Business learnings from the move 'Mersal'

In the recent debate on healthcare in India covering corporate hospitals, pharma drug regulation, medical devices price regulation at various points, universal health insurance etc, one key point has come about the medical profession. Usually, the practical issues in medicine are glossed over but this movie does take an indepth look on functioning.

1. Due to information asymmetry between doctors and others, there is scope for unscrupulous professionals to take decisions that cannot or won't be objectively reviewed later
2. Trustees of medical hospitals need to fit the 'fit and proper' criteria otherwise the trust may not attain its objectives including original donor intentions
3. Low price clinics Like rs 1/5/10 doctors can survive like in Mumbai surburban railway(Thane) if rental cost is low(as depicted in the movie)

Business learnings from Velaikkaran(2017 Tamil movie)

I watched the movie(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Velaikkaran_(2017_film)) and took away following key learnings

1. Consumerism has a karma element to it-we are workers/employees for 1/3rd of the day but consumers for 2/3rd. What we do to others comes back to us
2. In health sensitive sectors like food, negligence or fraud is tantamount to murder. Hence, the potential support to death penalties for food adulteration as done in China
3. One needs to TRACK expenses to avoid monthly wasteful outflows 
4. Merchandising in modern trade has contributed to consumerism, and online, the recommendation algorithm and placement window plays a like role. So unless we go with defined budget and shopping list, we run the risk of overspending
5. In regulatory clampdowns or general distress like strikes, it is the strong players who buy weak ones and consolidate-this is a trend seen in distressed assets sale also under insolvency framework. So relaxing competition laws should be done with care
6. Employee's pride in their jobs and wanting family to look upto them with pride, is a powerful tool which should be leveraged, and is done in TQM etc
7. Labour Day should be about labour duties and protections, not just for rights
8. As consumers, we should do informed purchases about what enters our body, even if Organic is costly or fad, we can avoid unhealthy stuff atleast like carcinogenic substances

Learnings from the movie Padmavat

The movie Padmavat(earlier named Padmavati) focussed on the battle between Alahudin Khilji, Rani Padmavat and Raja Ratan Sen. The poem story can be read here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Padmavat  I feel the movie makers stoked controversy for a movie which eventually glorified Rajputs. But that said, following observations

1. All is fair on love and war-the seemingly act of treachery by shooting an arrow in the back in the ending scene, Khilji killing his father in law etc
2. Muslim invaders won as the Hindu kings had a misplaced sense of honour and chivalry as to not crush the conquered enemy, give a second chance, believe their word etc. Thankfully, the Christian and Hindu right have identified the war of civilizations and are fighting back on radical Islam as the threat to democracy
3. War technology(catapults, cannons) makes the difference-hence necessary to invest in defensive tech to avoid losing. Conventional or modern does not matter,but defence tech does
4. Friends turned foes can be deadly-for example the expelled priest Raghav Chetan. Though he was killed in between, but the damage had already been caused. 

Business learnings from the Movie 'Padman'

Yesterday, I watched the Akshay Kumar movie 'Padman'. It narrates the story of the brave entrepreneur Arunachalam Muruganantham (read more about the story here https://www.gqindia.com/content/pad-man-akshay-kumar-inspiration-arunachalam-muruganantham/). Some key takeaways

1. Sanitary Pads cost ~7-10 per piece vs the Rs 2 here. Still, due to brand and distribution, the branded players like Whisper still dominate. Why this low cost option is not a wide spread one in each village/town? Is it due to cost factor which lead Nano to fail?
2. Microfinance and women self help groups can afford the machine-good avenue for CSR
3. Often, the front face(women for such sensitive areas) and back end team should be different as happened in this case
4. Often, strangers help us as first customers/funders/adopters while our near/dear ones abandon us in time of distress. Akshay Kumar's character forgave all others but others may not
5. Break down a big problem(pad machine) into its 4 basic parts and it resolves itself
6. Award functions are a good way to get publicity for the winners and often justifies the potential waste on opex etc, its a pity its not used more often for such good causes
7.  One needs to test one's work(eg play on a swing) before completing it, that is pride in workmanship. Also, unless one walks in the shoes of the customer, things won't work
8. For personal use items, brands are useful to cut the awkwardness. That is why unrelated words like Whisper, Durex sell well(Kamasutra/Nirodh being an exception :D)
9. An inventors journey is often a lonely painful one, and very few inventions are successful to extent of commercialisation. Patents can therefore make a life and are the 'moon shot' reason for scientific tinkering(in the non creative space that is)