‘Golmaal 2′ – a scam sequel?

Everyone loves a sequel these days. And you would think director Rohit Shetty is doing the same with ‘Golmaal 2′.

But wait, his film won’t be a sequel to the first, ‘Golmaal – Fun Unlimited’.

Arshad Warsi, who was a driving force in ‘Golmaal’, said, “The second ‘Golmaal’ has nothing to do with the first. There’s a new script with new characters in the second film.”

“I’ve a totally different role from the first film. And I’m not fully sure right now whether I want to do it.”

So why’s it called ‘Golmaal 2′?

“That’s what I was asking Rohit. There’s no need to give the same title to two different films. Why unnecessarily make audiences feel they’re returning for the same experience when they’re not in any way related?”

Of course, Arshad is part of the third ‘Munnabhai’ film. But he isn’t very sure of being in the second ‘Golmaal’ film.

“Sequels work because of the characters, not the storyline. Superman and James Bond work because of the superheroes. ‘Munnabhai’ works because of Munnabhai and Circuit. I’ll have to make the producers of ‘Golmaal’ understand that.”

NASA postpones launch of space probe Dawn

NASA, the US space agency, has postponed the launch of space probe Dawn going on its eight-year mission to unlock the mysteries of the origins of our solar system until September. It was the second delay for the mission in as many days. While clarifying the situation, NASA officials said primary reasons for the move were a combination of highly limited launch opportunities for Dawn in July and the potential impact to launch preparations for the upcoming Phoenix Mars Lander mission, set for early August. A September launch for Dawn maintains all of the science mission goals a July launch would have provided, NASA further assured.

Dawn’s launch was originally scheduled for Saturday, but because of weather was first delayed until Monday. Even then, NASA said, a ship tasked with tracking the probe’s launch into orbit would not have been in place by Monday as expected. Dawn’s eight-year mission will shed light on the earliest moments in the birth of the solar system 4.6 billion years ago by examining the two celestial bodies Ceres and Vesta in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.

Dawn is scheduled to enter orbit around Vesta in October 2011, proceed to Ceres in May 2012 and then begin orbiting Ceres in February 2015, traveling a total distance of 5.1 billion kilometers (3.2 billion miles). Dawn’s launch window, said NASA earlier, will remain open until the end of October, when the two asteroids begin pulling away from each other, making a rendezvous with both practically impossible. This will be the first NASA mission to orbit two separate objects.

The space explorer, measuring 1.64 meters (5.3 feet) long and 1.27 meters (4.1 feet) wide when its solar array is retracted, is equipped with a high-definition camera and two spectrometers to study the two massive asteroids. Ceres, discovered in 1801, is spherical and has a diameter of about 960 kilometers (596 miles). Scientists believe it may have a layer of thick ice under its crust, covering a rocky core.

Vesta, discovered in 1807, is smaller than Ceres but the third largest asteroid in the solar system. With a diameter of 520 kilometers (323 miles), Vesta has a rocky surface without a trace of water and a hot interior. After having cancelled the Dawn project previously, NASA revived the mission in 2006 after an investment of $449 million. It is the ninth mission out of 10 planned in NASA’s Discovery program that employs unmanned vehicles to explore space, often focusing on asteroids.

Taj into New Seven Wonders club!

It’s official. The Taj Mahal is now one of the New Seven Wonders of the World. At a glittering presentation ceremony in Lisbon today, India’s Taj Mahal was accorded the coveted status for which voting was on with much enthusiasm over the last few months.

The New Seven Wonders of the World are: Taj Mahal, Great Wall of China, Petra, Christ Redeemer, Machu Pichu, Chichen Itza, Colosseum.

The names were announced randomly, without revealing the total votes received by a candidate, thus precluding any ranking among the seven wonders announced today.

The New Seven Wonders of the World was a worldwide attempt to select the top seven world heritage sites in a method that was scientific and democratic. In India, the Bhaskar group spearheaded the campaign to get the Taj Mahal among the new seven wonders.

Ramesh Chandra Agarwal, chairman of the Bhaskar group, said, “It is a matter of great pride to every Indian that the Taj Mahal has earned its well-deserved status as one of the Seven Wonders of the World. It was my duty as an Indian to champion the cause of the Taj and lead this movement as the official partner of the New Seven Wonders Foundation in India.”

