Rocket Singh: Salesman of the Year
Rocket Singh: Salesman of the Year is a 2009 Indian Hindi-language comedy-drama film directed by Shimit Amin and produced by Aditya Chopra under his banner Yash Raj Films and released in December 2009, based on a script by Jaideep Sahni, who collaborated with Amin for Chak De! India (2007). The film stars Ranbir Kapoor, D. Santosh, Gauhar Khan and Naveen Kaushik in the leads roles. Prem Chopra, Manish Chaudhari and debutante Shazahn Padamsee, daughter of Alyque Padamsee and Sharon Prabhakar, play supporting roles.
Rocket Singh: Salesman of the Year | |
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![]() Theatrical release poster | |
Directed by | Shimit Amin |
Written by | Jaideep Sahni |
Produced by | Aditya Chopra |
Starring | Ranbir Kapoor Gauahar Khan Shazahn Padamsee Prem Chopra Manish Chaudhari |
Cinematography | Vikash Nowlakha |
Edited by | Arindam S Ghatak |
Music by | Salim–Sulaiman |
Distributed by | Yash Raj Films |
Release date |
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Running time | 156 minutes |
Country | India |
Language | Hindi |
Plot
Harpreet Singh Bedi (Ranbir Kapoor), a B. Com. graduate with approximately 39 percent marks becomes a salesman with a big corporate computer assembly and service company, AYS. Within a few days, a client asks for a kick-back. The top salesmen at AYS acquire large client contracts through bribery. In such a corrupt company culture, Harpreet's honesty only brings him demotion and humiliation. After making concessions to a client for the company, Harpreet realizes that sales success depends on the customer; so if the customer is satisfied, bribery will not be necessary to secure these contracts. No one agrees with him but Harpreet remains firm on his belief and forms his own company, Rocket Sales Corporation, from within AYS. Rocket Sales is being managed by the AYS offices where the Rocket partners were still employed. Unlike AYS, Rocket Sales Corporation's overall strategic goal is customer service and customer satisfaction as opposed to just selling the product through bribes and providing zero customer service. Other disgruntled employees of AYS find their way to Rocket Sales – a place where even the guy who serves tea is an equal partner because he brings talent to the table.
The five-member company targets previous clients of AYS, who were irritated with AYS's attitude and soon enjoys a strong client reputation. The company soon becomes successful because of its dedication to excellent customer service. Although it does not make much profit, Rocket Sales Corp is able to make a huge difference. AYS's sales start decreasing as many of the clients cancel their orders and place orders at Rocket Sales, which offers them better services. Harpreet starts a relationship with Sherena, his first client, whose fashion business had failed.
The MD of AYS, Sunil Puri, becomes angered by the small company's success. Puri moves quickly to attempt to contact the MD of Rocket Sales Corporation and in a phone conversation attempts to entice him to sell Rocket Sales Corporation to AYS (he does not know it is Harpreet). Harpreet not only rejects Puri's offer but says that his company will buy AYS Computers. Afraid of Puri's attempts, Harpreet's partners have a discussion and move their headquarters to Sherena's house, making her a partner in the process. After multiple failed attempts in locating the Rocket Sales Corporation office, Puri decides to call the number on Rocket Sales Corporation's brochures and the phone at the AYS reception desk begins to ring. Realizing the truth, he walks in on the team. After thoroughly insulting him and firing both him and his partners, Puri has Harpreet sign a contract handing over Rocket Sales to him for a final compensation of Re. 1. However, AYS is unable to maintain Rocket Sales' commitment to customer satisfaction because of its cold and greedy personnel. Seeing his downfall in purchasing Rocket Sales, Puri visits Harpreet at his new job at Croma, an electronics store, and returns the contract to Harpreet in return for Re. 1. He also tells him never to become a businessman again, because he will fail again. However, this is not intended as an insult, but rather as a compliment; he implies that what made Harpreet so successful was his eschewing of 'normal' business practices such as kickbacks, false advertisement, and low wages.
The new Rocket Sales office building where a prospective worker is going in for an interview is the ending scene. The firm is implied to be very successful. It shows the former employees, all partners of the business, and finally closes with Harpreet smiling genially at a desk, showing that in the long run, honesty and hard work are sound business practices.
