Rajnikanth's sci-fi Enthiran – The Robot, which drew more than 15 lakh people nationwide on the opening day, has now made it to the curriculum of the country's best management school, Indian Institute of Management (IIM-A), going by the recent reports. The blockbuster, made originally in Tamil and dubbed into Telugu and Hindi, will be part of an elective course on the contemporary film industry.
There is something to be learnt from anything that's successful, says Professor J. Srikanth, an alumnus of IIT and IIM and the dean of Sasi School of Business. “What makes that product sell and how the team built the product with so much promise can be learnt from this example,” he says.
Star Trek created a lot of buzz for futuristic technology. So did Avatar which swept the Oscars. New ideas are exciting. One can draw parallels between such success stories and a product launch, adds Srikanth.
Chak De India , the Shah Rukh Khan-starrer about a gritty women's hockey team that wins the world championship overcoming odds, is a case study at Aryans Business School in Chandigarh. They call it edutainment. Management students at the four-year-old ABS kick start the academic year with ‘Bollywood Week'. Blockbusters such as 3 Idiots , Chak De! India , Lakshya , Corporate , Guru , Swades , Taare Zameen Par and Iqbal are screened for them. “These films have been taken up as case studies. They teach aspects of management such as planning, co-ordination, strategy, motivation, time and stress management, and goal setting,” says Dr. Anshu Kataria, chairman of ABS.
Says Rakesh Katarey, documentary filmmaker and chairman, Amrita School of Communication, “Films can embellish or garnish teaching.” Citing David Lean's classic The Bridge Over The River Kwai , he says, “One can learn a lot about team-building, watching how the Japanese and the British deal with their respective teams in the film.”
New Delhi Times, released in the 80s starring Sashi Kapoor, dealt with the changing face of journalism. “It is important that teachers understand the film language and be aware that a film is a cultural artefact. For instance, a Rocky and Rambo series can be extremely motivating, but it also glamorises America which may not be good for our society. Films can also be used as a counterpoint to build an argument or a debate.”
Beating boredom
At S.V.S. College, management students watch Up in the Air to discuss HR topics, how to approach a problem and employee-employer relationships. Departure (a Japanese film) helps them study employee engagement, job satisfaction and how to excel in a job, while the epic Troy sets an example of how a small team can enter a big territory and emerge victorious. Discussions drive boredom away and builds confidence in students, says Shyam Umasanker, senior management lecturer.
Harish Swaminathan, a regular at film quizzes, says teachers should pick films that students can relate to. “ Anbe Sivam taught us about serving humanity. In Taare Zameen Par, Aamir Khan plays a perfect teacher who doesn't lose his cool. That's how I want my teacher to be.”
A film as an example to study marketing is justified, says Bharath.M who studied at the Satyajit Ray film institute. However, using fiction to impart knowledge is presumptuous. A fiction converts the drama of everyday life into an interesting narration to keep the audience engaged for two hours. It follows commercial compulsions, says Bharath whose documentaries include “The Jasmine of Mysore” based on a pornographic video scandal and one on the comic culture of Japan. Alvin Saldanha, chief creative officer of Idea Domain, says films have long practised the ‘branding dynamic'. There are numerous examples of how roles that stars played became brands themselves, such as Gabbar in Sholay . To study a movie, or a star, seems to make perfect sense, because a business school's prime objective is to prepare you for working in the marketplace, he adds.
Artist Jeevanandan says well-made movies with good scripts can be studied. Shyam Benegal's Kalyug dealt with family feud and business rivalry. It was a modern version of the Mahabharata. Prakash Jha's Rajneeti dealt with contemporary politics. “Govind Nihalani's Aaghat handled issues of trade union politics. Shyam Benegal's Manthan showcased the success story of a milk co-operative unit in a backward village. It was an eye-opener,” he adds.
It's a positive step forward, says S. Kamala Kannan, who is making a film on the happenings in a TASMAC shop. “A study about what went into the planning and execution of big projects such as Enthiran , Dasavataram and Aayirthil Oruvan opens up the world for upcoming filmmakers,” he says. And for future managers.
