Nescafe has signed bollywood heartthrob Deepika Padukone as their Brand Ambassador in India and has launched a series of advertisements featuring her and the actor Purab Kohli. Till now, they have released two ads, showing the story from the boy's perspective and from the girl's perspective.
From the Boy's Perspective
While entering his flat the guy notices that Deepika is his new neighbour. He's quite excited as well as a litle nervous. He thinks that from then on they would be meeting quite regularly. But, then he thinks what if he's shooed away by his gatekeepers or what if Deepika smashes the door to his face. He concludes that she mixes with a different crowd and probably he does not have any chance. Then he sips on the black coffee and we hear "The bold taste of Nescafe, Switch on the best in you". Then he decides that she's his new neighbour and he's going to ask her out for coffee. He darts across his flat, opens the door, and the screen says, "The action continues" with one cup of hot coffee.
From the Girl's Perspective
Deepika, while entering her flat notices a cute guy residing in the flat opposite to her. She also notices that he has a badminton racket with him. Being the daughter of the Badminton Legend herself (and quite a good player) she thinks to invite him for a badminton game. But then she hesitates thinking that he may turn out to be a psycho stalking her everywhere with a badminton racket or his whole clan might come over. The media might also become too interested. Then she sips on the black coffee and we hear "The bold taste of Nescafe, Switch on the best in you". Then she thinks that she's thinking of 'filmy cautions' and decides to ask him for a badminton game. She darts across her flat, opens the door, and the screen says, "The action continues" with one cup of hot coffee.
In general, the ads are superbly made. Both the ads are about 50 sec long and the protagonists are looking really good, be it the innocent looks of the guy or cute looks of the girl. The star value actually catches audience attention and the brand is shown only towards the end. But the audience would remain calm, listening to the story telling. Picturisation is good and so is the background score, catchy and melodious with a little playful touch.
The ads are clearly targeted to the youth as Deepika is the star attraction but the emotional connection which the ad highlights will appeal to all age groups. It is trying to convey that the 'bold taste' of Nescafe urges people to think straight and not too much into things, urges to 'go out and get it'. Keep aside all prejudices and doubts and 'switch on the best in you'.
Quite a shift from its regular ad connecting a morning with a cup of hot coffee, 'the taste that gets you starting' with no popular public face. Moreover, it showed regular black coffee and not the frothy espresso with milk. It did not show the container or the word 'classic' appended generally at the end of Nescafe. It did not stress on the rich aroma or the purity of beans used. Probably, Nescafe is trying to project that it also makes strong coffee and trying to address that market, the niche once targeted by Bru.
Anyway, the packaging is good and am eagerly waiting to see the rest of the ads.
Monday, September 27, 2010
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Uninor Ad
Uninor, the JV of Norway's Telenor and India's Unitech Limited is going full steam at this moment amidst speculations that Telenor is looking to sell off its 67.25% stake in the company. It has already rolled out its services in 13 circles and hopes to achieve EBITDA break-even in another 3 years. The new television ads that the company has launched is totally in sync with its policy of capturing the mass.
The ad features a man with his girlfriend talking to her sister and brother-in-law over the phone. The man is seen grumbling and ruing that his girlfriend will exhaust the paltry balance that he has. Moreover, its the month end, and so he's a bit tied up with money. But, fortunately, he has a uninor connection that gives him discount and so he won't be 'abused' (joote nehi khane honge) by his girlfriend.
The picturisation is a little dull, but the content and its subtle humour are quite good. The company essentially talks about giving power to individuals, highlighted by its tag line, 'Ab Mera Number Hai' (Now, it's my number). The audience would be able to connect with the ad in atleast two places, making two ends meet when it's a month end and a guy's helplessness when it comes to dealing with his girlfriend! The length of the ad(32 sec) is just enough not to bore us, because a long ad with no star attraction fails to catch audience attention for long. It also tries to catch the audience by using the magic word 'discount' which the Indians absolutely love to have, be it in anything.
Overall, I'll say it's a nice ad and it succeeds on the two most important occasions, catching attention and driving the brand name through the ad through the proposed value addition Uninor provides.
The ad features a man with his girlfriend talking to her sister and brother-in-law over the phone. The man is seen grumbling and ruing that his girlfriend will exhaust the paltry balance that he has. Moreover, its the month end, and so he's a bit tied up with money. But, fortunately, he has a uninor connection that gives him discount and so he won't be 'abused' (joote nehi khane honge) by his girlfriend.
