Spread the Passion!

When IIPM comes to education, never compromise

You could be a minute away from fame!

Ours is a nation, where films are sought after with as much fervour as a devotee would his deity, and this is cemented by the fact that it is home to the largest film industry in the world. Movie makers have had a long fruitful relationship with the Indian audiences and it isn’t for nothing that youngsters make a beeline in front of production houses aspiring to become involved in any possible way, be it in production, direction or even script writing. Intending to encourage these young talents is Passion for Cinema (PFC) which is right now calling-in entries for its first online film festival for one minute movies, called PFCOne, to be held between December 1-5, 2007.

With the Internet assuming importance in all facets of our lives, passionorcinema.com is the answer to the new generation of movie lovers, connecting people from different countries, caste, creed with one common passion – cinema! Not just a movie blog, the site provides an open platform for discussions, comments and reviewing of original films. Remarkably, it has created an avenue for networking between the newbies and the respected mentors of the arena too. Interested writers can become authors for PFC through regular contributions or even send in occasional entries through a section called Projekt iView.

Anurag Kashyap, director of Black Friday says, “PFC’s growth has been unprecedented. When it started out, it was just a medium for us to exchange our views and today it has grown tremendously. It has become a very important medium for connecting people and unleashing new ideas. The interaction encourages us to try out new things without the fear of failure.”

The film festival for one minute movies PFCOne is planned as a part of the site’s first anniversary celebrations. In fact the event can boast to be one of its kind, being exclusively conducted online. Says Kashyap, “PFCOne is a completely online film festival focusing entirely on one-minute films. These films will be screened for an entire week in December and the jury panel will decide the winners. The winners then get to choose from the internship offers with professionals in the field.” You heard that right, where the festival invites amateurs to send in their original films, it offers the winners an incredible opportunity to intern with Anurag Kashyap, writer Hansal Mehta, theatre thespian Ramu Ramanathan and many more such pros.

“The films are solely for amateurs to the extent that even films created through mobile cameras are accepted,” said Kashyap. He signed off with a valuable tip for all interested – “The films will be judged on the basis of the impact of story telling.” So good luck and get rolling!


In 2003, Amrapali was invited to the prestigious Milan Fashion Week, which helped them bag the contract of the Brad Pitt starrer Troy. Adding an amazingly rare sparkle to Diane Kruger’s character, Helen, was just the stepping-stone of this jeweller’s global venture! Offers from several fashion shows started pouring in with ultra up-market brands, like Christian Dior, leading the way. However, Rajiv made sure that his brand was not overshadowed by the sheen of these global brands. “Whether it’s Selfridges or Christian Dior, I made sure that our brand name, Amrapali, was retained (in the final product),” affirms Rajiv. Encouragingly, establishing a proper brand name enabled Amrapali to start two stores even in London.

With sprawling expansion plans, and with a top-line growth rate of a spectacular 30% (twice that of the industry average), the Rs.60 crore Amrapali has extended its arms even within all the metros of the country. But how different is Amrapali from other jewellery firms? Isn’t a diamond, just a diamond? “We want to give a boutique touch to our brand; our USP is our creative design. For example, what Tanishq does is that they test a design; and if it’s successful, they create thousands of the same. On the other hand, we create limited editions of every design, customised to the budget and taste of all the segments of society,” asserts Rajiv.

And now, tying up with designers like Ritu Kumar, Hemant Trivedi and NIFT etc has allowed Amrapali to understand not only national, but even global customer nuances with respect to design. No wonder, their client lists continue exponentially rising – Bill Clinton and Gayatri Devi included – for Amrapali stands true to its name, and perhaps is the truest standard of a product branded “Indian”... Any challengers?

Edit bureau: Aveena Lopes

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

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