fornews is far more widespread than what we construed.
In a hard hitting edit, Vinod Mehta lambasts this latest trend atduplicity. Yes, news is for sale and it is a dangerous new trend whichwill only mutate faster in the days to come. But let Mehta himselfexplain this spanking new paradigm: "Indian media doesn’t dointrospection. We recommend it to others—MPs, political parties,militants, judges, scientists.... They are alladvised to look deep inside their own trade and clean up the rot.Meanwhile, the rot creeping into the fourth estate is studiouslyignored or airbrushed, usually by organising a “studio discussion” inwhich the citizen is asked: Does the media need to be accountable?Discussion over. Issue over. Fortunately, even that stratagem iswearing thin. The chicanery is conspicuous.
"And yet who can deny that while our media has much to be proud of,there is increasing public disenchantment, not just with its slant,shrillness, sermonising and sensationalism, but with its core value,namely integrity. It is hardly a secret that the media is capable ofmisjudgement and laziness. However, what the aam aadmi seldom doubtsis the “news” it transmits. That trust, alas, is breaking down.
"I am not referring to the blurring of news and opinion, which itselfviolates the time-honoured principle: News is sacred, comment is free.However, even when news and comment are mixed up, it is possible forthe alert consumer to separate the two. At any rate, even in the mostadvanced of democracies, the media does carry ideological/party bias,which is reflected not in the editorial pages, but in the newscolumns. That practice, however deplorable, a free press can livewith.
"If all these burdens were not enough for the media in the world’slargest democracy, consider this: Sections of the media are now for“sale”. For a price, you can buy news on the front page. It is a trendwhich has been with us for a few years, but thanks to the exposure bythe late Prabhash Joshi, P. Sainath and others, it is emerging as thesingle-most serious threat to our collective credibility. Indeed, thesystem is getting fast institutionalised, with TV channels andnewspapers approaching politicians, especially during elections, witha “package” which, interestingly, is negotiable. It is an offerdifficult to refuse.
"I am not unmindful of the difficult times the media industry is goingthrough. The market is too crowded, the advertising cake is too small,the economy is too sluggish. We are all furiously engaged in findingnew and innovative ways to augment our dwindling revenues. Outlook(like others) is neck-deep in this skirmish. As you may have noticed,the Outlook ‘Spotlight’ feature is sponsored, the client has almostfull editorial control. The only redeeming aspect is that the readercan easily spot it, since it is clearly marked on the page. News forsale is not. The purpose here is to pass off sponsored news asprofessional news.
"Dog does not eat dog. True. In the investigation you are about toread, the intention is to shed light on a malaise which, if nottreated, will surely destroy the Indian media. I hope our colleaguesin the business will take it in that spirit." The most damaging partof this editorial is that the 'package' which is negotiable. Paid for news isthe latest entrant in the b*******d lexicon of modern news purveyorswho are under pressure to keep up with the Jones' as far as revenues go.
Expressing serious concern over the increasing number of reports ofpaid news in some media organisations, the toothless and vapidEditor's Guild of India has formed an ethics committee which willunveil an initiative toencourage transparency regarding the "pernicious" practice. Nicewords, but don't offer anything more than lip service from these oldfogies.
In its annual general body meeting held last Tuesday, the Guild notedthat it was always for publication of news which is in publicinterest, news which has been gathered due to the professional effortsof journalists and news which is not influenced by malice, bias,favouritism or monetary influence.
The ethics committee which would be headed by T N Ninan,Editor-in-Chief Business Standard and have B G Verghese, SumitChakravarthy and Madhu Kishawar as members. Ho-hum...zzzzzz.
Anyway back to the Outlook effort. There are some real pithy examples.This is what it says, "When a victorious chief minister openly admitsthat he himself approached the leading newspaper of his state withmoney for “positive stories” after learning that the newspaper hadsigned a “package deal” with his rivals to print negative stories, youhad better sit up andtake urgent notice. It can only mean that the selling of editorialspace has become both blatant and institutionalised, and that neitherthe print nor the electronic media are immune to the malaise.When Outlook sounded out Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hoodaabout allegations doing the rounds that he paid for favourable newsduring the assembly elections in October, he was surprisingly candid.“When I noticed the leading paper of my state printing baselessreports on its front page day after day,” he said, “I called them upand offered money to print the right picture. The paper in questionapologised. They even returned the money taken from my rival topublish news items against me.”
“I was aware,” the CM went on to add, “that packages were offered tocandidates from my party, but my state is small and people can seethrough sponsored reports.” Hooda holds media barons responsible forturning newspapers into mammon-worshipping behemoths where everythingis available for a price, including sacred editorial space. “Thejournalists are not at fault here because fact-finding journalism hasnow become a commercialised activity with the present owners havingturned newspapers into a business proposition,” he says.But approach the newspapers, and they turn the blame right around onthe politicians. Like a top management executive from Punjab Kesri(readership 1.04 crore) who admits that the newspaper made anywherebetween Rs 10 crore and Rs 12 crore during the assembly electionseason. “We had to go in for selling editorial space,” he says,“because of tremendous pressure from politicians. We were also beingpushed by the so-called national English dailies who had theirpackages and were mopping up revenue. We could not have missed out onthe opportunity.”
Similarly in Maharashtra, chief minister Ashok Chavan declared he had spent justRs 11,379 on advertising but as English daily The Hindu reportedrecently, this was hugely disproportionate to the reams and reams ofpositive coverage he got in the media. Tacitly, of course, additionalsums would have been paid by either his party or his well-wishers.The report then goes on to give other examples of how print media inthe south have traversed down this road to peridition. And it is notjust the print media that is guilty of publishing news for cash.Television news channels are equally guilty of selling editorialspace. Congress MP Sandeep Dikshit says he was shocked when a newschannel in Delhi approached him with a package to cover Rahul Gandhi’svisit to the East Delhi constituency during the 2009 Lok Sabhaelections.
“Imagine my surprise and shock when the reporter actually negotiatedthe price of Rs 2.5 lakh for an hour of live coverage,” says Dikshit.“The channel even said they would arrange the crowds.” The MP said hewas equally taken aback when a leading Hindi daily made an offer forpositive coverage of his campaign. “Packages for print and TV for athree-day coverage varied between Rs 12 and Rs 20 lakh,” Dikshitelaborates. “You watch your opponent misusing the media and you’reforced to part with the money. I won’t take names but everyone isinvolved.”
In fact, campaign managers of the Congress say money had to be spentfor the Delhi assembly elections last year when a TV channel insistedon projecting a lesser tally for the Congress in its opinion polls.“The tally improved after the channel was paid off,” reveals acampaign manager. “In fact, the last three days before the actual polldates, money had to be spent on the channels to ensure good coverage.”
Marathi channel IBN-Lokmat too found itself in the middle of acontroversy when it ran a feelgood interview with one of itsdirectors, Congress candidate Rajendra Darda, during the Maharashtraassembly elections. Editor Nikhil Wagle, however, says he took extraprecaution to ensure that Darda got lesser airtime than otherpoliticians. “We accepted only two sponsored features, one of the NCPand the other of the BJP, during the elections,” Wagle clarified.
More examples: Imagine leading editor Mrinal Pande ended up as a majorcasualty of war. Shockingly, during the last Lok Sabha elections,leading Hindi daily Hindustan (from the Hindustan Times stable)carried a four-page special on an independent candidate from Varanasi,with the sponsored tag at the bottom of the last page in fine print.This went againstthe rules set by then editor Mrinal Pande. She was flooded with callswhen the report (which read like news) was published, she says.
“I had laid down specific guidelines for sponsored features duringelections,” says Pande. “These were flouted without even informing theeditor in charge.” She admits to having quit because of pressure fromthe management and because of sponsored news. “Among other things, itwas the paid-for news arrangement that made me put in my papers. Inthe end, it is important to keep one’s integrity intact,” she says.
The Outlook story ends by saying, "Does itmean that the Indian language media is the inventor of this trendyirregularity? No. As everybody in the trade remembers, the leadinglight amongst English dailies launched a scheme to sell editorialspace to corporate and socialite buyers. The daily maintained this wasno malpractice as the transactions were accounted for and thepublished items were attributed. Yet the reader was completelydeceived—as in the case of recent election packages in languagedailies—because the legend was kept so minuscule as to render the ‘MN’of Medianet nearly indistinguishable from the ‘NN’ of News Network.And of course, the management never bothered to tell the reader what‘MN’ or Medianet really stood for. A fig leaf of deception. Thelanguage media walked this beaten path of the English brand leadersrather more crudely during the recent elections. Like a Madhu Koda orShibu Soren or Laloo Yadav or Mayawati negotiating the political kajalki kothri (a proverbial soot-smeared room out of which it’s impossibleto come out unsullied) more clumsily than their supposedly moresophisticated peers.
"Why this crudeness? Obviously because of the hurry to catch up withthe more materially successful sophisticated Joneses of the trade.Despite the larger readership reach of language newspapers in India,look at the imbalance of earning they suffer from vis-a-vis theirEnglish counterparts. The readership of Dainik Jagran, the largestHindi daily, is more than double that of the largest English daily,The Times of India. But ToI’s revenue of nearly Rs 5,000 crore is morethan thrice Jagran’s approximately Rs 1,400 crore. Such a differenceshows proportionately both in the quantum and rate of advertisementsof large Hindi and English dailies. Any back-of-the-envelopecalculation will place the average earning of an English newspaper atleast three times more than a Hindi daily of similar standing andcirculation.
"The corporate clout of English newspapers, which depends on theirturnovers and the purchasing power of their readers, is far ahead ofthe language ones. But the language newspapers beat the English oneshollow in political clout because of their much larger circulation,which matters more in the game of numbers that is democracy. Duringthe elections, the language media saw an opportunity to lessen the gapin corporate earnings vis-a-vis the English media by their politicalclout. Political leaders, too, sought to pander to the language mediamuch more than the English media during the elections. The crude hurryinherent in this phenomenon caused more din."
But at the core of the problem remains this frenetic need to be thefirst with the news. It is merely institutionalising something thatbig media did in the garb of a revenue stream. Medianet supportedsocial climbers in their quest for being seen, politicos are doing itfor larger swathes of votes. And media is genuflecting itself beforethe power of money. God knows, what depths we will plumb next. Welldone, Outlook.

