Business house giants are people who carry charisma and popularity.If except film stars, cricket players and few politicians there is another section of people which attracts attention by both media and public it is the corporate houses and people who run them.Common people may not know about the E of Economics but still they are aware of the products and prices of popular brands.Corporate is a world which affects even our lives as we use their products, buy their share and some even work for them.However most of us are not aware about the behind the scene ugly things which happen in the corporate world.When a film-maker of the callibre of Madhur Bhandarkar whos Chandni Bar won a number of national awards and sent shoch waves though us for the brilliant depiction of bar dancers decides to make a film on corporate we wait with baited breath.Add to that his last film Page-3 became a cult film in every sense and also won national awards apart from being a hit , so Corporate was one of the most awaited movie of the year and needless to say that the movie is worth the wait.
The movie begins with the commentary of Madhur’s favourite actor Atul Kulkarni commentary on the corporate set up and its basics.The movie is about the rivalry of 2 corporate houses headed by Mr.Marwaha(Raj Babbar) and Mr.Sehgal(Rajat Kapoor) respectively.While Mr.Marwaha is a traditional businessman who belongs to the old school of thought, Mr.Sehgal is a flamboyant new age businessman.Both are successful and arch-rivals.We have a smart young girl Nishigandha (Bipasa Basu) who is holding a senior position in Sehgal’s organization and has made a name for herself.She is very hard working and the entire organization including Mr.Sehgal trusts her very much.She is also the role model for new entrants like(Minisha Lamba)who look upto her(not because of the height difference !) and get inspiration from her.The company also has an intelligent CEO(Harsh Chaya) who has played a major role in the company’s success.Marwaha’s office also boasts of intelligent people who are very hard working.The battle lines are drawn for a bottling plant which the government has to pass the tender.While Sehgal has foreign collaboration Marwaha has a solid network within
the country.Sehgal has contacts with both the central finance minister and state chief minister.What starts as a battle ends up with Marwaha getting the contract.
A new entrant is there in Sehgal’s company.Due to her wife’s request Sehgal gives his brother-in-law (Kay Kay Menon) a key position as he gives him another chance to prove himself.Gradually we come to know that he and Nishigandha are more than friends.Infact the news of his arrival really made her cheer up.The 2 are very much in love but they have to concentrate on job and probably later settle down.The senior executive guy of Marwaha’s company has a soft spot for Nishi .She uses it fully to extract secret information about the company’s future plan of launching a mint drink.This starts a series of events as Sehgal announces the launch of his company’s mint drink before Marwaha could materialize his plans.
Now starts a war between 2.Marwaha is not able to sit and decides to teach Sehgal a lesson.In between these 2 big-wigs the lifes of many are affected and it ends on a tragic note for both the leading characters. .
The story of Corporate as already told is as real as it can be.The movie’s script is a brilliant amalgamation of fact and fiction.The director and writers have researched very well in the subject.This is evident in the way they have shown the corporate world.Infact the first half is too much related with stock exchange, economics and people from non-economics background like me found it a bit difficult to grasp the ongoings.Even the
terms used are a bit difficult to understand.Well I would say that this is both the strength and weakness of the film as it shows the amount of research done on one hand and on other hand majority of audience wud find it difficult.The liberisation policy, disinvestments and PSU”s things are heard regularly on news but the details are not that well known.The screenplay picks up in the second half and from then onwards it remains brilliant and quite appealing.Infact it is the second half which actually glues the audience.The dialogues are adequate especially the ones said by peons and editing is crisp although the movie lacks the fast pace of Page-3 and becomes very heavy towards the end.Madhur Bhandarkar is again in full form in the movie.After showing the rut of lower class amazingly in Chandni bar and the sick world behind hi flying parties in Page-3, Bhandarkar shows the hard and cruel world of Corporate.Like the above mentioned films Corporate also gives you a hammer tong effect towards the end but here I would like to say that it falls short of comparisons from Page-3.While Page-3 showed a multitude of issues here he has concentrated only on Corporate so the film will not have the same appeal as Page-3.
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