I'm not going to write a review of the movie - since a lot has been written about it already, but what I found most exciting was how close to reality this movie really is. Everyone knows that this movie is from the life of Mr. Dhirubhai Ambani, who lead Reliance Group of Industries (RIL) to become India's largest private sector enterprise. RIL's annual income is US$22B and is a Fortune 500 global company. With >US$7B in exports to more than 100 countries in the world, Reliance employs about 25000 people. (info from www.ril.com)
But not many know about the real life people/events that were depicted under pseudo names in the movie. A quick look at Wikipedia and other google searches yielded the following results:
1) Manikdas Gupta (Mithun) --->
2) The Independent (newspaper) --->
3) Journalist Shyam Saxena (Madhavan) ---> S. Gurumurthy
4) Minister who Guru gets Petrochemical approval (Unknown) ---> Ms. Indira Gandhi
5) Shakti Group of Industries --> Reliance Industries Limited
6) The contractors (Parsi competitors) --> The Wadias (of Bombay Dyeing)
(BTW Ness Wadia, son of Nusli Wadia is currently dating Preity Zinta and the Wadias have a direct linkage to Mr. Jinnah - the founder of Pakistan)
7) Stadium of meetings during the last/first scene of the movie --> Cross Maidan, Mumbai
Other facts accurately described in the movie:
- Reliance Commercial Corporation, his first business venture was started with a capital of Rs 15K
- The business was set up with partnership with his second cousin Champaklal Damani
- Dhirubhai went to Aden, Yemen during his early years
- Dhirubhai's was one of the first IPOs in the country
- Had shareholder meetings in stadiums
- Fight with Indian Express died after his first stroke
- Bogus investment companies registered under the 'Isle of Man' island located in the Irish Sea
With so much resembling real life Dhirubhai, wonder why the film makers didn't come out openly and admit it.. If you have more data points/people that match the real life (other than the wife and kids) do let me know.
4 comments:
Hey Vikas, Welcome aboard!!
Keep bloggin!!
You know what I wonder? Why aren't the Ambanis suing Mani Ratnam?
The movie left me wondering about the message. The 'creative business' as depicted in the movie (and found to be quite close to real life as well) often crosses the lines drawn by the law. In all the gray areas that this poses, the director tries to establish a good vs evil framework.
This inadequacy is better digested when the story is presented as a biography rather than an inspiration.
I just might have chanced upon a contender for my question. Well you see, if the Ambanis sue Mani Ratnam, they implicitly would acknowledge the legal infringements in the protagonist's workings. That's an uncomfortable place to put oneself in. Hats off to Mani Ratnam! He has the last laugh after all!!
good to know real life personalities connected to the story...welcome to blogland
Thanks Janani, Palani and DW for the warm welcome.
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