Did they actually make money in IPL?

SPOTLIGHT


As the year draws to a close, curiousity over who mademoney in IPL season 2 remains. Interestingly each one of the eightsides reportedly made profits which is a considerable improvment overseason 1 when only Rajasthan Royals, Kolkata Knight Riders and ChennaiSuper Kings made a profit. But this is contrary to popular perceptionwhich said that all the teams would lose money because the event wasstaged in South Africa. But the figures revealed tell a differentstory.
The broadcasting revenues were directed to a central pool, 40% ofwhich went to IPL itself, 54% to franchisees and 6% as prize money.The money will be distributed in these proportions until 2017, afterwhich the share of IPL will be 50%, franchisees 45% and prize money5%. The IPL signed up Kingfisher Airlines as the official umpirepartner for the series in a Rs. 106 crore (1.06 billion) deal.Rajasthan Royals made a profit of Rs 35.1 crore while KKR made aprofit of Rs 25.8 crore; Kings XI Punjab Rs 26.1 crore. It is stillnot known how much each franchisee was subsidised by the BCCI andwhether those claims have been entertained or not. As far astransparency is concerned, it still leaves a lot to be desired. Butthat has not been one of BCCI's virtues anyway. Here is the break upfor each franchise:
(Profit/Loss - (Rs Crore)
MUMBAI INDIANS
a. Broadcasting Rights - 67.5b. Team Sponsors - 24c. other income - 14d. prize money - 0.5
Total Revenues(a+b+c) - 106
a. Franchise Fees - 51.5b. Team Expenses - 20c. other expenses - 27.5
Total Expenses(a+b+c) -99 Net profit - 7
ROYAL CHALLENGERS, Bangalore
a. Broadcasting Rights - 67.5b. Team Sponsors - 24c. other income - 13.5d. prize money - 2.25
Total Revenues(a+b+c) - 107.25
a. Franchise Fees - 51.6b. Team Expenses - 20c. other expenses - 27.5
Total Expenses(a+b+c) - 99.1 Net profit - 8.15
DECCAN CHARGERS

a. Broadcasting Rights - 67.5b. Team Sponsors - 24c. other income - 13.5d. prize money - 4.5
Total Revenues(a+b+c) - 109.5
a. Franchise Fees - 49.2b. Team Expenses - 20c. other expenses - 25.5
Total Expenses(a+b+c) - 94.7 Net profit - 14.8
CHENNAI SUPERKINGS
a. Broadcasting Rights - 67.5b. Team Sponsors - 24c. other income - 18.5d. prize money - 1.2
Total Revenues(a+b+c) - 111.2
a. Franchise Fees - 41.9b. Team Expenses - 20c. other expenses - 27.5
Total Expenses(a+b+c) - 89.4 Net profit - 21.8
DELHI DAREDEVILS
a. Broadcasting Rights - 67.5b. Team Sponsors - 24c. other income - 14.7d. prize money - 1.2
Total Revenues(a+b+c) - 107.4
a. Franchise Fees - 38.6b. Team Expenses - 20c. other expenses - 25.5
Total Expenses(a+b+c) - 84.1 Net profit - 23.3
KINGS XI PUNJAB
a. Broadcasting Rights - 67.5b. Team Sponsors - 24c. other income - 14.3d. prize money - 0.8
Total Revenues(a+b+c) - 106.6
a. Franchise Fees - 35b. Team Expenses - 20c. other expenses - 25.5
Total Expenses(a+b+c) - 80.5 Net profit - 26.1
KOLKATA KNIGHT RIDERS

a. Broadcasting Rights - 67.5b. Team Sponsors - 24c. other income - 18.9d. prize money - 0.4
Total Revenues(a+b+c) - 110.8
a. Franchise Fees - 34.5b. Team Expenses - 20c. other expenses - 30.5
Total Expenses(a+b+c) - 85 Net profit - 25.8
RAJASTHAN ROYALS
a. Broadcasting Rights - 67.5b. Team Sponsors - 24c. other income - 14.2d. prize money - 0.7
Total Revenues(a+b+c) - 106.4
a. Franchise Fees - 30.8b. Team Expenses - 20c. other expenses - 20.5
Total Expenses(a+b+c) - 71.3 Net profit - 35.1
All figures are in Rs. Crores (1 Crore = 10 Million)
Other incomes include gate receipts, in-stadia advertising,merchandise sales, and media tie-ups
Other expenses include stadia fees, travel, stay cost and team promotion
Source: IIFL Research

No, not Kalmadi again!