The effort to name the new seven wonders was started seven years back by Dr Bernard Weber, a Swiss author and aviator. His intention was to build a “true public consensus of opinion on the last 2000 years of human achievement’’. “The renowned ancient wonders (The Pyramids, The Colossus of Rhodes, etc.) belong to antiquity and with the exception of the Pyramids none remains in existence. The beginning of the new millennium is a poignant historical moment for determining the New 7 Wonders of the World,” he said.

Though everyone had heard of the “Seven Wonders of the World”, none had actually seen them because only one, the Pyramids of Giza in Egypt, of the seven ‘must-see’ destinations is still standing. So with the Seven Wonders of the World no longer actually giving wonder to the world, it seemed the perfect time to start again and nominate an all new set of Seven Wonders of the World.

With strict rules like all nominations having to be man-made, be in an acceptable state of preservation and to have been completed by 2000, nominations were whittled down by public votes to 77 last year.

Then Dr Weber took the help of former UNESCO Director-General Federico Mayor Zaragoza, who led a panel of architectural experts to shortlist 21 candidates for the vote, from the list of 77 heritage structures.

The New 7 Wonders Society, a Swiss group with the preservation of man-made heritage close to its heart, then began the hunt for the new Seven Wonders of the World, via the first global voting campaign.

What was shocking was that voting from India was abysmally low till mid-May 2007. It was then that the Bhaskar group’s integrated interactive solutions enterprise, I Media Corp Limited (IMCL), spearheaded this movement and resolved to get Taj to the New Seven Wonders List. The New Seven Wonders Foundation appointed IMCL as its partner in India and sole official voting facilitator in India for the New Seven Wonders. IMCL in turn kicked off a nationwide movement under the aegis of ‘India Unites for the Taj’. Said Bharat Kapadia, chairman of ‘India Unites for the Taj’, “We were determined to get the Taj Mahal to the Seven Wonders and we knew we could achieve it if we could make people aware of the task on hand.”

IMCL roped in A R Rahman to compose an anthem, which he composed, co-wrote and sang. It was a ‘yes’ at first contact for Rahman. “I was in London when IMCL contacted me, and I was very excited about composing the anthem. It was very short notice, but my crew and I grabbed the idea and made special time for working on the anthem,” he said. Rahman unveiled the soulful anthem – rendered in six languages — to kick off the India Unites for the Taj movement on May 24, 2007.

Voting for the Taj never looked back after that. As the first evidence of that, the ranking declared by the New Seven Wonders Foundation on June 7 revealed that the Taj had climbed the rankings to be among the top 10 candidates out of the 21 in the running. The rest, as they say, is history.

The organisers of this vote, New 7 Wonders Foundation, also announced that they would soon organise a vote to select the best seven natural heritages in the world. The slogan for this vote will be, “Our heritage is our future.”

Hokonui: fashion mecca

The show: Next year, the Hokonui Fashion Design Awards will turn 20.

Since its beginnings, the event has grown to become one of the crowning glories for both Gore and for New Zealand’s fashion industry.

Alongside Auckland Fashion Week, the id Dunedin Fashion Week and World of Wearable Arts now based in Wellington, the Hokonui awards supported by Peugeot have helped kickstart the careers of many New Zealand designers.

The event began as a way for the community to get together to show off their skills but it quickly gained ground and drew in some of the larger names of the New Zealand fashion industry, with heavyweights Trelise Cooper, NomD, and Kate Sylvester returning time and again to be involved with judging.

Now a glamorous and prestigious affair, the show attracts entries from as far afield as Australia and Europe, and is similar to a major international rock concert – people are prepared to queue for hours to ensure a seat on the night.

Last year the event was split into two nights to ensure those involved truly got their moment in the sun, with Friday night’s show known as the Hokonui Strictly Design, while Saturday holds the supreme crown of the Gala Evening, when winners are announced, frocks showcased and audience members compete to get as glam as possible.

However, organisers remain adamant the event is for the community and use local stockists for everything from the models to the catering and, regardless of their experience, anyone can enter the awards.

Tickets are on sale at Cairns Music in Gore for the shows, to be held on July 28 and 29.

The executive producer: For the past 12 years, Heather Paterson has been involved with the event and has helped it go from strength to strength.

She began as a model in the show before entering and winning the following year.

After that, it was a slippery slide into organising the show, which she said had not always been easy.

“It’s a lot of work but I enjoy it. It’s my passion, really,” Mrs Paterson said.

She attributes the growing success of the awards to the fact they do not remain stagnant.

“We’re trying to improve and change it every year, not repeating the same old thing.” Numbers of garments entered in the awards have increased every year to the point where a limit of 200 had to be introduced to ensure a smooth-moving show and to give each garment its time in the limelight.

