Kambakht critics...

I just love it when the critics thrash down a movie left right and centre. This makes the expectation level rock bottom. This is what happened with Kambakht Ishq as well. As usual, this Akshay flick was hyped up tremendously. For the first time an Indian movie was show casing Stallone in a special appearance and then there was Denise Richards (no matter if 99.9999% of India didn't know who the heck she was in the first place). I, for one didn't have much expectations from this movie and expected it to flop miserably. My expectations seemed spot on with the kind of reviews the movie got.

One evening, my brother and I were just in a frame of mind to go for 'any' movie and ended up blocking seats for Kambakht Ishq at Inox. I was in two minds while leaving home as well thinking why are we going for a miserable flop. Anyways, the urge to see a movie was too great to change the plans. Firstly, I have to mention that I was very impressed with Inox, Hyderabad. The auditorium had a very rich feel to it, very unlike any other. The first frame set the tone for the movie with a spat between Akshay and Kareena. The entire (almost) movie has this as the central theme, unlike all movies when the central characters are falling for each other. There is an abundant dose of comedy throughout the movie. Some scenes are simply hillarious. Special mention for the best scene where Akshay keeps hearing the mantra in the background. It is outrageously funny. Of the 2 hours and 15 mins humour takes up about 1 hour and 45 mins. I don't care for the other 30 mins as I've already had more than my money's worth.

Tragically the makers were too obsessed in trying to get Stallone and Denise to have a part in the movie, which was totally unnecessary. This part of the movie turns out to be the negative (so much for the hype). The other negative is the music, which badly dissappoints. While all the central actors play there part, the crown should go to the script writer for the comedy which makes this movie a winner. I enjoyed myself thoroughly and wouldn't mind it a second time as well ! 7.5/10 for this one. Go for it.

The Hyderabad Auto Show

The first edition of the Hyderabad Auto Show was conducted in the Hyderabad International Convention Centre from the 17th.thru the 19th.of July. It was a perfect time for me as I am on the lookout to buy my car. Accompanied by my wife I went to attend the auto show on Saturday early evening to avoid the traffic later in the day.

We had a very poor first impression of the organisational abilities of the organisers. The cars were initially diverted out of the main gate suggesting that the parking inside the venue was full. I then parked my car about 1/2 a kilometre away. We then walked up to the gate and saw that cars were being allowed inside ! This started the irritation. I then walked back to the car and drove into the venue. We were then asked to park in a ground a little away from the actual hall and waited for a shuttle to take us in. There were no signs and everything was haywire. The shuttle drove thru a couple of narrow lanes with cars parked on the sides. We were asked to get off a little away from the gate and walk up. We then joined in a line to get in. It was so chaotic that people just got in the 'line' from just about anywhere. There were then no proper signs as to where to buy the entry ticket.

Inside the hall, the ambiance was much better, although crowded. What can one do....India has a population of 1.2 billion people. We strolled around and went thru the details of a couple of cars that we were interested in. People were seen taking pics with almost all posh cars. One of the big stars was the 'nano' which was thankfully (for the dealers) kept at a podium so as to not allow anyone inside, otherwise by the end of the show it would have been in pieces with the number of people trying to get a peek. The clear two competitors were Maruti and Hyundai with the biggest displays. After an hour in the hall we were done and headed out. The shuttle made us wait for a very long time and then took us back to the car park.

The lack of proper infrastructure to organise a big convention or show in Hyderabad is obvious. We need to have world class facilities to conduct a show in a manner which is thoroughly professional and acclaimed by the exhibitors and visitors.

RISK - the third !!

I've fresh news just off the press from Hyderabad. It is known from reliable sources that RISK was played yet again by the same (more or less) bunch of lunatics at a new venue - Somajiguda. After ruining the peace of the residents of Begumpet, this bunch had gone berserk at Somajiguda late Saturday night causing a sleepless night to the residents of that area.

