100,000 High Net Worth Individuals in India

According to the second Asia Pacific Wealth report published by Merrill Lynch and Cap Gemini,  the number of High Net Worth Individuals (HNIs) in India increased by 20% in 2006 to touch 100,000. About 0.85% of them are Ultra HNIs (people with net worth in excess of US$30M). A majority of the HNIs are in the 41-55 year bracket.

So who is an HNI? The study defines an HNI as someone with net financial assets of at least US$1 Milion (excluding their primary residence).

To put things  in context, Asia Pacific is home to just over 27% of the world’s HNI population and India is the second-fastest growing HNI population in Asia Pacific.

Another chak de moment for India….. is it not?

Om Shanthi Om is a great concept

Om Shanthi Om is a terrific marketing concept. The story (inasmuch as there is one), has been cleverly woven so as to allow the film to straddle two generations- people who are today in their 30s and 40s, and those who are in the 10-25 age group. The former’s curiosity will be piqued by the throwback to the 70s and 80s, while the latter will want to gawk at Shah Rukh’s “6 packs” and/or at the lovely Deepika Padukone. So either way, the tickets get sold out! And hence my comment about this being a great marketing concept.

In addition, the producer/director have spent significant efforts and time in promoting the film. Om Shanthi Om cleverly utilized song/dance shows on TV to create a buzz (as did Saawariya, to be fair). In many cases, the competition involved singing and dancing to the film’s songs. Farah, SRK, Deepika and other members of the cast were present at these shows to encourage the contestants and talk about the movie. The TRPs for these shows went up because SRK et al would be on them, which means the channels loved it as well. All in all, a win-win strategy. [Saawariya, being a Sony production, was probably able to get more coverage on TV (with the name displayed right below the Sony logo)].

As for the film itself, well, enough reviews have been written and I do not intend to add to them. However, I will say this- OSO is a potboiler with all the right ingredients- catchy music, lots of big names, big dreams, costumes and lots of dancing.

Enjoy the movie. And if you’ve watched Saawariya, let us have your comments on how you think the two movies compare.