Rocket Singh: Role Model of An Incorruptible Indian?
By Kamla Bhatt • Dec 12th, 2009Category: Books, Movies, Music, Televison, Bollywood, Bombay/Mumbai, Life, Video, YouTube Videos
What you can’t do in real life, you can do in movies commented Bollywood’s film writer Jaideep Sahni in an interview. Sahini’s stories reflect that line of thinking in movies like Khosla Ka Ghosla, Chak De! India and now Rocket Singh: Salesman of the Year. For the second time Sahni teamed up with director Shimit Amin to create a winner. Their first project was Chak De! India.
I went to see Rocket Singh simply based on the song Pocket Mein Rocket Hain that I saw by sheer chance. I was instantly drawn to the song and my husband nailed it when he commented that whoever made this film had lot of fun making it. There was something fresh and appealing about the song and I simply had to see the picture. Plus, having worked in marketing and sales in a previous avatar I was curious to see who this Rocket Singh: Sales of the Year was? How did Rocket Singh survive in the shark tank, which is what sales teams are often referred to. How did he become the salesman of the year?
May I say that I was not disappointed with the movie even though it had no songs (I mean duets) and no running around trees, no vamp, no sick mother or grandmother… in short many of the important ingredients of a Bollywood film? Each character in the film was fleshed out pretty tightly and delivered a fine performance. Both the director and the writer clearly respect their audience and that shows through in the film. I liked the way the film was edited and I suspect that Amin, who has worked as an editor for American TV & movies paid special attention to this aspect.
I will refrain from sharing the plot and instead focus on why this film appealed to me at different levels.
The film underscored what it takes to build a company and be an entrepreneur ,who has integrity and ethics. (I maybe looking at the film with a biased eye because of my interest in startups.) Ethics, Warren Buffett famously pointed out cannot be taught in schools, but is something that is learned at home. That message shines through clearly in the movie. Ethics and integrity matter and you adhere to it even in the face of deep disappointments. (Yes, I know it is idealistic, but such people do exist and operate successful businesses.)
The film also showed that being smart and being at top of the heap does not automatically translate to success in the real world. Ever wondered those who graduate at the bottom of the class and go on to make a successful career? We don’t hear such stories very often, and Rocket Singh is one such example.
The movie also highlighted the notion of an incorruptible young Indian, who want to build business the right way and play the game by the rules. (Yes, I know this is treading on that dangerous “ideal world” scenario.)
The movie is an old story recast and tailored to meet and appeal to the sensibilities of young India, where 500 million people are under the age of 30. And I think Rocket Singh has delivered a product that will appeal to its target demography. Watching Ranbir Kapoor on screen reminded me others who portrayed such characters – Balraj Sahni and Raj Kapoor, who played similar roles in a different period.
Just like Chak De! India became a case study for business schools, I think Rocket Singh is on its way to becoming a new case study on how to become an entrepreneur with integrity and ethics. Once a business person losses his/her integrity it is very difficult to regain it and that struggle is clearly highlighted in the movie (You will have to see the movie for that.). “People matter.” “The chemistry in a team matters,” is a refrain that you hear very often in Silicon Valley, but you don’t realize the importance of it until you start working on your business or work for a startup, which is when it becomes blindingly clear why ethics and integrity matter. Why working with a team that subscribes to a shared value system matters and this is once again highlighted in the film .Yes, I know this is a movie that ends just like a fairytale does, where everybody lives happily ever after.
Rocket Singh delivers an effective message without become preachy. Now, that is a rare feat to accomplish in Bollywood, and very few filmmakers have been able to achieve it.
Let me know what you thought of the movie? What was it about the movie that appealed to you? Would you recommend this movie?
The movie -which i saw today evening itself- reminded strongly of Jefferey Archer novels like ‘Kane and Abel’ and ‘As the Crow Fllies’ (also reminds of the movie Guru). It is fresh, it is succint, it is real and it leaves you in a state of self introspection for hours after you have been to the cinema, which all are very rare in bollywood. Thanks to all involved in the making of Rocket Singh.
Yes, it was quite nice, I thought. A little simplistic ‘honesty prevails’ kinda subject, but showed the sales life very well and had a good sense of humour.
Completely agree great film, for the family, no nonsense, great sentiment and value for the society, have changed my opinion on Ranbir Singh capability to take on roles, only hope he does not taking up predictive sripts the start of the movie reminded many of the same scene in Wake Up Sid, good to see movies giving opportunity to other cast and characthers in films which we have seen in both of Ranbir’s movies, and some very great moments in the film that makes a person with commonsense think in retrospect !
@Indresh Seasoned story tellers will tell you there are only so many universal stories and every story is a variation & derivate of those universal stories. Don’t know in what way Rocket Singh reminded you of Archer’s “Kane and Abel.” I would be curious to hear about the parallels.
@Rohan Honesty Prevails is one way of looking at Rocket Singh. I somehow thought the director and the writer (who I think is an engineer) distilled some of the important human traits and values and applied it in the Indian context? Maybe the goal was to show that ethics and integrity matter when doing business? To see it from your POV “Honesty Prevails,” but the bad guy also recognizes (AYS boss) that his business ethics and code are perhaps outdated and that younger people, including NItin (the nasty sales head) are able to correct their course of action if they fin the right set of people to work with? I am thinking aloud here….
@GDBala Yes, Ranbir Singh is proving to be a versatile actor
Thanks all for taking the time to read the post and share your thoughts. Appreciate it!
Cheers!
Kamla
I think we are missing the point here. The point is not simple that ethics matters… but understanding what customers truly care about, what employees really want, and so on…. that is what matters. That is good business. Of course ethics matter because in some cases the customers themselves are corrupt.
I thought Rocket Singh was a fabulous movie and I think every budding entrepreneur should see it.
Also I think that there is a very important message for young India in this movie…. proffessionalism counts and that is what is going to take India to the next level in the global marketplace
Hello Adiya:
I agree with you that understanding your customer’s needs is of primary importance and that is good business. Ethics and integrity form the backbone of that relationship…if you don’t have good ethics you will end up like the Sales Head, who bribes to get information and appointments.
Thanks for sharing your views about Rocket Singh.
Kamla