BEHIND THE NEWS

Though the prestigious Hero Honda hockey World Cup ismerely 65 days away, the action as always with Indian sport is not onthe field, but off it. Yes, the controversial elections to HockeyIndia need to be completed before the tournament gets off the ground.In fact. it is a pre-requisite for the tournament's award to India.Moves are being made on the Hockey India chessboard to create aunified body, as per FIH's diktat. Insiders claim that two powerfulindividuals may face off against one another for the president's post.Athletics Federation of India Life President and Indian OlympicAssociation president Suresh Kalmadi may well run for office. Thecandidature of Punjab deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal isalso in the air. Badal is being convinced by Hockey Punjab secretaryPargat Singh to announce his candidature and lift Indian hockey outthis abyss of gloom. Now it remains to be seen whether there will be aface off or a compromise will see one of the two being appointedpresident. It also remains to be seen as which state body nominatesKalmadi.
More importantly, can the AFI life president also become Hockey Indiapresident. It can happen only in India that an individual heads twodifferent sports bodies, and is chairman of the Commonwealth GamesOrganising Committee. It will tantamount to appropriation of absolutepower. Or will Kalmadi junk athletics, appoint one of his minionsthere and assume HI presidentship. That will depend on Badal to agreat extent. Another player in this equation may be former IHFsecretary general Jyothikumaran who was sacked for accepting a bribeand actually triggered the fall of the dominos in Indian hockey.Jyothikumaran will come to the elections from Tamil Nadu. The onlyother player of any relevance will be J B Roy, Sahara chief SubrataRoy's brother who heads the Bengal Hockey Association. Will he alignwith one of the two - Kalmadi or Badal - or will he make a play forthe president's post himself is still a matter of conjecture. Roy isopposed to Kalmadi led IOA's super session of IHF. Moreover, whenKalmadi was set to become president of HI at the hastily convened HIelections on November 18 in Srinagar, it was J B Roy along with IndianWomen's Hockey boss Amrit Bose who scuppered his gameplan by roping inthe sports ministry.
Former player and selector Aslam Sher Khan told sportzpower thatKalmadi may well have designs on HI for he was single handedlyresponsible for keeping top players out of hockey administration. Infact Sher Khan said, "Kalmadi broke the back of IHF, turned it into adysfunctional body and is trying to ride the tiger called hockey. Hismain objective is ensure that politicians rule the roost in HI andformer players are kept outside the body's purview." With January 29now as the new D Day in Indian hockey, various factions are preparingfor battle. What is crucial for the elections that there has to be asingle unified state body represented in the polls. So, this iscreating problems. Maharashtra for instance has three state bodies -Mumbai, Maharashtra and Vidarbha.
Similarly Punjab has not been given affiliation even though Pepsu andPunjab have merged to forma unified Punjab Hockey. Sukhbir Singh Badalwill fight the presidential election from Punjab Hockey. This willqueer the pitch for Kalmadi. With the one state, one body norm incirculation, multiple bodies have to merge before the elections.Meanwhile there is no clarity on the World Cup event per se either.While we know that the major Dhyan Chand stadium will be ready for thetournament, the hockey World Cup returns to India after 28 years. Italso provides with a huge platform to show the world that its hockeygene pool is alive and kicking. By winning a bronze at Salta in theChampions Challenge, it has given notice that it is taking baby stepstowards mending itself. But ranked as it is at number 12 in the FIHteam seedings, it will have to play out of its skins to enter the topsix

Hey guys, what about writing on real, meaty issues?

RETROFIT

Two interesting news items on the wires in the last couple of days -Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit says that she is nervous about theCommonwealth Games deadlines while in Gwalior, sports minister M S Gilldenies any rift in the Commonwealth Games Organising Committee. Then onTuesday morning Mail Today reports that a parliamentary standingcommittee has expressed serious doubts about the completion of variousprojects on time. The ministry of urban development standingcommittee in its report says, "we are aware of slippages in certainproject miletsones, a fact supported by even the Comptroller andAuditor general."
The recent Commonwealth Games Federation Coordination Commission wasalso wary of the time overruns on some of the stadia though itcommended the increased pace of work since the General Assembly inOctober. What is the role of media in all this? Is it merely reportingon events as they happen or is it more focused on unearthing the realstory behind the all pervasive apathy and slowdown? Has Gamesorganising committee boss Suresh Kalmadi known for his sharpnetworking skills bought the silence of big media? Is mediahighlighting the nature of abuse in financialoversight adequately? Is it doing enough investigations on the slowpace of work? Nobody has a clue about the kind of money that is beingploughed into the CWG black hole. National prestige is being used as acover to pour money down the drain. Bottomline is that the results arestill not visible despite all this talk about presenting the best everGames. Do I sound like a Cassandra of Doom? Perhaps yes. But have youdriven down Delhi roads lately. They are an unmitigated disasterreplete with moon craters. The whole place resembles a gigantic bomb shelterwhile time runs out. Hardly nine months remain. And nobody in media isreally calling Kalmadi & Co's bluff. Media is not bothered about realissues, Hindi newswallahs are going bananas over 'pralay' which comesas part of global warming. News media doesn't care about rising pricesand its impact on household budgets and palates. The English press ismore concerned over Advani and the BJP. For God's sake he is on thewrong side of 80 and is not going to be a player in 2014. If hechooses to hang on to a dream, media doesn't necessarily have tomirror that image. Or maybe the spin doctors are still running riotfeeding a senseless and gullible media.
Take two important developing stories - Commonwealth Games and pricespiral - and their treatment for instance. We have events beingreported on, but real investigation into why there is a can of wormsopen inside the Games headquarters is being ignored. Media's role isto be vigilant and throw into stark relief acts of omission andcommission. Strangely even the news telly wallahs have not beendigging for dirt in the Commonwealth cesspool. This silence isdeafening. Various players along the food chain - sports minister M SGill, Kalmadi, Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit and even the PrimeMinister Manmohan Singh have allayed the fears of the Commonwealthfrat by assauging their hurt at the delay and paper over the matter byconvincing one and all that all is well. The new clarioncall remains that the Games will be the best ever. The latest anthemfrom 3 Idiots - All is Well - is the new underlying credo for theorganisers. The Coorodination Commission which has just completed itsvisit has realised that there is now a time overrun on some of thestadia including Jawahar Lal Nehru where the opening and closingceremonies are to take place.
At the recently concluded Sports Breakfast on the sidelines of theCommonwealth Heads of Government Meet in Port of Spain, Kalmadi saidthat the Games will cost an astronomical $2 billion. A few days later,minister of state for sports P P Patil says that the Games will costthe exchequer Rs10,550 crore. That is well over $2 billion. The numbers just keepinflating as far as the government spend on next year's CommonwealthGames in the capital are concerned. The total estimated expenditurelikely to be incurred for hosting the mega event now stands at awhopping $ 2.28 billion. This information was provided by PratikPrakashbapu Patil in a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha(Upper house of Parliament) last week. Patil had some positive news togive though, stating that the CWGOC has estimated that it wouldgenerate revenue of around Rs 1708 crore from international/domesticbroadcasting, sponsorship, ticketing, licensed merchandise, donationsetc. The shortfall, not much, just a wee bit - only Rs 8842 crore.
Sports Authority of India and CPWD will be spending Rs 962 crore onthe Jawahar Lal Nehru Stadium, as much as Rs 669 crore on IndiraGandhi stadium, while DDA will spend Rs 827.85 crore on the GamesVillage and competition and training venues.These are obscene sums ofmoney. If the Prime Minister's Office has intervened and appointed keybureaucrats in the organising committee management team, it isprimarily to keep an eye on the financial profilgacy. Let usunderstand that at this late stage with just nine months to go for theunveiling of the Games, the Government is left with no alternative. Ithas to go ahead and provide the necessary infrastructure. There is asense of fait accompli. So India has to deliver and if there are costand time overruns, so be it. Now let me rewind to 1982 when Indiahosted the Asian Games. The event infrastructure cost Rs 55 crore.Yes, you read it right - Rs 55 crore. Now even if this figure were tobe adjusted for inflation 27 years later, the new figure should be inthe vicinity of Rs 550 crore, not Rs 10,550 crore as the governmenthas claimed in Parliament. Taking all manner of cost escalations intoconsideration, the Rs 550 crore can be doubled to Rs 1100 crore. Butthe JLN stadium alone is seeing a total expenditure of Rs 962 crore.Something is amiss here. Yes, steel, cement and construction costshave spiralled over the last two and half decades, but the yawningchasm between Rs 55 crore and Rs 10,550 crore is unthinkable. If oneadds all the allied city developmental cost which includes the metro,new airport, flyovers, underpasses, beautification andwhatchamacallit, then this Rs 10,550 crore balloons to Rs 62,000crore. Party poopers will stand up and ask a simple question; can Indiaafford these Games? Financial elasticity of a kind not seen in recentmemory is propelling these Games forward.
Higher minimum support prices and the resultant crop switching fromfood to commercial crops is playing havoc with the farming sectorNetsown area has remained more or less static since 1970 when it was 141million hectares. So, with acreage not increasing, yields flounderingdespite a 15 per cent spike in the use of fertilsers, the farm outputis shrinking even as the mouths to feed has shot up considerably.Population as per the census has grown from 54 crore in 1970 to 102crore currently. Significantly, agriculture as a percentage of GDP hasslid from 41 per cent to 17 per cent during the same period. Theminimum support price for rice was Rs 570 per quintal in 2006, it isRs 850 now, while wheat MSP has risen in the same period from Rs 650per quintal to Rs 1100 now. Uttar Pradesh cane farmers find it farmore remunerative to grow wheat and rice, rather than sugar cane whichfetches them a pittance in comparison. This has led to distortions inthe system, leading to the recent cane farmer agitation because thecentral governement mandated through an ordinance that a Fair andRemunerative Price would be fixed. The state government would pay thedifference to the farmers over and above that and not the mill ownerswho used to do so earlier. This caused ferment and brought Delhi to astandstill.
The issue of rising prices has vexed all households in the land. Anegg costs Rs 4, potato, onion, sugar and dal prices have shot into thestratosphere. The food inflation genie is out of the bottle at aridiculous 20 per cent and there is no sign of respite in sight. It isthe same story on the price spike front as well. Barring a few storieson rising prices, there is no campaign on the kind of dismay that isengulfing India's middle class as it collapses under the sheer weightof searing prices.
India won the right to host the Commonwealth Games as far back asNovember, 2003 by beating back Canadian city Hamilton's challenge inMontego Bay. The clincher came when India offered each of the 72nations $100,000 as a 'bribe' underthe guise of an athlete development grant. This swung the vote 46-22in favour of India. This is what former sports minister Mani ShankarAiyar told this writer recently, "The BJP sports minister at the timeVikram Verma was in Montego Bay along with IOA president Suresh Kalmadipitching for the Games. When things got tight and it appeared thatIndia would end up on the losing side, Kalmadi got permission fromVerma to call up then PM Atal Behari Vajpayee to make the offer ofoffering an 'athlete development grant' to each one of the CGF nationsto swing the vote. But are you sure, it was $ 100,000 per nation? Mysense it was a million dollars per country that was offered. Once thebid was won, the organising committee - again the IOA in a differentgarb - sought the government's permission for a small sum of money, asexpenses to organise the Games in Delhi. This was a temporaryfinancial loan which was to be returned to the government. Whatstarted out as an initial temporary financial proposal turned into anunlimited financial commitment."
In a nation where food prices have just about everyone teetering onthe ropes, to first 'bribe' foreign delegations and then get anunlimited financial commitment from the Union Government to host theGames is a criminal waste of time, money and effort. Fiscal deficit bedamned, the nation's prestige is at stake after all. Therein lies therub. For six years since 2003, we have been sitting on our fat backsideswaiting for closure of the Games infrastructure. CAG was the first toblow the lid on this gargantuan exercise, Fennell added fuel to thefire, Kalmadi's conduct stoked it further. With no financialoversight body, the Games budget has seen repeated cost escalations.Goalposts continuously shift, the December 31, 2009 deadline has beenshifted to March 31, 2010. And in some cases June 2010 now. Meanwhile,nobody has a handle on the chaos that prevails. Both on theCommonwealth Games and prices fronts. All we have is promises.
And media needs to target the real meaty issues in its crosshairs.Issues that affect you and me. Or is it that these issues aren't sexyenough? And Advani is.