This year, a record 285 garments have been submitted for the show, leaving the judges the task of eliminating those less suitable for the catwalk.

Some parts of the awards have stayed the same; there are no limitations on the age of designers and they do not have to be fashion design students.

However, a lot of designs did come from fashion design schools, particularly in Dunedin and Christchurch, and interest from overseas had been growing, she said.

“We don’t necessarily need overseas people to make it work,” Mrs Paterson said.

“I think it works very well as a way to showcase what New Zealand has to offer.” And what New Zealand had to offer was a great deal.

“Because of the design of the country you get something quite unique with designs here.

“People aren’t afraid to follow their thoughts.” While the awards have grown, they have not become too big for Gore, and Mrs Paterson has been working hard to ensure they remain in the town that created them.

“We try to encourage local people to enter.

“They find it hard and think it’s for designers, but it’s not … We have got so many talented people here,” she said.

The main limitation on an entrant was not being employed fulltime in the industry or having a commercial design label.

And while the awards have come to be known alongside other internationally recognised fashion shows, Mrs Paterson said they were able to do something unique in Gore.

“What we do here, it can’t be done in Auckland. The community have a lot to do with it.” Small communities were able to get behind projects such as this and inject a uniqueness into it, as was seen in Nelson when it hosted the World of Wearableart awards, Mrs Paterson said.

Because they do not have access to top fashion models, these were sourced from around Southland, with school pupils, tertiary students and other willing volunteers putting their hand up to help out.

The atmosphere created by this was really positive and gave the show a good feeling, she said.

The models’ job is an integral part of the process, and includes long hours getting ready, rehearsing shows and being on display for the panel of judges. However, it had its benefits, too, with some models launching into a career after being scouted during the awards.

“They do a fantastic job, most of them are glad to be helping out,” Mrs Paterson said.

“It’s more of a big family … people really enjoy what they’re doing.” Much of her year is spent organising sponsors, enticing more money from established sponsors and inviting high-profile designers to sit on the judging panel.

This has become easier with time, with names such as Francis Hooper and Trelise Cooper wanting to come back to be involved again.

“The whole thing has been one huge learning curve.” The size of prizes have taken a huge leap during the past few years, with a top prize of $10,000 in cash and awards.

It was important for the awards to be seen as something to aspire to, and having prizes of $1000 on average meant this happened, Mrs Paterson said.

The established designer: Queenstown fashion designer Lisa Payne has been an enthusiastic supporter of the Hokonui Fashion Design Awards since she first entered in 2005.

The high reputation had enticed her to enter while living in Christchurch but, because she was working in her own pattern-making business, she was not eligible.

However, after moving to Queenstown, she gave the awards a go.

“I found it to be amazing. I didn’t get anywhere but it was amazing to get everything up there (on the catwalk),” Ms Payne said.

The experienced encouraged her to start her own design label, Firefly, the following year. Using the Hokonui awards as a reference point meant some big names in the industry were familiar with her work, which helped her independent launch.

Since then Firefly has gone from strength to strength, featuring at New Zealand Fashion Week in Auckland as well as the id Dunedin Fashion Show.

Ms Payne’s label has been picked up by boutique stores throughout the country as well as in Australia.

This year she is returning to Gore as a guest judge for the event, alongside designers Kate Sylvester, James Dobson, of Jimmy D, and Doris du Pont, of DNA, and Sydney-based magazine Lino creative director Rex Turnbull.

“I’m very excited, I can’t wait to see all the entries and I think everything is going to be so skilled,” Ms Payne said.

In judging, she will be taking into account how commercial the designs are, possible target markets and design details and cut.

The newcomer: Winning the top prize at last year’s Hokonui Fashion Design Awards has helped to ensure young designer Helen Adam is well on the way to fashion design stardom.

Formerly of Invercargill, 21-year-old Ms Adam graduated from Otago Polytechnic’s school of fashion last year with a portfolio packed with excellent experiences.

As well as being involved in the id Dunedin Fashion Show, she was also selected as an Air New Zealand “Inspiring New Zealander” and spent a week working with designer Karen Walker.

Ms Adam’s experience with the Hokonui Fashion Design Awards has spanned the years after she first entered when she was in year 12 at school in Invercargill.

“It’s good because I got to see my stuff on the catwalk at an early age. There are not many competitions out there that anyone can enter,” said said.

Being able to see her designs against a range of other designers’ garments meant she could see what worked and what did not, which helped her get into fashion design school.

