Business: Peripheral: but important?

As were leaving the movie theater in San Jose after watching Match Point, there was a theater personnel standing at the exit with free candy and a smile. Being a candy junkie, the gesture left a nice impression on me. The question of interest is whether it will be differentiator in my choosing a theater the next time I go to a movie.

My usual movie-going process is to first pick a movie and an approximate time, then visit movies.yahoo.com and search for a theater near my house. Typically 2-3 theaters pop-up showing the movie at the desired time, and become candidates for movie. Now the important factors, which govern the choice of the theater are: convenient location for friends, surroundings of the theater, proximity to a good restaurant, cost of the ticket, interiors of the theater, and likelihood of getting a ticket. It would seem that the candy distributing personnel is a trivial factor, one likely to get overlooked.

However analyzing further, in a place like San Francisco bay area all the theaters are comparable when it comes to factors listed above. Given the close-knit nature of the bay area, all places seem equidistant. Every movie seems to cost $10, and there always seems to be a good Indian restaurant around. The interiors are all the same, but for a few exceptions. Also, it never seems to be very hard to get a ticket (a relief from the regular brush-off at IMAX, Mumbai). Now with all the so-called important factors causing a tie, the small candy gesture could cause the decision to tip over. It then becomes the deciding factor.

Another aspect of regular moviegoers habit is constancy. Once a theater is chosen and visited, the same energy is not spent the next time around. If the previous visit to a theater is not remarkable, by default, the same venue gets chosen again. Have heard stories of birds going around the globe but returning to nest at the same tree every year. It is only natural for animals to settle down to one place. Sticking to a theater just convenient, since there is are no hassles of deciding where to meet, looking for a parking lot, getting directions etc. So the candy gesture will probably ensure multiple visits.

However take the case if one of the theaters had a $2 ticket or say if the theater had a theme interior. It would have become an automatic choice for the movie. The candy gesture would be soon forgotten, since the real factors assert their weight. Thus I suppose we can say that; given the important factors being almost equal, the peripheral factors can cause the decision to tip. The challenge is to concentrate on the peripheral factors only when there is a tie or a deadlock in terms of market share.

Movies: Rang de Basanti

On a overcast Saturday morning, I went into the movie hall to watch Rang de basanti (RDB) with expectations running low. The trailers suggested fluff and gloss, sprinkled with content. Movies these days show actors dressed in the Tommy Hilfigers dancing in Dubai, driving BMWs, romancing in the alps, and living in India. The pollution and population are conspicuous by there absence. Even for a fast developing India, it seems a far cry from reality. Another variety of movies contain below-the-belt-and-way-too-loud humor. Obviously, I was apprehensive.

RDB has the right pace from the start. The humor is situational. The movie potrays the color and life of Punjab with the right music. The theme of the movie is the comparison of the Indian freedom struggle with the struggle of the current times. The history is subtly interplayed with the present. The director Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra seems to get it.

The gunda'ism, politics, corruption, crippling bureaucracy are things we have to face, and live with in India. As DJ (Daljeet) says in the movie, "there are two ways to live life: To let things be the way they are, and the other is to stand up and face them". I believe that the reason why there are no heroes in India these days is that the cause is not big enough. I can't imagine an Indian plunging for the country as easily as Avner does for Israel (as potrayed in Munich).

However the wrong people seem to rise in RDB. Those guys drink and smoke so much that one would imagine them, as being on a high for life. Their actions seem rash and foolhardy. Everything goes and everything is justified is the attitude potrayed, it seems to be the new mantra for life. This attitude distorts everything from morality to valor.

Overall Rang de basanti strikes the right chords, and provokes thought. However the way India is progressing these days, a pertinent question is whether such an awakening is even called for?