Cast
- Ranbir Kapoor as Harpreet Singh Bedi
- Gauahar Khan as Koena Sheikh
- Shazahn Padamsee as Sherena Khanna
- D. Santosh as Girish "Giri" Reddy
- Manish Chaudhari as Sunil Puri
- Naveen Kaushik as Nitin Rathore
- Neeraj Sood as Lalwani
- Mukesh S Bhatt as Chhotelal Mishra
- Mokshad Dodwani as Tanmay Seth (Taxi)
- Bikramjeet Kanwarpal as Inamdar
- Rajesh Jais as S. P. Chaudhary
- Amol Parashar as Sai Ram
- Debi Dutta as Aparna "Appy" Singh
- Prem Chopra as P. S. Bedi, Harpreet's grandfather
- Kayaan Contractor as Ayesha, Sherena's colleague
- Nidhi Oza as Vibha Ahuja
- Gireesh Sahedev as Wajahat
- Firdaus Mevawala as M. P. Sharma
Critical reception
Film critic, Rachel Saltz of New York Times called it "a smart, focused Bollywood movie" and commended Ranbir Kapoor for "turning in a skillfully understated performance"[1] while Anupama Chopra in her NDTV review gave it 3 out 5 stars.[2]
Nikhat Kazmi in The Times of India gave 3 stars out 5.[3] While The Economic Times review gave it a 4 stars out of 5 and called it, "one of the most rocking films of the year".[4] An Outlook review by Namrata Joshi gave it 3 out of 5 stars, saying that the film "Marks a continuum and a departure from the middle-class cinema of Hrishikesh Mukherjee, Basu Chatterjee and Sai Paranjape."[5] Rajeev Masand of CNN-IBN gave the movie 3.5 stars out of 5.[6]
Many of the serial entrepreneurs called it "a learning-curve Bollywood movie for upcoming entrepreneurs", focusing on taking risks and building relationships with clients.
Soundtrack
Rocket Singh: Salesman of the Year | ||||
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Soundtrack album by | ||||
Released | 13 November 2009 | |||
Recorded | 2007 | |||
Studio | YRF Studios, Mumbai | |||
Genre | Feature film soundtrack | |||
Length | 30:12 | |||
Language | Hindi | |||
Label | YRF Music | |||
Producer | Yash Raj Films | |||
Salim–Sulaiman chronology | ||||
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The soundtrack is composed by Salim–Sulaiman, with lyrics by Jaideep Sahni.[7]
# | Song | Singer(s) | Duration |
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1 | Pankho Ko Hawa Zara | Salim Merchant | 3:54 |
2 | Pocket Mein Rocket Hai | Benny Dayal, Neeraj Shridhar | 4:44 |
3 | Gadbadi Hai Hadbadi Hai | Vishal Dadlani | 4:15 |
Awards and nominations
Award | Category | Recipient(s) and nominee(s) | Result | Ref. |
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Screen Awards | Best Actor (Male) | Ranbir Kapoor | Nominated | [8] |
Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Female) | Gauahar Khan | Nominated | ||
Most Promising Newcomer (Female) | Nominated | |||
Most Promising Newcomer (Male) | Naveen Kaushik | Nominated | ||
Best Actor in a Negative Role | Manish Choudhary | Nominated | ||
Best Actor in a Comic Role | D Santosh | Nominated | ||
Best Background Music | Salim-Sulaiman | Nominated | ||
Filmfare Awards | Best Actor (Critics) | Ranbir Kapoor (also for Wake Up Sid and Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani) | Won | |
Best Story | Jaideep Sahni | Nominated | ||
Best Dialogue | Nominated | |||
Stardust Awards | Breakthrough Performance - Female | Gauahar Khan | Nominated | [9] |
Exciting New Face | Shazahn Padamsee | Nominated |
References
- Saltz, Rachel (15 December 2009). "Movie Review: Rocket Singh: Salesman of the Year". New York Times. Retrieved 22 May 2010.
- "Review : Rocket Singh – Salesman of the Year". NDTV Movies. 11 December 2009. Archived from the original on 14 December 2009.
- Kazmi, Nikhat (11 December 2009). "Rocket Singh: Salesman of the Year". The Times of India.
- "Movie Review: Rocket Singh – Salesman of the Year". The Economic Times. 13 December 2009.
- "showtime: Rocket Singh: Salesman Of The Year". Outlook. 28 December 2009.
- Masand verdict: Rocket.. a clean, honest film. Ibnlive.in.com (14 December 2009).
- Music review: Rocket Singh. Hindustan Times (7 December 2009).
- "Nominations for Nokia 16th Annual Star Screen Awards 2009". 5 March 2010. Archived from the original on 5 March 2010. Retrieved 29 December 2017.
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: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - "Stardust awards 2010 : Nominees complete list". www.merinews.com. Retrieved 29 December 2017.