Inside sources say this time the bunch comprised of ten hooligans including two children. One child was a mix of Hrithik and Himesh. The game began around 10-30 and went on until 1-30 in the night. This time there were 5 teams which made all the negotiations, back stabbing, screeching all the more exciting and loud. While it is rumoured that Team Malay (almost) conquered the world by the end of the saga, the true winners were Team Prasan (technically) as they played the game in its true sence (taking RISKS), besides achieving the feat of conquering the United States, the largest economy in the world. At one stage, all 5 teams met at the UN and mutually agreed to merge the teams into two in order to come to a conclusion as the game was pretty much heading no where. There was severe criticism on Team Malay for playing with ONE dice in spite of having about 500 armies on board and having to conquer only a handful of territories. This was in itself a defeat. Finally, the Golden Warrior was the sole surviving army in the lands of Alaska in the combined forces against the oppressive and barbaric Team Malay. After repeated efforts as they were not able to overcome the might of the Golden Warrior, the barbarians raised the white flag and called for an end to the war.

By the end, the lunatics had consumed all the water at the venue as they ended up with severe sour throats. The press is all over the place trying to get some info on where and when the next big WAR would take place as there are strong rumours that there would be another very soon, before one of the loonies leaves for the real world's United States.

Rain rain come again.....I want my car to be clean again !

Gone are the days when there was domestic help always at hand. Domestic help in all fields are tougher to get today than a marketing executive or a software programmer. This is the classic case of demand outstripping supply by a huge margin. If domestic help was a stock I'd buy it all and see my profits soar.

I've had a beautiful car since a couple of years now and always had a car cleaner to keep it clean. Over the last year I've changed 4 or 5 cleaners, only one of whom I removed, the rest resigned....without any notice period (so much for professionalism). I wonder if this bunch had some sort of a convention they attend periodically, as they all had the same damned attitude. I would think twice or more to do anything that my boss wouldn't like and worry about my income all the time. However, these guys have no such worries. They don't turn up a few days every now and then and when we 'dare' cut their salaries for the days they didn't show up, they threaten to quit ! I paid them well.....well above what the normal rate in the market was. This was to ensure that my car was cleaned from within as well (as most of them only cleaned from the outside). All of them would initially agree but it would be a matter of time before they all went back to cleaning from the outside and leaving. The last guy quit because I spoke to him regarding both the above problems. I'm sure he would have found some other vehicle to clean almost immediately however I am yet to find another cleaner.

My poor car is bearing the brunt of this. I feel so sorry for the car when I see its beautiful shiny exterior all dusty and dirty. I feel sorry for the spots and mud inside. I try to clean it once a week but in a pollution filled city that ain't enough. I was happy with the rain recently helping me with the cleaning on the exterior but sadly rains have also dried up this season which makes my work all the more difficult.

Pranabda screws the Big B !

Hold on....the title doesn't have anything to do with Mr.Bachchan.

A few days after being sworn in as the new Finance minister every news channel and all market participants had hyped up the next budget as the biggest ever. CNBC, my favourite channel, called it the Big B (B obviously standing for Budget). For those who remember, the markets rose 17 odd % the day they opened after the Congress Govt.came to power. This was obviously due to the over confidence that all India's problems would be solved very soon. Expectations with the first budget were sky high. Every possible good was already priced into the stock prices. It needed a budget tad below expectations to prick the inflated balloon and that's exactly what Pranabda delivered.

Within a short time into the budget speech the markets started tanking and by the end of the day had shed about 6% or so falling 870 points, going from near 15000 levels to near 14000 all in the span of 1 day ! What did Pranab Mukherji do so wrong? Well....he didn't do much and that was what was wrong. All the expectations came crashing down and realisation dawned. All of a sudden the gung ho sentiment has vanished and pessimism has set in.

I had posted on valuation here during the elections and had indicated the fair value for the Sensex to be 12450. However, the fundamentals have certainly changed over the last month due to the formation of a stable Govt.at the centre. I do expect reforms to kick in, although more gradually. I do expect corporate earnings to improve thereby giving it a premium valuation as well. This means a higher PE multiple (remember 1PEG). Higher the earnings higher the multiple. Speaking in numbers it would work out like this (approximately) - As per http://www.bseindia.com/ the current Sensex EPS is 762 and the Sensex trades at a PE multiple of 18. This multiple seems high with earnings still not growing at 18 times. Therefore a fair multiple would be 16 giving the Sensex a fair valuation of 12192. However, given that the earnings are expected to rise between 15%-20% in the future the Sensex FY10 EPS should be between 875-915. Considering this the Sensex should trade between 13145-18288 by the end of March 2010. If things work out good and the steps taken by the Govt.does help accelerate growth we will end up closer to the higher end. That would certainly be terrific given where we are presently.