Caught the second day late night 10.45 pm show last night of Amitabh Bachchan’s latest release ‘Teen Patti’….just 50 people in the theatre that could seat 200 +
Big B is a Maths Professor who figures out through Mathematical Probabilities the winning hand in a Game of ‘Flush’ or ‘Teen Patti’ as we know it in India….he gets a young prof to round up a few students to test it out..and the Movie builds up as they get around town winning thousands and lakhs at Real Games in shady social clubs and later crores at the Big High Wheelers Games around the City
The Message is masterful and powerful
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Knowledge is Power…and should not be misused…but be used for the betterment of Humanity…Using a Mathematical Theorem to win in Cards,a Game of Luck and Chance is Cheating…..What comes to mind also is that man has created the Weapons of his Own Destruction….Nuclear !
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The Probability of India recognising the Genius of an Individual before the World does,is very Low.
So often,we find Indians get recognition overseas,before India begins to salute them…the recent Chemistry Nobel Prize for instance was co-awarded to Venkatraman Ramakrishnan of Cambridge,UK…he was born in Tamil Nadu,studied in Vadodra,failed to get a seat at the IITs or Christian Medical College,Vellore,moved to USA and then later switched from Physics to Biology and from USA to UK….he was annoyed to receive Hundreds of Congratulatory Emails from many Indians who claim to have been associated with him In India
My own late Uncle,my father’s elder brother was lost to India….He was brilliant and after having studied at MIT,US,he returned to India and joined India’s Premier Scientific Research Group in the 1950s…he returned to the US in disgust after his seniors repeatedly took credit for his research…India lost a Brilliant Brain
All his life Bachchan, as Maths Prof Venkat Subramaniam, faces rejection of his Research Papers in India…..He is forced to resign,owning moral responsibility for the suicide of one of his students involved in his Experiment…..The Other students and the Young Prof involved in the successful experiment quietly ensure that his research reaches and is finally recognised by World renowned Maths Genius,played by Ben Kingsley, and Cambridge University,UK decides to award him the Issac Newton Prize, the highest Maths Honour
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Greed is a great Motivator…a gread Seducer…..and inevitably the Destroyer.
Greed and Fear are two sides of the Stock Market Coin…..they form the core basis for Irrational Thinking…at some of my sessions,participants actually roleplay such behaviour in specific situations…throwing up Investor Mistakes and quirks in Human Behaviour and Relationships
‘Teen Patti’ too highlights this growing greed and addiction to the glamour of quick and easy Monies from playing ‘Teen Patti’…it destroys the human…forcing even resorting to stealing and blackmailing….distracts them from focusing on core moral and ethical Values and sound education…it takes Big B as Prof Venkat Subramaniam to hard knock this lesson to the students involved in his experiment…he empties all bullets,but one,of a Gun …..holds it to his head and presses the Trigger…he’s lucky….that’s what it is he tells,no yells,at the students…Just Luck and Probability…do they have the guts to hold the Gun to their Head and Pull the Trigger !…….play this Russian Roulette,just like Hritik Roshan does in Dhoom 2 with Aishwarya !?
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How India’s Education System at the Highest Level is stereotyped….Top Faculty who goes by the Book…no premium on Creativity and Out of the Box Thinking and Doing !…Even the recent Hit ‘3 Idiots’ highlights this,where Baman Irani,as the Dean is inflexible in his Thinking…Irani lends his Voice to Ben Kingsley in ‘Teen Patti’
The Movie is not as masterful and powerful as the Message
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Characters and Winning Game Plans are simply not build up properly…though it’s a Two and a half hour Movie,it seems the scenes are patched together and rushed through
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The movie does not grip you as it should….Acting is no great shakes…Several Senior Actors,playing Guest roles as the Big Time Suckers are simply wasted…exception being Mahesh Manjrekar
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It falls flat when compared,as is inevitable,to ‘A Beautiful Mind’ where Russel Crowe playes the ‘insane’ genius John Nash or even directly to ’21’ where Kevin Spacey plays the Devious Professor who figures out through Probability and a Counting Theory how to win at BlackJack
In Capital Markets,we use Probabilities for various Potential Outcomes to determine ultimately the Standard Deviation and the Co-Variance for the Security to assess the Risk v/s Return Trade off
‘Teen Patti’ or Stock Markets…it’s not really that different is it!?……More Luck than Skills….Probabilities….Irrational Behaviour….Risk & Reward….Greed……Fear….Insider Trading…even Lust !
Happy Holi to all of You….and do Play ‘Teen Patti’…more for fun than to make Money…just like I do !
Cheers !