The picturisation is a little dull, but the content and its subtle humour are quite good. The company essentially talks about giving power to individuals, highlighted by its tag line, 'Ab Mera Number Hai' (Now, it's my number). The audience would be able to connect with the ad in atleast two places, making two ends meet when it's a month end and a guy's helplessness when it comes to dealing with his girlfriend! The length of the ad(32 sec) is just enough not to bore us, because a long ad with no star attraction fails to catch audience attention for long. It also tries to catch the audience by using the magic word 'discount' which the Indians absolutely love to have, be it in anything.
Overall, I'll say it's a nice ad and it succeeds on the two most important occasions, catching attention and driving the brand name through the ad through the proposed value addition Uninor provides.
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
YAPPE !!!
Right now, my END term exams are going on and those of you who are thinking that I am blurting out some kind of sound in relation to my good performance in exams, I would like to mention that appearences can be deceptive. YAPPE stands for Yet Another Poor (or Pathetic) Performance in Exam. Like I have said, that I would be using this platform to channel my frustration, burdening others with my misery! (But I hoped that I did not have to use this so often!)
Today was my stats exam and those of you who had read my earlier post know that I suck in stats! End term wasn't much different. However, I really had put in much effort this time, paining myself overnight to understand the concepts But curse my ill luck, that the area where I had little clue about things was in abundance in the paper. Almost everything has started to become a nightmare now and believe me I am trying very hard to wake up. I just pray that I somehow pass my end term getting the bare minimum 4.5 gpa.
Right now, I am so pissed off with myself, with my marks, that even if a beautiful girl approaches me, not only I might shoo her away, but I might scare the hell out of her as well.
Am feeling very low, very sorry and almost hating myself for allowing to end up in such a pitying state of affairs! I have to scrap for marks to hope to just make it to the other side.
WTF !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Today was my stats exam and those of you who had read my earlier post know that I suck in stats! End term wasn't much different. However, I really had put in much effort this time, paining myself overnight to understand the concepts But curse my ill luck, that the area where I had little clue about things was in abundance in the paper. Almost everything has started to become a nightmare now and believe me I am trying very hard to wake up. I just pray that I somehow pass my end term getting the bare minimum 4.5 gpa.
Right now, I am so pissed off with myself, with my marks, that even if a beautiful girl approaches me, not only I might shoo her away, but I might scare the hell out of her as well.
Am feeling very low, very sorry and almost hating myself for allowing to end up in such a pitying state of affairs! I have to scrap for marks to hope to just make it to the other side.
WTF !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thursday, September 2, 2010
4 Days away from END Term
I am wondering what terms to use to state the present condition explicitly, common terms like confused, Frustrated, Dumbfounded, Anguished or exotic terms like infuriated, exasperated, perplexed, garbled, befuddled (Do not worry, I have checked the meanings of these words before typing ! :P).
End term is just 4 days away and am completely in a soup. To give you an idea (that won't change your life though!) I have 6 subjects to study for this exam. Among the three so called 'globe' subjects like Marketing, Organizational Behaviour and Environmnent and Development, I have not started with the last two. Among others like Financial Accounting, Statistics and Microeconomics (I know, they sound really scary!) the former, I have lost almost all hope. I pray that I would be given some marks for the approach, as I do not hope to balance my debit and credit side! Micro and Stats I thought would be less harsh, but that's a thing of the past now. Tomorrow, we have a stats quiz, and I started with Estimation and it came down uopn me so badly, that I had to vent out all the accumulating emotions of desperation.
feeling a little better now !! Lets get back to books! Have to pass !!!
End term is just 4 days away and am completely in a soup. To give you an idea (that won't change your life though!) I have 6 subjects to study for this exam. Among the three so called 'globe' subjects like Marketing, Organizational Behaviour and Environmnent and Development, I have not started with the last two. Among others like Financial Accounting, Statistics and Microeconomics (I know, they sound really scary!) the former, I have lost almost all hope. I pray that I would be given some marks for the approach, as I do not hope to balance my debit and credit side! Micro and Stats I thought would be less harsh, but that's a thing of the past now. Tomorrow, we have a stats quiz, and I started with Estimation and it came down uopn me so badly, that I had to vent out all the accumulating emotions of desperation.
feeling a little better now !! Lets get back to books! Have to pass !!!