“I think it does help to do them when you’re younger if you carry on to design school. Then you start visualising what things look like on the catwalk,” she said.

Ms Adam is taking a year off, working in a retail store in Dunedin to save money before pursuing her own career, and is entering the awards for one last time with her collection, You Dark Cutie.

“It (the show) is of such a high calibre, with such good judges every year. Everyone knows it now, so you can put it on your CV and it’s definitely recognised.” Entering every year had helped get her name out into the industry and allowed top designers to see her work and remember it, Ms Adam says.

As well as winning the overall award of excellence last year, she also won the wool award.

“A couple of days afterward, everyone had heard it on the radio and saw photos in the magazines … It’s amazing how many people stopped me in the street to congratulate me,” she said.

Good advertising times for Radio

As per a FICCI-PwC report, the share of radio as a percentage of total advertising spends, is rising in India even as it is declining globally.

In 2005, radio’s ad spend share in India was just 2.4 per cent; it increased to 3.1 per cent in 2006 and is expected to go up to 5.5 per cent in 2007. The ad revenues of the segment have grown by 58 per cent, from around Rs 316.8 crore in 2005 to Rs 505.3 crore in 2006.

Apurva Purohit, CEO, Radio City, says two important trends have propelled the growth of radio “Earlier television and print used to dominate the media plan. But with their constant fragmentation, advertisers and media planners have realised that they have to spend more on these media to get a far lesser reach than before. Clients are therefore looking for 360-degree solutions, at multiple media including radio and the Internet. TV channels, FMCG’s and consumer durables advertise heavily on Radio City.”

Divya Radhakrishnan, senior Vice-president, TME, adds that retail advertising, promotions for youth-targeted brands and city-specific marketing initiatives are in abundance on radio. “Owing to the high proliferation of FM radio, cumulatively, outlays required for a decent exposure on the medium, are high. Hence, it is important to define the role of radio clearly in the media plan. Planners look at the leverage of activity that the medium has to offer, its local flavour and its more precise targeting, compared to TV or print.”

Radio City, in partnership with Synovate, researched listener habits for more precise targeting and has come up with five groups: relaxation seekers, cool dudes, lonely souls, flirts and time pass. Meanwhile, it has launched a 360-degree media campaign to promote itself. This includes an extension of the “Fun ki nayi bhasha” campaign to two TVC’s (the chor-police “Baal Baal” and the curling moustache-seeking “King”), a “Whatte Fun” micro site along with”Bolo Whatte Fun” music CDs. A “Bolo Whatte Fun” brand video is being aired across TV channels.

In fact, most radio channels have gone for differentiation campaigns. Radio Mirchi continues with its “Mirchi sunne waale always khush…” campaign. Red FM claims at the best RJ’s, best talk shows and the like, asking competition, “Tumhare paas kya hai?”. Reliance ADA group’s Big 92.7 FM continues with “Suno sunao, life banao”.

While more advertising is coming radio’s way, the usage of the medium itself is seeing some improvement. Unlike the typically adapted one-liners from TVC’s, some advertisers have used the medium creatively. Marico, in association with Radio City, conceived and implemented a 45-day hair fall solution challenge for Parachute Therapie. Radio jockey Lavanya, known for experimenting with her hair, was selected as brand ambassador.

The afternoon show, Masala Mix, from 11.00 am to 2.00 pm daily, was used to promote Therapie. In 2005, Saffola, another Marico brand, had partnered with Go 92.5 FM to popularise Saffola Gold with Losorb technology. The radio channel’s overweight RJ, Ashish Jagtiani (Jaggu) of the Good Morning Show fame was roped in to lose 10 kg over three months. A lot of significant changes are happening, taking radio to the next level.

As far as measurement is concerned, TAM, the media measurement company, has come out with RAM (Radio Audience Measurement) based on the diary method as opposed to Media Research Users’ Council’s (MRUC’s) Indian Listenership Track, which uses the day after recall (DAR) measure. Radhakrishnan states, “RAM will help in measuring reach/frequency of the medium, which is currently not possible.”

Purohit feels that the development of RAM will pull more investments to the medium. While radio has managed to attract more advertisers, going ahead, niche players will be able to address specific audiences. These players can differentiate on genre, language or target group. One recent example is Meow 104.8 FM, a radio channel dedicated to women, launched by Radio Today.

Sajjad Chunawala, station head, Fever 104 FM, which has launched in Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore and is slated to launch in Kolkata soon, agrees, “Moving forward, the future of radio encompasses all niche channels as they would cater more specifically to the listeners’ needs.”