Catching flu mutating faster than HINI

NAKED EYE

Discipline is the key in sport, more so in a teamgame where one unforced error can have calamitous consequences for theteam. India's below par fielding and bowling performance in theongoing T 20 and one day series is a cause of major concern. Whenfielders like Yuvraj Singh and Virat Kohli begin dropping sitters, youget the jitters. The abrupt sacking of Robin Singh and Vekatesh Prasadhas undoubtedly left some sort of a void. I am not saying that theywere the right men for the job, but at least they were doing somethingto the best of their abilities. While Robin Singh's presencehadn't really imporved our fielding standards, bowling coach VenkateshPrasad was reported to have done an outstanding job with the seamerson the England and Australian tours. Anyway, both were summarilydismissed and the board sat on its backside waiting to do something.Now, nature abhors a vacuum, so the cricket board known to function inmysterious ways appointed Chicago born US minor league baseball playerand till recently Australian fielding coach as India's fieldingconsultant for the ongoing one day and T 20 20 series against SriLanka. Young had earlier coached the Australian baseball team as well.
Both Prasad and Singh were sacked before the seven match one dayseries against Australia. India played the three Tests against Lankawithout the services of a bowling and fielding coach. Players likeMohd Kaif and Yuvraj were natural athletes and hence excellentfielders square off the wicket. Virat Kohli and Suresh Raina haveshown in their fledgling careers that they too are good fielders.Others like Tendulkar have manfully kept up the intensity despite thevagaries of advancing age. WithYuvraj's knee and back constantly proving a problem, one has latelyseen him patrolling the boundary. As a race Indians are unfit and thisdoesn't help us at all. Fitness brings agility. So, Indians have toconstantly work on their fitness. Someone like Dhoni is a good exampleof being fit. The amount of singles that he runs in practically allhis innings in Indian conditions proves that he is fit. Seldom does hecramp up. It is imperative to remain fit primarily because the amountof cricket that our top players are playing will result in breakdownssooner than later. I cannot for instance for the life of me understandhow our bowlers lose their pace. When Munaf Patel appeared on thescene, he was a tearaway quick. Ditto for Ishant Sharma. But both havelost their pace. Isn't a surfeit of cricket or is it listlessness dueto the incessant regimen that one needs to put in to remain on top ofone's game? It is nice to see Ashish Nehra bolwing quick again, but atthe moment he has no clue which length to bowl to Sri Lankan battersDilshan and Sangakarra.
Javagal Srinath is a classic example of reinventing himself. Realisingthat he needed to shoulder the Indian bowling workload, he went to abio mechanist and converted from a vegan to a non vegetarian to buildhis body mass. There was flutter in the dovecotes when ManojPrabhakar described Venkatesh Prasad as a baggage handler and not abowling coach. Indian quicks like Kapil Dev and Srinath learnt quicklythat one needed to bowl a three quarter length on Indian wickets.Maybe that is why they were successful. The game has changed with theonset of the T 20 version. Batters are looking at dominating thebowling from the start. There is no switching off once the power playis over. The bowlers are in the firing line. So, they need toreadjust, no one can allow the batsman to get underneath the ball, sothat he can simply smash it out of sight. In England recently one sawStuart Broad bowling from round the wicket and making the ball slantaway from the batsman, even as the batsman threw his hands at the ballunsuccessfully. The angle defied a stroke. It wasa good tactic, some thought had gone into it. I don't know whetherOttis Gibson (England bowling coach) was responsible for this move,but it was a change. It isnot more obvious than ever that the quicker you bowl along with thewrong length, the faster you will sail over the boundary. using thepace of the ball has become a reality for batters.
A technical flaw for a batsman can be ironed out. And this has beenknown to happen even with some of the best. Sunny Gavaskar and RahulDravid are perfect examples of this. Form deserts even the greatest,this is when flaws creep into the game. It could be a shuffle as ithappened with Gavaskar or the bat may no longer be coming downfrom the perpindicular, but from the slips leaving an opening betweenthe bat and pad. But great players like the two mentioned managed toclean out these glitches by consulting people who they thought werespecialists. Gary Kirsten and Paddy Upton seem to be doing a good jobas far as the mental side of the game is concerned. They haveconvinced Dhoni's men that they can be world beaters. They haveconvinced them that they can win abroad. Maybe that is why our recordis improving abroad. But fielding and coaching are specialist tasks.If you don't get the right candidates and they don't hit it off withthe players, it can be an unmitigated disaster. You don't want to foolaround with a bowler's action or a batsman's technique, but you needsomebody to tone up the drills, make the fielding unit cohesive andimprove its catching and ground fielding. It is the same with bowling,the kind of lengths to bowl against specific batsman, the tactics touse against an opponent. India at the moment is clueless about theLankans. It simply doesn't know what to bowl to Dilshan andSangakarra. So, they end up bowling rubbish.
Scientifc and medical expertise are equally important in this age offrenetic cricket. Performance plans and player development strategiesare valuable inputs as well. I am not advocating the kind of supportstaff that say John Buchanan had for Kolkata Knight Riders whichbordered on a Mom and Pop shop or the one that England are using atthe moment. The latest addition to team director Andy Flower'sburgeoning staff is Graham Gooch as batting coach. The top tier of theEnglish coachinjg staff led by Andy Flower sets the ECB back by ashocking one million pounds sterling. Since Flower won the Ashes forEngland, the ECB probably reckons that it is money well spent.
But Indian cricket needs professional and quality inputs on thefielding and bowling front. It might have to cough up big bucks in theprocess. But it is the need of the hour. The maladroit and clumsyfielding has been the butt of all the jokes this season. Not catchinganything in the air is mutating faster than the H1N1 virus. To remainfirmly entrenched at the top of the cricketing pyramid requires apunishing fitness regimen and no short cuts as far as performancelevels are concerned. Sustaining the intensity is crucial incontemporary sport. The board needs to realise that quickfix solutionswill not work. They need to assess the shortcomings and takedecisions. Young's temporary appointment may well be in thatdirection. But one needs to give people time to adjust and only thenwill they be able to deliver results. The Young experience at themoment doesn't seem to be benefiting our criketers, they seem to havegone from bad to worse.
Modern sporting team retinues are huge. Look at football. The otherday I was reading that England's football bosses have sent a list ofdemands for their South Africa World Cup base, and it includes acomputer games arcade. Keen to stop his players from becoming bored,coach Fabio Capello has asked for a special room with Wii,PlayStations, and other games at the luxury hotel and sports complexwhich is still under construction, reports the web site 3 AM. Otherrequirements at the five-star Royal Bafokeng Sports Campus includeextra-long 7ft beds so Peter Crouch gets a good night’s sleep, BritishTV in bedrooms, and an electric security fence around the complex’sgrounds.
Gareth Simaan, boss of Cradle Hotels, said: “We are working on a dailybasis with the FA to meet their requirements. “We have had quitestringent requirements from England and we are fulfilling every one.The players will not want for anything while they are here - everyneed will be taken care of,” he added. The complex - near Rustenburg,50 miles from Johannesburg - will also have 14 football pitches and amedical center. The 23 players and 30 support staff will take over theentire 82-room complex for the tournament from June 4. Fourpresidential suites are likely to go to Capello and key staff. All thesuites will come with king-size beds, 32-inch plasma TVs, deep-pilecarpets, granite counter-tops, luxury double-sink bathrooms, and soundproofing. Each room also has a fully stocked mini-bar - but an in-roomsecurity system will keep tabs on consumption.
I guess over time cricket too will acquire this hue and edge. It isalready prevalent with some of the cricket playing nations, mostnotably England. Winning is becoming everything and it should be forlosers don't count. India has played great cricket against the Aussiesand Lankans in the one day series, but it is not winning. Close gamesare being lost because we are clueless about our bowling strategiesand pathetic fielding. Sometime it pays to be natural born killers,ruthless and focused. Don't become Aussie in your approach, but stayfit and bowl well and for God's sake catch everything that comes yourway

