Independence defined in simple terms means "freedom from control or influence of another or others". We are an independent nation but still many of our choices are still influenced by others (read MNC’s). The marketing and distribution startegy is laid out such that your only choice is what they want you to choose. When you visit a theatre, your free will is gone. You get only Pepsi or only Coke. So where is the choice?
In this movie we get to see such two big corporates, fighting and again collaborating all for their own means. The quote from RDB "Koi bhi desh perfect nahin hota, usse perfect banana padha hain" is very ture. But what if people don’t want perfection, and they want to live with the philosophy "chaltha hain, chalne do". Life just goes on. The problem today, is people feel that Independence was the only cause worth fighting for. Now as we have attained it, live happily. As long as it goes so, we will never get independence from corpoartes.
It is a Madhur Bhandarkar film and its reason enough for me to go to the theatre. The director of ’Page 3’, ’Satta’ and ’Chandni Bar’ fame surely knows film making to the core. It’s really a good coincidence that the colas pesticide case (in India) is back with fresh results.
Corporate as the name and the animated logo (graphs turning to letters) suggests is about the way Corporate (world of business) functions. Welcome to the world of Corporates, where the bottom-line and only the bottom-line "PROFIT" matters.
Corporate tells the story of two business groups in the food industry. Mr. Vinay Sehgal [Rajat Kapoor], is Managing Director of Sehgal Group of Industries and Dharmesh Marwah [Raj Babbar], is the head of Marwah International Pvt Ltd. The main focus of the story is how these two
power honchos try to win a PSU (disinvestment), and Miss Nishigandha Deshpande [Bipasha Basu] is in the centre of all action. The golden word during education "Ethics" just sounds alien in real world of Corporates.
There might be no surprises for people working in the corporate world, but for a common man its surely is a revelation. Madhur has tried hard to make complex things look simple but still the common man might not be able to keep up with the pace of the film, mainly the power games in
the first half.
Madhur does his homework well. Every angle of corporate world is depicted. Bribery, politics (family, state and centre), FDI, bollywood, mafia, NGO’s, CSR, legal battles, superstition, affairs, tenders, awards, surveillance, business intelligence, babas, mergers, stock markets, meetings, hotels, parties, frequent flying, relations, emotional blackmail, prostitution, lifestyles and oh yes laptops and pot’s too. You name it, you have it.
A bit of comedy and truth is provided in the form of informal talks between blue collar workers. The definition of peon and boss is very true. A mockery on the new trend (plethora of regional channels) these days is also attempted in a scene. Hope you catch it. And when the biggest media group in the country goes for in-film ad placement, you get quite an over exposure of it. I really don’t understand how this works; I mean the producer "Sahara" also has its own news channel.
The biggest filmy let down was the Lenovo laptop. Isn’t it Lenovo who brags about the fingerprint reader locking system in their ads? And didn’t anyone hear of passwords?
The casting is perfect. Everyone is talented and proves their mettle. It’s a good film but could have been exceptional if the background score was a little tight. The tempo is surely missing. The interiors are aptly done. The voice over narrations makes sense. The songs Lamha Lamha (Asha Bhosale) and O Sikander (Kailash Kher) are good to listen.
With the storyline of the glitzy formal corporate world, the director conveys an underlying social message too. It’s up to you to figure it out. Do you think there are any Naveen Shroff’s (Harsh Chayya) in the world of money?
To put it simply Corporate is a good film, wouldn’t appeal to everyone. It’s not the usual family entertainer and rightly so. It’s more like a... what do u say, yes! A strategic entertainer. It won’t disappoint you. For me, Page 3 still remains his best film.