Decoding Bollywood’s remix culture; How Ola Electric put women to work

Hello,

Around 24 hours after India imposed restrictions on the import of laptops, tablets, and small computers, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry decided to defer the restrictions till November 1, 2023. The announcement came after hardware companies complained of consignments being stuck at customs and rush to the office of the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT).

In other news, Monitra Healthcare, a remote cardiac monitoring diagnostic platform, has raised $500,000 in equity in a pre-Series A funding round led by 91Ventures. This investment capped the abysmally low capital inflow the Indian startup ecosystem received during the week—the lowest since January 2018.

Also, India Shelter Finance, backed by WestBridge Crossover Fund, and Nexus Ventures, has filed a draft red herring prospectus to raise Rs 1,800 crore via an initial public offering (IPO). 

A recent report by Redseer Strategy Consultants noted that India holds a huge IPO potential. India is likely to have up to 40 listed/IPO-ready new-age tech companies, and this number can grow to 90 by FY28.

ICYMI: Barbie has seen unprecedented success at the box office, taking home $900 million till now. The movie is on track to earn $1 billion worldwide by the end of this weekend.

In today’s newsletter, we will talk about 

• Decoding Bollywood’s remix culture
• How Ola Electric put women to work
• Chef Kunal Kapur’s tryst with pincodes

Here’s your trivia for today: Who was the highest-earning actor in 2022, according to Forbes?

Entertainment

Decoding Bollywood’s remix culture

Bollywood's affair with remixes started in the 1990s as bonus tracks or extended versions of film songs. However, the Hindi movie industry now seems to be merely rehashing popular songs from the past without too much thought, value-addition, or relevance.

“Remixes must be in a format that does not mess the original composition and respects the sanctity and legacy of the original songs and artists,” contemporary Bollywood playback singer Thomson Andrews tells YS Life.

Recreating with care:

• Remixes such as Masakali 2.0, Falguni Pathak’s song Maine Payal Hai Chhankai, and Pasoori have drawn criticism for ‘ruining the soul’ of the original compositions.
• The responsibility of music labels, composers and producers doesn’t stop with buying the copyrights. Remixes must be done bearing in mind the tenets of the original, advise industry experts. 
• The Humma Song recreated by Badshah and Tanishk Bagchi has 334 million views, compared to the original version by Rahman that has 2.9 million views.

Mobility

How Ola Electric put women to work

Two years ago, Ola's Co-founder and CEO Bhavish Aggarwal and his team discovered that women comprised only 30% of the workforce in the automotive industry. The entrepreneur realised the need for change, and in September 2021, announced that Ola Electric's Futurefactory in Tamil Nadu would be run by women workers.

"We didn’t know where we would get the girls from and how they would manage family opposition and cultural restrictions. But we wanted to set this up as an example in the industry in India, to show that a 100% women factory was possible,” he tells YourStory Founder-CEO Shradha Sharma in an interview.

Today, Ola Electric has more than 3,000 women working in the factory.

Women power:

• Aggarwal realised that industrialists are to be blamed as they did not dream about taking in more women or envisioned how to do it.
• As a pathbreaking policy, Ola Futurefactory has ensured that the entire manufacturing is done only by women. All the women at the Futurefactory are degree and diploma holders.
• "We have invested significantly to train and upskill them in core manufacturing skills, and they will be responsible for the entire production of every vehicle manufactured at Ola Futurefactory," he says.

Wine and food

Chef Kunal Kapur’s tryst with pincodes

Celebrity chef Kunal Kapur recently opened an outpost of his Indian restaurant PINCODE in Saket’s Select CityWalk Mall. His goal is to preserve and celebrate the purest traditional and regional flavours from lesser-known pincodes, while also catering to the well-travelled generation.

“The simple act of putting down pincodes not only served as a symbol of connectivity but also reflected the essence of India's diverse culture and regional uniqueness," he tells YS Life.

Food culture:

• The name of the restaurant, which was launched in January 2023, is linked with Kapur’s grandmother who would send letters to her family in far-off villages.
• The pincode 261203, for example, represents Mahmudabad's shami kebabs, while Kalpetta's coastal chicken curry (673121) brings alive the aromas of Kerala.
• PINCODE’s interior design strikes the perfect balance between traditional and modern elements. The walls are punctuated with historical photos of Delhi.

News & updates

• Averting crisis: Economists at JPMorgan Chase scrapped their call for a recession in the US, joining a growing number of forecasters who now expect the economy to avert the downturn that was once viewed as inevitable. This projection comes despite a series of interest rate hikes by the US Federal Reserve.
• Ghosted: Elon Musk's X, formerly Twitter, said it won’t be able to make some promised payments to Blue subscribers on time as "the number of people signing up for ads revenue sharing" has exceeded the company's expectations and its needs more time to review.
• Record high: Berkshire Hathaway posted its highest-ever quarterly operating profit with gains from stock holdings helping the conglomerate led by billionaire Warren Buffett swing to a nearly $36 billion overall profit in April-June 2023 quarter.

Who was the highest-earning actor in 2022, according to Forbes?

Answer: Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. He earned $270 million last year, largely from his tequila brand Teremana.

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