Kaun banega franchise owner?

BEHIND THE NEWS

Lalit Modi true to his style has priced the new IPL teambids extremely aggressively. Against a base price of $50 million whenIPL was architected, he has upped the ante significantly to $225million. The question is - does he have just cause to do this? Well,if you go by the tournament's hype and popularity and adjust the baseprice for inflation three years later, I guess the answer would be inthe affirmative. But does the environment and the marketplace warrantsuch a spike? Is there enough appetite amongst cricket crazycorporates who have suddenyl discovered a new mantra - return oninvestment - in the way they invest in cricket properties? The answermy friends may well lie in the wind, but the overwhelming feeling isthat only a handful of companies would be interested. A base price of$225 million would roughly translate into Rs 1000 crore over a 8-10year period. Yes, that seems stiff. Agreed that broadcast revenues areto be split between the team franchisees, but instead of 8 cuts, therewill be 10 now, which means that the pie is getting smaller. Thetender process and the tender documents will reveal the way forwardhere.
More importantly, the $225 million is the base price; then there isthe cost of building a team and its supporting eco system. It is anexpensive proposition all around and only those with extremely deeppockets can revel in this kind of hoopla. IPL insiders claim that fivenew venues will be thrown open to the team bidders - Ahmedabad andKanpur are certainties. This is because even last time round, peopleevinced interest in acquiring teams from these two centres. AnilAmbani's ADAG and Subroto Roy's Sahara primarily. The high base pricewill be a deterrant for a lot of people, namely actors and the like.Other than Mukesh Ambani (Mumbai Indians), Vijay Mallya (RoyalChallengers), Deccan Chronicle (Deccan Chargers), India Cements(Chennai Super Kings) and GMR (Delhi Daredevils) , all the otherfranchisees have fragmented ownership. Rajasthan Royals, Kings XIPunjab and Kolkata Knight Riders have multiple owners.
Many of the franchise owners have grouched privately over the dynamicsof putting together teams, replete with players, support staff,marketing human resources and other cogs thet make up a team. However,with the tournament back in India, there may well be interest becauseof the sheer glamour quotient that comes with owning a franchise. Thefact that a fresh auction of all players for season four may alsoprove to be a driver. With the Governing Council removing the cap ontwo Aussie centrally contracted players allowed per franchise alsocoming into effect, it may well galvanise activity. If some clarityemerges on doing away with marquee players as Icons, then there mayjust be that much more activity. All this may lead to a bidding frenzyin season 4. There were a lot of unknowns when IPL was constructed,two seasons down the road, one realises that valuable players are notnecessarily Icon or marquee players. Let me give you the example ofDelhi Daredevils - Dirk Nannes, T Dilshan, A B De Villiers and DineshKarthik may well be seen as more valuable players now given theiramazing performance levels in the first two seasons. Ditto for othersides too. Some of the players in the existing gene pool have revelledin T 20 cricket. Goa's unheralded and unknown Shadab Jakati, SudeepTyagi of CSK, Shane Watson of RR, Fidel Edwards for DC; the list isendless. These players with proven skills will be sought after ratherthan an injury prone Kevin Pietersen or Andrew Flintoff.
With all players contracted for three years, the mix will be excitingas they go under the hammer all over again. Yes, the IPL from season 4onwards thrown open myriad possibilities. My concern is whether Modiand the BCCI have over extended themselves after the Team jerseyfiasco. Pricing is critical in India. Yes, there is interest in owninga team in the IPL, I wonder how many have the gumption and stomach tobuild a franchise and take it to the next level. At the end of theday, a team franchise is also a branding exercise. Deccan Chroniclefor one has effectively marketed his newspapers, Reliance Industriesis not in any real consumer facing business other than retail, VijayMallya can do surrogate advertising for his liquor products usingRoyal Challengers, Shahrukh Khan has got it all wrong, GMR is in theinfrastructure space, the four owners of Kings XI Punjab havedisparate businesses - Ness Wadia, Mohit Burman, Priety Zinta, KaranPaul and you could argue that India Cements is also using CSK forbranding. Which leaves Rajasthan Royals, again multiple owners withdisparate interests. On the other hand both ADAG and Sahara need abranding device as powerful as a IPL team. Anil Ambani owns India'ssecond largest telecoms - Reliance Mobile now available both in GSMand CDMA while Subroto Roy is aggresisvely promoting his housingcompany Sahara City Homes these days. The new commercial with theentire Indian team is a case in point. This must be part of therestructured Team Jersey deal with Sahara till June where the BCCImust have allowed its contracted players to appear in the commercial.
Depending on the city, there could well be other biggies interested inacquiring a franchise. Sunil Mittal, owner of Bharti Airtel for one.But again what is crucial is the city that will be allotted thefranchise. I can think of Hero Honda, great supporters of cricket, butnone of the north Indian cities are available. These cities will haveto have excellent cricket and allied infrastructure. So a Motera isdefinitely on the cards, maybe a Kanpur, Cuttack and Gwalior as well. Nowwhoever buys a team has to have some cultural or personal affinity forthat city. One can understand Sahara bidding for say a Kanpur orLucknow franchise, because it is part of their sphere of operationsand influence. Ahmedabad is close to Anil Ambani for he himself is aGujarati and started his career in the Reliance factories there. Punemay well be another centre, one had heard of the Pawards and horseracebreeder Cyrus Poonawala coming together to buy the franchise. For aBharti or Hero Honda, a city in Punjab like Ludhiana would have beenideal, for they can trace their roots to the city. Given the highentry barrier due to the pricing, an alliance between two businesshouses cannot be ruled out either.
Once the venues are known, the tender process is available in publicdomain, more clarity will emerge. Till then, keep speculating.

