Forget pan India, there are very few companies that operate across large states. What makes this very clear is the fact that even though there are thousands of real estate companies operating across India, there is not a single pan India real estate company. Most real estate companies are fronts for politicians. Most homes across Mumbai and large parts of this country remain unaffordable for the same reason as the Indian consumer had a choice of only two cars in 1977. In fact, things have only gotten worse.Īnd the reason for this is very simple. Thirty seven years later nothing has changed on that front. The song is about the inability of a man to buy a home in Mumbai in 1977. Now let's go back to the 1977 song that we started with- ek akela is shehar main. The free market has clearly changed that. This wasn't the case in 1977 and the Indian consumer had a choice of two models of cars. The companies compete with each other in order to offer the best possible features to consumers at the best possible price.
This is the impact of competition and a largely free market which operates in the Indian automobile sector with very little interference from the government and in turn politicians. Some 37 years later in 2014, a similar shot of the Marine Drive would show so many models of cars that it would be difficult to count the number quickly. If one were to paraphrase Ford, " any customer could buy any car that he wants so long as it is a Padmini or an Ambassador."But things have changed since then. In short the customer did not have any choice. Henry Ford, the pioneer of the assembly line system of manufacturing remarked in 1909 that: "any customer can have a car painted any colour that he wants so long as it is black." The situation was akin to the early days of the American automobile.
#Gharaonda ek akela is shahar mein movie
The movie Gharaonda was released in 1977 and those were the days when Indians had the option of buying either the Ambassador produced by the Birlas at Uttarpara near Kolkata or the Premier Padmini produced by the Doshis at Kurla in Mumbai. If you look carefully enough there is even a white Mercedes somewhere.
#Gharaonda ek akela is shahar mein full
The road is full of Premier Padminis (or Fiats as they were better known as) and Ambassadors. Some 3 minutes and 26-27 seconds into the song there is a shot of what looks like Marine Drive. This iconic song has an iconic scene which most people miss. One such song is ek akela is shehar mainfrom the 1977 movie Gharaonda, written by Gulzar, set to tune by Jaidev and sung by Bhupinder Singh.