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Idling during the classes
The following piece actually came out, when I was attending the last BS or Behavioural Sciences class. It was in MCHV and the room being a circular one has horrible acoustics. The subject though was quite intriguing but it miserably failed to keep my sleepy eyes open let alone hold my 'intrigue'. I was dosing on and off in the class and then realised that the prof is catching people falling asleep. (Omkar actually woke me up ! But, he jsut returned past favours !! :D)
By that time, I was not interested to pay any attention and was wondering how to kill the time. I saw Omkar writing something and it gave me the idea. It started with the BS class but helped me even in the Environment and Development class as well !! :)
Without further ado, I humbly present:-
I was standing there
My heart full of tormenting emotions
I was pulp. I was stone.
But I managed not to show.
She was happy. She was sad,
An apparent contradiction she had.
She talked. She smiled.
But her eyes did not shine.
She hugged me warm. She hugged me tight.
Her breath rustled through my hair.
Quietly, I stood there upright.
And then, fled away from her silent stare.
I have not given it a name, people can suggest me one.
By that time, I was not interested to pay any attention and was wondering how to kill the time. I saw Omkar writing something and it gave me the idea. It started with the BS class but helped me even in the Environment and Development class as well !! :)
Without further ado, I humbly present:-
I was standing there
My heart full of tormenting emotions
I was pulp. I was stone.
But I managed not to show.
She was happy. She was sad,
An apparent contradiction she had.
She talked. She smiled.
But her eyes did not shine.
She hugged me warm. She hugged me tight.
Her breath rustled through my hair.
Quietly, I stood there upright.
And then, fled away from her silent stare.
I have not given it a name, people can suggest me one.
Monday, August 16, 2010
Byomkesh Bakshi Review
Yesterday, I went to see the much hyped, the much awaited and eagerly anticipated movie, 'Byomkesh Bakshi' (based on the novel 'Aadim Ripu') by Anjan Dutta. I am always an ardent fan of this bengali 'satyanweshi' or sleuth right from my childhood. He differentiated himself in all his cases from other popular characters like feluda. For a detective, he fell in love with a girl (Satyaboti) during the investigation of a case and later married her and is the proud father of a little boy. In his life, he has never used firearms and uses his 'little grey cells' (As Agatha Christie might had put :) ) to solve all his cases.
The movie has successfully captured the true essence of Byomkesh and what I best liked about it that the sidekick Ajit (played by Saswata Chatyopadhyay) also had a role and was not just dragged around Byomkesh. The movie is presented through the eyes of Ajit and anecdoted by his occasional monologues (which I think could have been avoided). Abir Chatyopadhyay as Byomkesh was brilliant. He played the role with conviction and ease. Rudranil Ghosh also played his part well as the meek Prabhat Halder who is always shy and cannot speak up for himself. Others have also chipped in quite well and delivered good performances. Apart from acting, the cinematography is great and so is the background score. The song lipped by Swastika (as Shiuli) is a real nice one and well portrayed as well. The film remains faithful to the story and has avoided all possible remakes including action adventures and chase sequences and has also maintained a decent pace.
But on the con side I have a few complaints. It was a good movie but an average kind of a detective movie. I mean all the facts were not crisply presented to the audience so I don't think that the audience was also trying to deduce and investigate. It did not follow the golden rule of Satyajit Ray. He had argued that to catch the repeat audience, you have to tell him explicitly that who had committed the crime and then make the chase after the criminal interesting and entertaining to capture audience attention. Till now, I have no idea what the first scene of stabbing wanted to convey.
But, all in all, if you enjoy a good film and/or love Byomkesh, you'll definitely enjoy this one.
The movie has successfully captured the true essence of Byomkesh and what I best liked about it that the sidekick Ajit (played by Saswata Chatyopadhyay) also had a role and was not just dragged around Byomkesh. The movie is presented through the eyes of Ajit and anecdoted by his occasional monologues (which I think could have been avoided). Abir Chatyopadhyay as Byomkesh was brilliant. He played the role with conviction and ease. Rudranil Ghosh also played his part well as the meek Prabhat Halder who is always shy and cannot speak up for himself. Others have also chipped in quite well and delivered good performances. Apart from acting, the cinematography is great and so is the background score. The song lipped by Swastika (as Shiuli) is a real nice one and well portrayed as well. The film remains faithful to the story and has avoided all possible remakes including action adventures and chase sequences and has also maintained a decent pace.
But on the con side I have a few complaints. It was a good movie but an average kind of a detective movie. I mean all the facts were not crisply presented to the audience so I don't think that the audience was also trying to deduce and investigate. It did not follow the golden rule of Satyajit Ray. He had argued that to catch the repeat audience, you have to tell him explicitly that who had committed the crime and then make the chase after the criminal interesting and entertaining to capture audience attention. Till now, I have no idea what the first scene of stabbing wanted to convey.
