Rocket Singh - Salesman of the Year (Amin, 2009)

[kaytee]

After Chak De India, Shimit Amin is back with the new poster boy of Bollywood, the Kapoor khandans rising star...

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/MHsLll6XYBs&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/MHsLll6XYBs&rel=1</a>

[sandeep]

Ranbir seems to be in all the good projects... he is a good actor and deserves it...

[shariqq]

I haven't seen the trailer for this yet, but it does look intriguing.

[sandeep]

lets hope shimit amin makes another good movie like Chak de, more for Yash Raj's sake, than Ranbirs!

[kaytee]

lets hope shimit amin makes another good movie like Chak de, more for Yash Raj's sake, than Ranbirs!

I hated Chak De India, It was pretentious and predictable with literally no balls.

The teaser for this has me intrigued though.

[sandeep]

hehe I think you meant to write "It was" rather than "I was"!

lets hope shimit amin makes another good movie like Chak de, more for Yash Raj's sake, than Ranbirs!

I hated Chak De India, I was pretentious and predictable with literally no balls.

The teaser for this has me intrigued though.

[kaytee]

Yup fixed it.

Here is the poster...

[ayaa1977]

hehe I think you meant to write "It was" rather than "I was"!

lets hope shimit amin makes another good movie like Chak de, more for Yash Raj's sake, than Ranbirs!

I hated Chak De India, I was pretentious and predictable with literally no balls.

The teaser for this has me intrigued though.

A Freudian slip perhaps  

[madali]

Rocket Singh: Salesman of the Year (Amin, 2009)
IMDB Link

Seeing that life led me to a sales career field, I have a soft spot for sales films. I mean, actual films based on sales, not those shitty sales training videos, which are easily the worst things that one can watch, especially if it tries to be funny.

A sales film, a boring evening, and a cute poster, all pushed me to do the one thing I generally do not do. Go to the movies to watch a Bollywood film.

But I did and while two and a half hours of Bollywood comedy is not my idea of fun, it was surprisingly good. Not great, but time passed quickly, I was entertained and amused, and found it likable. Young Singh has barely passed his college and he seems to be satisfied that he has passed, even with low grades. For him, it seems the next logical step is sales.

Ahh, sales. The one job that can easily destroy a man’s inner spirit. It will break down your idealism, erase all you think you know about the world and people, and if you survive that and look forward, give you an immense confidence in your ability. I have a love/hate relationship to it, and I could see Singh going through the same process.

He sees corruption in the company he joins, with sales people bribing their customers and lying about the service. Management pushes him down when he tries to do things the right, ethical way. But instead of giving up, Singh fights back. He decides to form a new company, without quitting his job, and using office equipment and then some of the employees, to do his own side business.

So far so good, but it falters in the second half. Singh’s idealism was almost hypocritical. He believed in honesty and being ethical, but because he was doing his side business while being an employee of the company did not sit right with me. Even though he took an account of anything he used in the company, it was still stealing. Stealing of company property, utility, trust, data, and personal time. The film tries to make it easier for us to ignore this by making the management really corporate Evil, typical Bollywood bad guy. In one scene, the Evil Manager insults Singh in front of a client for a good five minutes.

This, combined with a weak, safe ending, made “Rocket Singh” a good Bollywood movie, but not a great one by an international standards. It seems to me the weakest thing in a Bollywood film is that they are still unable to make their stories complex. Characters are very two dimensional and the stories are generally safe. But I liked it, and that’s more than I can say for most Bollywood films.

3/5

[shariqq]

You caught me by surprise there, mad!

It seems to me the weakest thing in a Bollywood film is that they are still unable to make their stories complex.

Ok, I know I'm going to sound defensive again, but at the risk of it: There are, and always were, some Bollywood movies that are not like that. Unfortunately, as it is with Hollywood too, the few better thought out movies get lost in the loud marketing of the mass-appeal movies (think Zodiac vs Departed).

[madali]

I have yet to see any that proves me wrong though! But yeah, I do agree, I just am watching what is more mainstream, because I wouldnt know the indies

[X.]

Let's just be happy and celebrate the fact that someone outside the moderators of Indus Valley (and Sandeep) saw and reviewed a Bollywood movie!

[ayaa1977]

Let's just be happy and celebrate the fact that someone outside the moderators of Indus Valley (and Sandeep) saw and reviewed a Bollywood movie!

Don't I count AK   

[shariqq]

I have yet to see any that proves me wrong though! But yeah, I do agree, I just am watching what is more mainstream, because I wouldnt know the indies

Just a few more days. I'm selecting the movie for Jan at the film club.

[safra23]

Great review MAD, feeling a little inclined to watch this movie...