e_Paper, Monday, July 03, 2017

More documents

Recommendations

Info

14 MONDAY, JULY 3, <strong>2017</strong> DT Opinion Nefarious Eid heroes What do our movies say about our country? SERPENT IN EDEN • Towheed Feroze The massive banner on the front side of the Balaka Cinema Hall publicised yet another movie glamouraising the dashing underworld don. Of late, the protagonist in almost all Bengali movies is not a man from what we call the civilised section of society. He is not a journalist (too bland), not a doctor (outdated), definitely not a singer (impoverished), or a government servant (staid), but a gangster who is the epitome of everything forbidden. It’s good to be bad and so, heroes now-a-days are gun-toting mastaans, although I find no Our movie industry needs a dramatic reshoot similarity between the screen goons and the real life ones. The Robin Hood template vs reality Growing up in Elephant Road and seeing several such underground leaders operate during the tumultuous periods, I must say, the reality is less flattering. For starters, none of the gundas ever spoke coherent Bangla. I often wondered about their stock of words which included, bichi (bullet), machine (pronounced maaachine, indicating the gun), chapati (machete), fit deya (extortion demand), size kora (beat up), etc. Anyway, in films, of course, the top don is the best looking guy around. Despite his raw and aggressive side, he also possesses a heart of gold. I mean, all of these people are regular Robin Hoods. Don’t forget the chivalrous behaviour in front of the ladies. He is also articulate. These virtues attempt to neutralise all the killings and the illegal acts shown on screen. This is in contrast to what I saw during my university days when a political leader came to my department and demanded romance from the class belle. You have to love me. She capitulated; her other, not so bellicose amour, was slapped with a warning: “Ar konodin jeno na dekhi (I better not see you anymore).” Er, well, if I recall the goons in our area, who are now well laid in their graves (all shot and killed), I don’t remember any altruistic deeds that they carried out. Wait, there was this “Loti chera Bablu” (Bablu without an earlobe), who reportedly rehabilitated one from his gang who lost his hands making a Molotov cocktail. Anyway, Bablu is now a store keeper, the fiery days of the 80s, when his presence sent all of us packing, are long gone. In fact, he is more than willing to give credit to people who buy from his shop. Travesty called joint production For Eid we went to see Boss 2 -- another movie where the donlike life is lionised. This time the person in question is called Surya, or Shurjo. The part is played by an Indian actor who is seen delivering social reforming messages for his country. Surprisingly, the country shown with special emphasis on the flag is not Bangladesh. Therefore, the faint underlying development message of the movie is not aimed at this country. One can easily dismiss my concerns as just frivolous fun, but when year in year out we are given movies in the same template, there has to be some impact on young minds It’s a joint production film -- we are reminded in bold sentences. But shouldn’t a joint production flick have equal number of actors from two respective countries? Sorry to say, the film is blatantly skewed, with only a few roles played by Bangladeshis. In fact, the part of a senior Bangladeshi police chief is shown in a derogatory way, the character played by a bumbling novice. One of the baddies is also a Bangladeshi. Denigrating sexual overtones In one scene, the hero is seen taking refuge in a shrine somewhere in Dhaka to evade the police. With law enforcers encircling the shrine, the hero asks for divine guidance, uttering the line “poth dekhao” (show me a path) and voila, a woman covered in a shawl bumps into him, slipping a mobile phone in his pocket. And it’s not any woman -- but a svelte bombshell to ignite Surya’s fi r e . The phone rings, the female voice asks the hero Surya to follow her and what do you know, at the backside of the shrine, an ultrahedonistic mystical dance session is going on, where heady puffs from large shisha blends with heart stopping pelvic thrusts and strategic navel onslaught. So, we are given to believe that in Bangladesh, if you go to the backside of a shrine devoted to a mystic then you will most certainly be sucked into a vortex of sensuous excess. A perverted final message Yes, one can easily dismiss my concerns as just frivolous fun, but when year in year out we are given movies in the same template, there has to be some impact on young minds. The main issue is about the central role, which is that of a mastaan, a goon. We are glamourising the life of a person who lives at the edge of the social system. For levity, this can be done once in a while, but just take a close look at all the movies that have been released in the last few years. Off the top of my head I recall Shikari, Top Terror, My Name is Khan, King of Dhaka, Sultan, where the main role is that of an underground terror. If the main role is spared, there will be side characters who are mafia dons. What is fueling this obsession with transgressive bravado? Maybe in schools we should now ask bright young students: “Baba, what do you want to be when you grow up -- a doctor, engineer, sports person, writer, or the ‘top terror of Dhaka’?” Also, in the name of joint production, we are fed films advocating the progress of another country. How the censor board gave clearance to this is a puzzle. I personally felt that the movie, in a very shameless way, sent some disparaging messages about Bangladesh. Sorry, we simply cannot brush it aside as just another film. Driven by blind rapacity, our producers are investing in movies which do not represent this country fairly. What is worse, people are watching this garbage. Well, seeing the movie I felt like looking at the sky and saying: Poth dekhao (show a path) to our movie producers. • Towheed Feroze is a journalist working in the development sector.