But, all in all, if you enjoy a good film and/or love Byomkesh, you'll definitely enjoy this one.
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Post Mid term
Hello, once again!! As promised earlier, I'll be bombarding my frustrations and anguish through this platform and will try and search for my lost sanity.
Prior mid term, I thought, okay, lets just go with the flow and try to stay afloat. After the mid term I'll try and reorganise things so that I'll be in a better position to gather knowledge as well as score well in exams.
Till now, I have horribly failed!
Why ? Primarily, as I see, lack of discipline is the main culprit. I have to cutdown on all the things that waste time and is not at all productive in any way. But why am I unable to do that ? Because, almost all the things that will bear the brunt, are part of my favourite activities, like chatting, (over net or phone, sometimes both!), surfing the net, watching movies etc. Moreover, the atmosphere here, is like, something or the other is always going on and if you fail to match up the pace, you'll be tossed behind. Thank God, I did not get in IIMA, I have heard that compared to it, C is rather chilled!
Writing a bad exam has almost become a norm now and not surprisingly my senses have grown numb. But, yesterday, the stats quiz has given me a jolt. It went horribly bad, but that is not the point. The point is, I was sitting blank in the hall, for most of the time, wondering what to do with the questions! I was dejected, disappointed and sad. What have I done to myself? I was never a very good student but I took pride in me whatever I knew I could do and this is definitely not something beyond my reach or capability. Then why each time the same cycle of events?
Well, I think the time has come to be a lot more strict with myself. I hope that will do. But, I fear another thing. Sometimes, I wonder, if the last 6 years (4 in undergrad in JU and 2 in TCS) has robbed me of my intelligence and agility to perform. But then again, then again I do not think that sheer luck can bring anyone to IIMC in the first place. That is the only hope I have now and that gives me strength to fight.
Prior mid term, I thought, okay, lets just go with the flow and try to stay afloat. After the mid term I'll try and reorganise things so that I'll be in a better position to gather knowledge as well as score well in exams.
Till now, I have horribly failed!
Why ? Primarily, as I see, lack of discipline is the main culprit. I have to cutdown on all the things that waste time and is not at all productive in any way. But why am I unable to do that ? Because, almost all the things that will bear the brunt, are part of my favourite activities, like chatting, (over net or phone, sometimes both!), surfing the net, watching movies etc. Moreover, the atmosphere here, is like, something or the other is always going on and if you fail to match up the pace, you'll be tossed behind. Thank God, I did not get in IIMA, I have heard that compared to it, C is rather chilled!
Writing a bad exam has almost become a norm now and not surprisingly my senses have grown numb. But, yesterday, the stats quiz has given me a jolt. It went horribly bad, but that is not the point. The point is, I was sitting blank in the hall, for most of the time, wondering what to do with the questions! I was dejected, disappointed and sad. What have I done to myself? I was never a very good student but I took pride in me whatever I knew I could do and this is definitely not something beyond my reach or capability. Then why each time the same cycle of events?
Well, I think the time has come to be a lot more strict with myself. I hope that will do. But, I fear another thing. Sometimes, I wonder, if the last 6 years (4 in undergrad in JU and 2 in TCS) has robbed me of my intelligence and agility to perform. But then again, then again I do not think that sheer luck can bring anyone to IIMC in the first place. That is the only hope I have now and that gives me strength to fight.
Sunday, August 8, 2010
Aisha Review
This weekend I was actually planning to catch Udaan or Once upon a time in Mumbai but me and my friend planned to catch the matinee show which was not available. Though she was harping on watching 'Eclipse' but I persuaded her to watch Aisha.
Why did I do it!!!
The movie basically is a collage of every romantic movie (hit or otherwise) you can think about. You can find, 'Clueless', 'Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na', 'DDLJ' among others. But the director Rajshree Ojha actually forgot to cook. She just put in the scenes one after another and we were just watching a train of incidents, rarely connected with one another. Though, it had all the material to be a good rom-com set in the high society of the capital city.
In the opening we find, the characters are being introduced and Aisha's motto of life, to be a matchmaker (because she wants to help people, most married men will disagree I suppose (wink)) revealed. Thereafter, the characters just come, deliver the wafer thin dialogues and go. After a very dragging 1st half, things actually begin to move somewhere in the second. Aisha realises that things are not turning up the way she wants them to be and people are finding matches on their own, not chosen by her. Things start to rush and we see that all the people are settling down quickly with their loved ones. Even Aisha also realises that she is in love too!