Does Brasa really have the brass to deliver Indian hockey

NAKED EYE

On Sunday night I watched a tense game of hockey between the bruisingArgentinians and India. India scraped through by a whisker, winning abronze. The good thing was that the ultimate winner - New Zealand -was held to a draw by India in its opening game. Some cheer at last, Ithough for a sport is completely beleaguered in India. That Indiastruggled to win a bronze in the bottom bucket oncontemporary hockey tells you how much we have slid over the years.The Champions Trophy featuring the top six teams which culminated daysbefore the Champions Challenge saw the top bucket battling it out.Much like Sisyphus, Indian hockey has been attempting to run theboulder to the top of the hill repeatedly. Sadly, it has faileddespite many different coaches including those of the foreign variety.
Over the last few months, Indian hockey has tried picking up thepieces with the induction of a Spanish coach Jose Brasa. A disastrousEuropean tour was followed by a successful series against theCanadians. That is not saying much because Canada like India arewooden spooners ranked at the very base of the hockey pyramid.However, The Champions Challenge in Salta has been relatively better,finishing third amongst eight could be described as creditable. Thebronze medal face off saw Raghunath, Dhananjay, Gurbaz, Tushar,Shivendra et al play a good game of hockey and come up trumps despitebeing down 0-2. A medal could be considered a booster shot. I noticedthat India played its usual brand of short passing hockey at the topand used the long passing version to rotate the ball from the deep. Iliked Dhananjay Mahadik's spirited finish to fetch India the matchwinner. India was given number six billing in the tournament, and Iguess it did well to finish third.
Every time India wins a medal in hockey, the old question of whetherwe have turned the corner is thrown into stark relief. We need tobuild on this finish. Now I don't know whether we have managed thisthird place finish due to Brasa's strategy and tactics or simply byplaying good old fashioned sub continental style hockey. Brasa beforeleaving on the European tour had said that India is going to learnhockey. I don't know what he meant by that. “We have to learn modernhockey. We have to change things to be in the top. We want to be inthe top four in the world,” he had said.Yes, Indian hockey has fallen on very bad times, in fact, it has hitboot strap level, but 'learning hockey' was a bit much. It was kind ofunpalatable. But Brasa has some ideas and it would do no harm inletting him try them. India has nothing to lose, we can't fall furtherin the world hockey order. We can only attempt to claw and climb back.Brasa himself has seen a veritable 'mutiny on the bounty' with asection of the senior players rebelling against him and his style ofimparting coaching. But there are two schools of thought, one inminority which believes that someone needs to crack the whip on Indianplayers and get them to imbibe the modern techniques in hockey,someone who reorients and recalibrates and brings new systems andprocesses to bear as far as fitness and drills are concerned. Indiansstill have the artistry and dribbling skills, but contemporary hockeyhas moved on. It is a very physical game. One of the goals scored byAustralia in the recent Champions Trophy said it all, a forwardsliding in to the D to smash the ball in. Of course there is also amajority which reckons that Brasa knows nothing and there is nothingthat he can do to improve Indian hockey. Worse still, they think thathe is here for love of money.
It is common knowledge that FIH president Leonardo Negre broughtpressure to bear on the Indian Olympic Association to accept fellowSpaniard Brasa as the new coach. Ever since the Jyothikumaran briberyepisode and the sacking of KPS Gill as IHF boss and the subsequentcreation of Hockey India, Negre's writ has run large on Indian hockey.Many former hockey players like Aslam Sher Khan and Ashok Kumar areupset at this.They cannot accept IOA's role in undermining theerstwhile Indian Hockey Federation. But that is hardly of anyimportance. What is important is whether Brasa can actually liftIndian hockey from the morass that it finds itself ensconced in. AtPune when the alleged revolt took place, Brasa was quick to douse thefires and dismiss the notion completely. Which was a good thing. Wewant results, that is the only thing that matters. However, Brasa isunhappy with the slow pace with which Sports Authority of India works,Brasa also criticised the way Indian hockey players were beingtreated at the Salta camp. "I have complained many a time about thefood menu for the players and no one seems to be listening. Playersare getting almost same type of food everyday. The chicken given tothem is no more than bones. I don't understand this. I have prepared amenu for the players but no one follows that. I don't understand whenthings will change," he fumed.
Spot on Mr Brasa. You too have discovered the way Indian sport is run.Deep into the ground. So, is the problem only with the way our hockeyplayers perform? Is it lack of skill and style? Is it training drillsand match play? While all these things may be a problem, in many waysthe administrative mainframe which is supposed to support the playerson the field is a bigger malaise. The administration is dysfunctional,it doesn't care. It is oblivious. The camp in Balewadi, Pune was likea war zone. Some of the reports though exaggerated had the hoi polloiconcerned. It was said that seniors in the Indian hockey side wereunhappy with Jose Brasa. It seemed that captain Sandeep Singh haddifferences with Brasa over drag-flicks. The captain then pulled outof the camp citing back problem as the reason. Sandeep reportedlysaid, “I don’t want to talk about my back problem before I speak toHockey India officials.” Five players, including Ignace Tirkey andPrabodh Tirkey, who were not in the squad for Salta, were also miffedwith Brasa. New captain Rajpal Singh refused to discuss the issue, butdenied discontent in the team. “We have a good rapport with the coachboth on and off the field,” he said. A HI insider said that fissureshave developed in the team as some players are backing Brasa whileothers are finding fault with his coaching methods.Which meant that asection of the older players were dead against Brasa's methods, whilethe younger lot were eager to learn. So, if Bras has managed a thirdplace finish at Salta without these senior players, it is their lossand not the country's. Results are the only that matter to a nationstarved of good news on the hockey front. India beat Argentina 3-2after being pulverised 6-3 by Pakistan in the semi finals. Normally,Indians wilt after an onslaught of this kind, but they kept theirnerve to vanquish Argnetina which is now considered a dangerous side.in world hockey.

Bras has a bone to pick with SAI. That is what IOA boss Suresh Kalmadineeds to focus on. Of course, his immediate concern should be theelections on January 29. Like in most sports disciplines, thefragmented nature of Indian hockey administration replete with'players' is cause for worry. India has an unbelievable opportunity atredeeming itself. Hero Honda and SAIL have come together to sponsorthe hockey World Cup in February. In October, we have another shot atredemption with the Commonwealth Games and of course thereafter thereis the ASian Games to look forward to. Brasa's young team has threeshots at redemption. The Champions Challenge result needs to be lookedat as an edifice for this future. The IOA and SAI need to supportBrasa and the players by giving him whatever he requires instead oftrying to trip him. As I said before, it cannot get any worse afternot being able to qualify for the Beijing OLympics; it can only getbetter. Give Brasa and the boys a chance. If it is strike 3 at the endof the Asian Games in Guangzhou, then sack him.

Crash, bang, thud...

BEHIND THE NEWS

How the mighty have fallen. In the past sports supoerstarshave had their image tarnished by being unable to manage theirfinances. In recent memory, two names come immediately to mind - BjornBorg and Boris Becker. Another tennis player Andre Agassi hasconfronted the demons in his head by divulging that he took drugs.Sprinter Ben Johnson was vilified for using anabolic steriods, dittofor Marion Jones. Borg was so strapped for cash that he even had tohawk his trophies. Bjorn Bord Design which is the company that Borglaunched to market luggage, sportswear and after shave lotion wentbankrupt in 1989 with heavy losses. The Swedish Government pursued himfor back taxes amounting to $40,000, threatening to make him bankrupt.His one time rival, big hitting Roscoe Tanner from Lookout MountainTenesse was unluckier. Tanner was sentenced to two years jail in forparole violation on a grand theft conviction. Tanner, known for hisspeed on court, made an equally nifty departure from the US, but wassubsequently caught in Germany. Similarly another champion tennisplayer Boris becker lived a life of misery. In 2002, after a ten-yearinvestigation, tennis great Boris Becker was convicted of tax evasionin Germany. The former Wimbledon champion was sentenced to two yearsprobation and was ordered to pay 3 million euros in back taxes andanother 500,000 euros in fines and charitable contributions. It seemsthat from 1991 to 1993, Boris claimed he was living in the tax havenof Monaco and so did not pay taxes in Germany. However, the Germangovernment maintained that the apartment he held in Munich was hisprimary residence and that he needed to pay up. A few months later,Boris paid the fines and moved permanently to Switzerland.
But Tiger Woods' case is unique. The world's first billionairesportsman led a model life, complete with family and children. Afterhis being ouyted as a sex addict, intrusive and the tabloids inparticular have ripped him apart. It was as if Woods was leading adouble life. Champion golfer, family man and sleazy sex addict on theother side of the divide. At last copunt 14 mistresses have comeforward with their stories and this is probably not the end of it.But, how did Woods become the richest sportman ever. It was not merelyhis tournament winnings which contributed to his wealth. The real bigbucks came from endorsements. We are reproducing a list of his bigticket endorsement deals which have all gone sour ever since the woodssex scandals have emerged. This is how sensitive corporate America isto bad news. In any case, this is a first for no sportsman was everloved and adored so much in recent timjes as Tiger Woods. To be shownas fallible has taken the sting out of Woods.
* ACCENTURE - Accenture, the top drawer consulting firm has ended asix-year sponsorship deal with Woods.* GILLETTE - Shaving products giant Gillette, part of the Procter &Gamble Group has pulled away from Woods but not severed tiescompletely yet.* NIKE - US sports good biggie Nike is still standing by their man.* PEPSICO - PepsiCo's Gatorade unit decided before the sex rompscandal that it would drop its "Tiger Focus" drink.* AT&T - Telkecoms monolith is evaluating its relationship with Woods.* TAG HEUER - Swiss watch maker Tag Heuer, a unit of LVMH LouisVuitton Moet Hennessy has still not junked its seven-year relationshipwith Woods.* ELECTRONIC ARTS, TLC VISION CORP, Berkshire Hathaway unit NETJETS -All announced they were standing by Woods, but that was before headmitted in a statement on Friday that he had cheated on his wife.*PGA TOUR - They have lost their biggest drawcard, TV ratings hadslumped 50 percent when he took eight months off to rehabilitate aninjured leg.