The right brand Behind every great nation, there is a great corporation Opinion 15 DT MONDAY, JULY 3, <strong>2017</strong> Have we been able to capitalise on the achievements of the RMG industry? RAJIB DHAR • SM Musa The term “identity” is an abstract concept. Yet, it is incredibly important in our personal, social, as well as political life. In fact, how we live is very much determined by our identity and vice versa. Is your name your identity? Perhaps, perhaps not. When we think of names, they not only draw some persons in our mind, but also the personalities of each name. This means that identity goes beyond a name or title. It tells meaningful things. Take a friend’s name. By the time you take his/her name, you get a clear image of him/her. What the person does, what describes the person -- careless, good, among many other adjectives. And by now, maybe you are not fully aware of this fact, but you can see his/her core and why he/she is different from other friends. Identity crisis Now name a company of your liking from our country. I bet this time you didn’t get the adjectives that easily. You had to think a bit. Maybe you can see some negative aspects from the news you once read about that company. I hope you didn’t think of any government firm -- that would be depressing. Maybe it is still a blur. You just don’t get a clear image of the company you like. It’s a blackbox. This is identity crisis. When a customer can’t identify a firm, hardly one can trust that firm. Albeit, not all, but few firms seek to be trusted by customers. I tried too. And almost every time, I failed to find a clear identity even for the most renowned corporations of the nation. Organisational identity is defined by how a corporation is perceived by its internal as well as external stake-holders. It also reflects in what the corporation does as its primary activities and finally, how it does those activities. Now, why should a firm care about organisational identity? In fact, it shouldn’t. Of course, not in our market. What is in the name when you can just sell? But I can tell that things are getting more complex and competitive every day. Sales are not that easy, and are becoming more and more reliant on trust and relationship. And can we trust anyone without an identity? Tomorrow’s sales will be largely captured by the firms with clear and strong organisational identity. Days of monopoly will not prevail, and political power will not help much as well. So, why not just create an identity? It can be done by simply being open, transparent, and honest. What about a fake identity, one Corporations could play an enormous role in creating a positive and powerful identity of a nation may ask. Well, how long does a fake identity last? Not for too long. And one should work to build legacies, not temporary moneymaking machines. Communication is key Create a true identity of your organisation. Tell your customers what you really do, how you do it, and why you are doing it. Don’t be shy telling them that you cherish profit. After all, profit is the motivating force of any economy. One cannot ignore the force. But please do give a reason as to why you think you deserve the profit. Trust me, customers just need one good reason to buy from you even at a higher price. A firm can have multiple identities when it is in the business of selling different commodities. But this doesn’t go without a caveat: The core or the essence must remain the same. Coca Cola has more than 100 brands indicating more than 100 different identities. Still, when we talk about Coca Cola, we know what it stands for. Core should be central, distinguishable, and enduring. An economy is largely identified by its corporations. The same could be said for a nation. Along with cultural and political issues, corporations also could play an enormous role in creating a positive and powerful identity of a nation. Behind the rise of all the major economies, there has been at least one corporation. Brand names and corporate giants The rise of corporate America wouldn’t have been possible without the rise of some of the finest and most revered organisations such as Ford, General Electric, Coca Cola, IBM, Apple, Google, Microsoft, Amazon. Similarly, for Japan there is Toyota, for South Korea there is Samsung, for Germany there are Mercedes (Daimler) and BMW, for the Netherlands there is Shell, for China there is Alibaba, for India there is Tata. So, which corporation name represents us, Bangladesh? We had a great opportunity to create a noble identity based on our RMG industry. We could have branded this whole industry and could have taken our export revenue to a different level. But we lost the opportunity because of our negligence and short-sighted policies. What’s the next step? We also can’t blame the government for every failure. The private sector has its own opportunities and responsibilities. It would be a shame if our corporate managers fail to capitalise on the hard work of RMG workers to create a respectable organisational identity and make sure that it is recognised from the furthest corners of this world. A failure of our organisations to create proper identities will bear the risk of our economy to remain unidentified in the world stage. I hope soon we will get at least one corporation through which global citizens can positively identify our beloved nation. • SM Musa is doing research on Strategy & Innovation. He writes from the Netherlands and can be reached at musa.sm1408@gmail.com.
Page 1 and 2: SECOND EDITION MONDAY, JULY 3, 2017
Page 3 and 4: PM Hasina warns government secretar
Page 5 and 6: Who poisoned Nibras’ mind? • Nu
Page 7 and 8: News MONDAY, Khagrachhari-Rangamati
Page 9 and 10: Advertisement 9 MONDAY, JULY 3, 201
Page 11 and 12: Over 30m mobile banking accounts in
Page 13: Opinion 13 DT MONDAY, JULY 3, 2017
Page 17 and 18: Feature 17 MONDAY, JULY 3 , 2017 DT
Page 19 and 20: Sports 19 MONDAY, JULY 3, 2017 Nazm
Page 21 and 22: Sports 21 MONDAY, JULY 3, 2017 DT S
Page 23 and 24: Showtime 23 MONDAY, JULY 3, 2017 DT

e_Paper, Monday, July 03, 2017

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?