I have to mention about the cinematography and the music. The scenes of river rafting, camping in the woods etc were very well shot. The title track, 'Shaam' among others were good to listen to. The costume designing was also perfectly done with the bright show of trendy outfits but sometimes the characters were resembling models more than being actors. The actors especiall Sonam Kapoor was very true to her role. She acted well and was given support by Abay Deol and others as well. There were few moments of situational comedy as well when Aisha professes her love at a marriage reception, which wasn't the venue.
But Alas! All these good things could not support from sinking. The main reason, pathetic screenplay and too much mushy mushy things which I suppose youngsters in Delhi do not do. One example: at one time, Aisha is liking Dhruv and finds him kissing Aarti, Arjun's(Abhay Deol) colleague. After being confronted, Dhruv tells Aisha that, he liked her, but she did not respond. So, life goes on. Actually, the dialogues were not at all believable and we do not say that way in our life.
Overall, I thank God, that I did not go to a multiplex to see it! Even 70 bucks seems too much!
Why did I do it!!!
The movie basically is a collage of every romantic movie (hit or otherwise) you can think about. You can find, 'Clueless', 'Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na', 'DDLJ' among others. But the director Rajshree Ojha actually forgot to cook. She just put in the scenes one after another and we were just watching a train of incidents, rarely connected with one another. Though, it had all the material to be a good rom-com set in the high society of the capital city.
In the opening we find, the characters are being introduced and Aisha's motto of life, to be a matchmaker (because she wants to help people, most married men will disagree I suppose (wink)) revealed. Thereafter, the characters just come, deliver the wafer thin dialogues and go. After a very dragging 1st half, things actually begin to move somewhere in the second. Aisha realises that things are not turning up the way she wants them to be and people are finding matches on their own, not chosen by her. Things start to rush and we see that all the people are settling down quickly with their loved ones. Even Aisha also realises that she is in love too!
I have to mention about the cinematography and the music. The scenes of river rafting, camping in the woods etc were very well shot. The title track, 'Shaam' among others were good to listen to. The costume designing was also perfectly done with the bright show of trendy outfits but sometimes the characters were resembling models more than being actors. The actors especiall Sonam Kapoor was very true to her role. She acted well and was given support by Abay Deol and others as well. There were few moments of situational comedy as well when Aisha professes her love at a marriage reception, which wasn't the venue.
But Alas! All these good things could not support from sinking. The main reason, pathetic screenplay and too much mushy mushy things which I suppose youngsters in Delhi do not do. One example: at one time, Aisha is liking Dhruv and finds him kissing Aarti, Arjun's(Abhay Deol) colleague. After being confronted, Dhruv tells Aisha that, he liked her, but she did not respond. So, life goes on. Actually, the dialogues were not at all believable and we do not say that way in our life.
Overall, I thank God, that I did not go to a multiplex to see it! Even 70 bucks seems too much!
Saturday, August 7, 2010
Introduction
I never thought, that one day I'll also join the blog bandwagon.. Never saw myself to be a follower of trends.. Some of my friends have rebuked me, time and again, for my archaic(?) and not so stylish (or 'in') attires... But, it's not like I do not like to write. I love to play with words, be it writing poems or solving anagrams.. typing on ms wordsheet or penning down on a paper.. neither dissuades me.. but, the very thought that it takes time and considerable effort, has always provoked me to take the easy way out.. Then suddenly, what am I doing here? May be, finally my passion of writing has surpassed my lethargy or blogging is not that much a 'trendy' thing to do now! :P
Regarding the URL
I rummaged my brain for all possible names or words, but each time was disheartened to see that it was already taken. I was thinking to try 'frustrated', but then again, if I saw that, that was taken too, my frustration would have no more bounds! JIT2SHIT actually ensembles my current situation. Right now, am a student in IIMC, where my life's philosophy has changed from JIT(just in time) to SHIT(somehow in time)!! So, in essence I would try to capture that transition. Hope, will get support of fellow bloggers in doing so.
Signing off for now....
Regarding the URL
I rummaged my brain for all possible names or words, but each time was disheartened to see that it was already taken. I was thinking to try 'frustrated', but then again, if I saw that, that was taken too, my frustration would have no more bounds! JIT2SHIT actually ensembles my current situation. Right now, am a student in IIMC, where my life's philosophy has changed from JIT(just in time) to SHIT(somehow in time)!! So, in essence I would try to capture that transition. Hope, will get support of fellow bloggers in doing so.
Signing off for now....
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