The secret behind Colors's success

GROUND ZERO

THE YEAR OF THE NEWBIE - COLORS

Manjit Singh MSM/Sony chief in India is trying his best to ring fencehis assault on the GEC peak. Slowly and steadily, he has rejigged andrestructured his programming and his attempt to bolster his businessby signing a content tie up with Yash Raj Films (YRF) TV is a pointerin that direction. It is an interesting deal because it is exclusivewith a welter of fresh (hopefully) programming on the anvil. Thepromos have begun on SET and they look promising. But given YRF'srecent track record in cinema, I wouldn't want to bet on all theshows. Though Seven and Powder look like enterprising efforts. A totalof one non fiction and four fiction shows to consolidate Sony'sweekend time bands. I spoke to Manjit Singh recently and he was of theopinion that the audience tastes have changed over time and Sony hadlost touch with the new tastes. Over time, it has decided to attackthese new taste buds with a different type of programming. BhaskarBharti, Ladies Special, Palampur Express, Is Jungle Se Mujhe bachao,Entertainment ke Liye Kuch Bhi Karega, Rani Padmani were introduced inphase 1. Sadly only ladies Special and Entertainment worked from thatlot, while soap queen Ekta Kapoor was roped in phase 2 with Betaab Diland Pyar Ka Bandhan. Now effective January 1, phase 3 of this muchvaunted exercise will be unveiled. It only tells you that the GECmarket is brimming over with Sisyphus clones, you have to keeptrolling up the boulder up the hill.
Manjit is of the view that urban agglomerates and smaller towns havedifferent audience tastes and this reality has convinced Sony totarget viewers in different ways. He averred, ""We are separatelyconcentrating on creating a new line-up of fiction shows all the waythrough the week, addressing contemporary issues for small towns earlyevening, and then move on to contemporary issues for the metrostowards late evening." Aahat too has returned consolidating theweekend CID time band. CID remains the cynosure at Sony despite beingone of the longest running programmes on private television. From GRPsof below 100, Sony has managed to claw back to just a tad under 200using this new strategic imperative. Manjit is clear that he wants toreclaim the number one spot. But will that be easy given Colors'amazing run at the top?
Anyway, one cannot predict the future, but one can certainly look atthe past and the circumstances under which Colors made its mark. Inthe first half of last year, there was great activity in the GECspace. Viacom structured a JV with Raghav Bahl's T V 18 Group, PeterMukerjea and his wife architected the turkey 9x with the help ofprivate equity funds, Turner Broadcasting joined hands with AlvaBrothers of Miditech and constructed Real while another Star groupieSameer Nair joined hands with Prannoy Roy to put together NDTVImagine. A lot of money was ploughed in by various players onprogramming and distribution tie ups. The big boys Star, Zee and Sonyfelt threatened by this sudden onslaught from newbies. A year and ahalf or so later, Colors has managed to leave blue sky between itselfand top of the pyramid players Star and Zee; 9x has collapsed in aheap, Real is in real trouble, NBC Universal has fled NDTV to bereplaced by Turner which has dumped Real to acquire majority stake inNDTV Imagine.
The entire GEC sweepstakes have turned on their head. Zee has comewithin sniffing distance of Star, and in some crucial weeks evendisplaced Star. But nobody can catch Colors. NDTV Imagine managed torack up some GRPs due to Rakhi Ka Swayamvar, but that was just aboutit. So, why did Colors succeed where so many others failed. I guess,its brand of disruptive programming broke the mould. Maybe audienceswere fed up of saas bahu melodrama. I think many others missed thewoods for trees. Soaps were still good, but perhaps not the saas bahuvariety. That had run its course. So, Balika Vadhu may well have beenequally retro regressive with its child marriage theme, but as I saidit broke the mould. That coupled with the reality format did thetrick. Rajesh Kamat was smart enough to kickstart the reality formatusing big stars - Khatron with Akshay, Bigg Boss with Shilpa and nowAmitabh Bachchan and of course India Got Talent with Shekhar Kapoor.What the Colors team did right was build the usual food and drinksoaps around their flagship reality shows. So they seamlessly migratedfrom India Got Talent to Khatron to Big Boss. This was the USP on thecontent front. On the distribution side, Kamat will be quick to tellyou that they paid top dollar to ensure that they were on prime bandright next to Star and Zee on the cable and DTH platforms. This meantthat their programming was being sampled almost as soon as they wereon air. This was part of a big promotional spend and it worked inspades, for if the viewer using the remote moved from Star or Zee, heended up on Colors with increasing regularity. At the same time,Colors never lost focus of the ball, which in this case wasprogramming. It did its usual audience research and planned differentformats to the minutest detail. Akshay was a driver in Khatron, Shilpain Big Boss and of course a weepy Shakhar Kapur on India Got Talent.The entire operation was run with mission critical efficiency. Ireckon many of the others took the audinece tastes for granted andused the tried and tested stereotypes. That is why they collapsed in aheap. The Mukerjeas blew up someone else's money while to SameerNair's cxredit, he did think of reprising Ramayan and then brought inthe vampish Rakhi Sawant with her swayamvar. None of the other playersmade a dent, w2eighed down by their own baggage of contradictions.
There was no thought process. Of the existing players, Zee thoughtpurely soaps other than the Sa Re Ga Ma format and widened the ambitof its prime band - telescoping it from 7 pm to 11 pm. It worked forZee even as Star Plus floundered. Sach Ka Samna was the killer appwhich went wrong, its risque content drawing unbelievable flak fromall sides. The Perfect Bride is a disaster comparitively. Star needsto lift itself and think differently. It needs to go back to thedrawing board and put battleplans in place to launch an assault on thesuzerainty of Colors. A suzerainty which is now pretty muchundisputed. Just as 2001 and July will be remembered for AB and KaunBanega Crorepati and the launch of saas bahu entertainment, 2009 isundoubtedly the year of Colors. What Colors has done goes beyondnumbers and revenues. It has shown the world that a a newbie can entera cluttered market and still zoom to the zenith. It has proved thatthe old adage of - where there is a will, there is a way - to thehilt. Just as Headlines Today has done the impossible in the Englishnews marketplace, it has managed to make enormous headway in a land oftower of babble. It has relied on good old fashioned reporting andsolid talking heads to reap the breakthrough benefit. In many ways2010 is the year of newbies on telly. While Headlines Today has beenaround was always considered a dying duck in thunder, it hasreinvigorated itself to best a fatigued pack. A pack which cannot cometo terms with the reality that people are losing faith in theirshrillness and demagoguery.

The Telengana mystery?

RETROFIT

This entire Telengana affair is most baffling. Why should theGovernment of India act in such a hasty manner by making an arbitraryannouncement? I don't see any reason in this move given that TelenganaRashtriya Samiti and its leader K Chandrashekhar Rao were trounced inthe state and national elections this May. So, if the people's verdictwas against KCR and TRS, how did Banquo's ghost return so quickly tohaunt the UPA Government? In the tower of babble since - on theelectronic and print media - there is utter confusion and very fewanswers. Everyone is busy giving gyan on this issue, but nobody iscalling a spade a spade. The people of Andhra Pradesh did not give KCR a mandate for Telengana in the assembly polls. KCR's TRS won 10seats in the disputed area and two in the Lok Sabha. What does thattell you? There is obviously something seriously amiss within theCongress party. Either they are oblivious of the damage that they havedone by issuing the midnight call for Telengana or there is a deeperfissure at a subterranean level. More importantly, this decision orannouncement or whatcamacallit has opened a Pandora's Box - everyoneand his aunt wants a separate state. What do we have here - politicalsagacity or political seppuku? The piece de resistance is that JaganReddy has backed the call for a United Andhra Pradesh. AP has seencataclysimic events being triggered from the moment chief ministerYSR's chopper went down in flames. On Tuesday morning, I was readingThrough The Third Eye, ET's whipsers on their edit page. Two specificitems caught my eye. Both strangely connected to La Affaire Telengana.
Let me quote from Whodunit first: As the political storm that followedthe Centre's move on Telengana rages, nobody in the Congress wants toreveal who tilted the decision in that memorable Congress CoreCommittee meeting. Sonia gandhi loyalists aver she goes by heradvisors. Congressmen who want to shield the PM say he has acultivated aversion for the nuts and bolts of political matters.beneficiaries of Ahmed Patel swear their man only swims with thecurrent. Pranab Mukherjee's backers want everyone to know that hewasn't present at that meeting. P Chidambaram's admirers assert how heis meant to stay focused only on non political administrative matters.Fans of A K Antony say his instinct has always been to duck thebullets at the high table. Those who care for Verappa Moily reflect onhow he made it big without taking any decisions. As for poor Rosaiah,his few sympathisers want critics to get one thing right; he woes hisCM post to his proven inability to take firm decisions. Be sure, theCongress credit hunt will be inconclusive till the mess is managed.
Amazing and probably true insight into the men who are part ofCamelot. The ruling party has been at sixes and sevens ever since itwas re-elected to office this May. Prices have gone into thestratosphere, Headley and Rana (incidentally the other big story) wereunearthed and revealed by the FBI after they had a free run of India,inertia and lassitude grips our political class. Is it that theCongress realising that the opposition is deeply fragmented want to dopretty much as it pleases. But that is dangerous for democracy. Theother item in Third Eye can wait, for I now want to take you on ajourney which is probably the closest to the truth. A piece by thePolitical Editor of Hindustan Times, Pankaj Vohra who has raisedpertinent questions on the sorry state of affairs. Vohra has writtenan incisive analysis, asking vital questions on the conduct of thegovernment over the Telengana fiasco.
He wrote, "The arbitrary announcement by the UPA government that it wouldbifurcate Andhra Pradesh, paving the way for the creation ofTelangana, is a classic example of political hara-kiri by the party.The decision to divide the state is not only against the mandate ofthe 2009 Parliament and assembly polls but has been arrived at withoutany rationale or adequate consultations. What is appalling is that theannouncement was made after a meeting of the Core Committee andwithout even the Union Cabinet’s endorsement. Worse, if such aproposal was to be announced, then Parliament, which is in session,was the appropriate forum. The move not only lacks constitutionalsanction but is also devoid of propriety. Theannouncement will precipitate a crisis in many other states wheresimilar demands have been pending.
"It is alarming to think that along with Andhra Pradesh, now caught upin political unrest, supporters of a separate Vidarbha, Saurashtra,Harit Pradesh, Bundelkhand, Poorvanchal, Gorkhaland, Bodoland, Jammuand Ladakh may also take to the streets. In the process, the Centre islikely to come in for a severe criticism from all quarters if and whensuch agitations spread across the country. People have been sufferingthe acute price rise in silence. Regional forces will now play ontheir emotions and encourage them to demand the creation of newstates. Even politically, the Congress, which had done well tominimise the role of regional players, may find thatchauvinistic forces may once again appropriate the space it had soughtto recover in various regions. Far-fetched though it may sound,heightened agitations in various regions could pose a big challenge tothe Centre’s continuation in office. The political class has alreadybranded the present government as one of babus. In the midst ofemotions running high, a senior official has given further proof ofthe growing role of babus by publicly agreeing that Hyderabad will bethe capital of Telangana. So now we have bureaucrats deciding on thecapital of a state whose creation itself is in doubt."
I saw actor Raja Bundela giving the clarion call for Bundelkhand byholding a presser. And BMW - Behenji MayaWati - has already called forfour states to be created out of UP. Meanwhile, the long forgottenJaswant Singh was resurrected in a Gurkha cap asking for Gorkhalandwhile other agitationists like Vohra has said are crawling out of thewoodwork. Woe betide that moment when Chidambaram announced Telengana.
But let Vohra take up the narrative once again, "The manner in whichthe issue has been handled demonstrates that the decision-makingmechanism in the government is faulty. Why else would a decision,which is likely to severely affect the Congress in its best state, betaken so casually? There has been no reference point on the subjectfrom the State and neither has the Centre put forward anyproposal in Parliament. But a decision has arbitrarily been taken.Why? The issue has also raised questions on whether this was done becausesomeone in the party wanted to divert attention from the variousscams. Or was this done to finish the late Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy’sinfluence so that his son Jagan would not inherit his legacy? Or wasthis due to the power politics within the Congress.
"Whatever the compelling reasons, the announcement has put the Congresson the mat and the government will have to bear the consequences.The mass resignation of MLAs and MPs from Andhra is an indication ofhow sensitive the matter is. In the 2009 assembly polls when theTelangana Rashtra Samiti contested on the issue of a separate state,it got only 10 out of 117 seats in the region. Clearly, the mandatewas for a unified Andhra. So whose ‘wise’ advice did the Congress andthe government’s leadership listen to on this issue? In any case, theCongress now has a lot to worry about in its 125th year. Between Us."
This coming from a Congress groupie tells you of how indignation isspreading far and wide. As people grapple with the everyday reality ofharsh prices, eggs are at Rs 45 a dozen, potatos Rs 14 a kilo, onionsRs 20 a kilo, while sugar is Rs 36 a kilo. Essentials are skyrocketingand politicians are besotted with Telengana. Its a scary feeling. Butif the same KCR was down and out in his very own Telengana, ostracisedby the voters, why is it that this issue blew up in the face of theCongress party? I will take Third Eye's help again. I have said thisin the past, and I am saying it again, ET's political, yes politicalcoverage is best of breed. Despite a known prediliction for theAdvani-Jaitley camp, the best political stories appear in ET. Ofcourse, Indian Express still breaks the best stories, sadly not manyread it anymore?. It is still the paper for journalists. Probably onlyfor journos now.
Anyway back to Third Eye: What prompted the timing of TRS chief KCR'sfast unto death is shrouded in mystery. After all, only a fortnightago, he chickened out from demonstrating his battered TRS' popularstanding by deciding not to contest the Greater Hyderabad MunicipalCorporation polls. As Rao is hoping to emerge as the Telengana herofrom being an electoral zero, an interesting back room detail hasemerged. A few days before Rao's fast, six of the 10 TRS MLAs reachedDelhi and secretly met an influential AICC General Secretary inhandling AP politics. The MLas wanted to join the Congress and pleadedwith the party heavyweight to facilitate their urgent meeting withSonia Gandhi. They said that their attempts to reach out to 10 Janpathvia the PCC set up and AICC managers had been futile given the postleadership confusion. Even as the MLAs were being guided on how to cutthrough the infamous red tape, came the news of Rao announcing hisfast. Some Congress leaders now wonder if Rao took the plunge aftergetting a whiff of the plot to split the TRS legislature party aswell."
Baffling that the same KCR has emerged as the saviour for Telengana indouble quick time. Makes one think, which part of the Congress isbatting for whom. Posers by the dozen, but no clear answers.Meanwhile, hapless Indians like you and me pay more for everythingunder the sun. Demand-supply imbalances, yeah -tell me about it!