Google has come a long way; from one of the Internet search engine to the worlds most popular search engine. It is preferred over search engines which are one among the pioneers of the search engine such as AltaVista, Infoseek, Netscape and Lycos.
Google piggyback on its innovative strategy to generate revenue by placing advertisements on sites which contain information related to those ads has indeed made Google highly profitable. The revenue model, almost since beginning, has been successful in giving its competitors a run for their money. In a short span of time, Google has become the best search engine by eating into the market share of Yahoo AltaVista, Infoseek, Netscape and Lycos.
Google always focused on product development which is user friendly and offers great customer experience. No wonder, Google, since inception came up with innovative ideas like Blogs, AdWords, video search and many other features on its search engine, which offered great user experience. It also helped, Google developed an emotional character that transcends cultural, geographical and language barriers. This inherent strength of Google in initial days helped survive in industry which was dominated by industry power house like Yahoo and Microsoft and later on helped it emerge as the winner. Google has focused on its strength by constantly projecting solutions to problems first rather than making money.
Google has
The Birth
The beginning of the story, Google started when Sergey Brin and Larry Page were doing their Ph.D. at Stanford University in computer science, as a part of research group called MIDAS (Mining Data at Stanford). Sergey Brin, with his Professor Rajiv Motwani started experimenting on finding ways to extract information from large chunks of data. Larry Page, at the same time spent time with the search engines (Altavista, Yahoo etc.) on Digital Libraries Project to find how they analyzed data.
Sergey Brin and Larry Page, after teaming up started downloading the web onto his desktop and even devised a method he called PageRank that would assign priority to websites with quality links. The PageRank, going forward would be backbone of the search engine Google.
In 1997, Page developed a primitive search engine called BackRub which was later renamed Google. The duo left Stanford University in the fall of 1998 moving their search engine to a nearby garage. On September 07, 1998, they established the Google Inc. The duo started experimenting on the Google’s web design to make it look more polished with high speed.
The Early Days
The search engine became quite popular through word-of-mouth, e-mails and instant messages. In 1998, PC Magazine had chosen Google as the top 100 web sites. By 2001, Google was on its way to become a lexicon in the dictionary continuing to offer 100 million searches per day making it one of the top notch quality services to people across the world.
Google started with difference and positioned it as no-nonsense search engine. Google, unlike traditional search engines which place search ads mixing them with search results to make money, started delivering accurate results to the keywords placed in search. They found the idea of placing ads in the site more commercialized and will ultimately dilute the main purpose of the search engines.
In Search of Revenue Model
The duo realized that only great product will not generate revenue they have to work on the revenue model. But at the cost of revenue generation they were not in favor of compromising on the search results quality. The duo after much brainstorming with Google team finds out a source to earn revenues. Google develop its business around two revenue streams – online advertising and search services. Google has been generating enough revenue from its AdWords, AdSense and Gmail service. The revenue model was well received by the viewers and the users.
The difference between Google and Yahoo is the revenue factor. Yahoo gets its revenue from Yahoo mail, ads, and some other features where as Google gets almost 85% of its revenue from ads. Google’s success has incited Microsoft, AOL and Yahoo to develope their own commercial search offerings
Google – More than a Search Engine
In early days of search engine growth when most of the online search engine companies spent a lot of money on marketing to build their brands, Google, focused solely on building a ‘better’ search engine. Everything Google did from the development of advanced technology to the design of user interface was focused on delivering the best search results. The effort to develop a better search engine help Google develop a brand.
When Google entered the online search market, Yahoo was the market leader. Their persistent efforts towards that objective proved fruitful as, in a span of five years, Google placed itself ahead of Yahoo in the search engine market. In 2002, Google pioneered the concept of AdWords and AdSense, and thus created a sensation in the field of online advertising.
Now, Google is much more than a search engine, it offers various other features for its users. List of the services which Google offers to its users apart from the search engine are:
Google Desktop : Search and personalize your computer
Google Earth : Explore the world from your computer
Google Finance : Business info, news, and interactive charts
iGoogle : Add news, games and more to the Google homepage
Images : Search for images on the web
Google Maps : View maps and directions
Google News - now with archive search; Search thousands of news stories
Google Scholar : Search scholarly papers
Google Video : Search for videos on Google Video and YouTube
Gmail : Fast, searchable email with less spam
Groups : Create mailing lists and discussion groups
Orkut : Meet new people and stay in touch with friends
Picasa : Find, edit and share your photos
Reader : Get all your blogs and news feeds fast
Sites : Create websites and secure group wikis
Google Talk : IM and call your friends through your computer
Google Translate : View web pages in other languages
Google YouTube : Watch, upload and share videos
Google is increasing its revenues with introduction of new features.
Google – growing with Strategic Partnerships and Acquisition
Google has served various strategic partnerships with companies like Yahoo!, AOL, Earthlink, and Ask Jeeves. The strategic partnership in place, its ad business was showing signs of good growth.
Read: Google built on Acquisition to know more about Google Acquisitions in past.
Google grew to such an extent that it was very tough replicating its network or business for its competitors. The constant innovation at Google is the real motive for its services.
Conclusion
Google will remain the best and popular company both electronically and emotionally. The company employs brilliant mathematicians, engineers and technologists to tackle all the problems. The Google team, have developed a firm that doesn’t need any introduction or promotion. It has replaced Microsoft with its rapid pace of innovation and mantle of leadership. Google has placed itself in a special position in the hearts and minds of many people throughout the world.
Brand Google
Google, the largest search engine, besides restricting itself as the number one search engine globally has become a one stop shop destination for many other offerings. It offers G-mail, the fast e-mail service; Google Earth replaced, atlas; Google News replaced newspapers and magazines. Google digitize all books available on the planet to offer e-versions of books. With so much to offer, it was no wonder that starting its journey as a humble search engine in late nineties, the company had emerged as one of the most powerful brands by 2006.
Beginning of Journey
Google was co-founded by Larry Page and Sergey Brin while they were students at Stanford University. Larry Page and Sergey Brin planned to develop a new way for online search. The idea behind the setting up of the Google was to organize all the globally available information and make it accessible and useful to all people across the world. Google was incorporated as a privately held company on September 7, 1998.
In 2000, Google was answering 18 million queries daily and maintained a repository of one billion URLs (Uniform Resource Locator). Unlike other search engines, which relied on servers to answer the queries, Google linked PCs to answer the query fast and in accurate manner. This technology leads to a faster response time, greater scalability and lesser cost.
Google offers search facility on different subjects, in different languages, and users could search information on Google Toolbar, Google Deskbar, and on mobile through WAP and i-mode phones. Along with search facilities, Google also provided images, pages in different languages, airlines information and phone numbers, spell check and translation of web pages. Google to stay ahead in the competition and to become one of the most innovative companies, Google used PageRank and Hypertext-Matching Analysis technologies to provide reliable, fast and accurate information.
Google – Name
When Larry Page and Sergey Brin established Google, the prime focus was on developing a ‘perfect search engine’ as Larry Page, defined Google as some thing that, ‘understands exactly what you mean and gives you back exactly what you want’.
The name ‘Google’ was derived from the word ‘googol’ which meant a mathematical term for 1 followed by 100 zeroes (Googol means 10100). The company was named by nine year old Milton Sirotta, nephew of noted American mathematician Edward Kasner, and was popularized in the book, “Mathematics and the Imagination” by Edward Kasner and James Newman. The name Google itself portrayed the company’s mission to organize information available on the internet. The name and meaning of the name reflected the company’s mission to organize virtually all the information available on the web and make it easily available free of cost. The word Google portrayed both technological and scientific supremacy and not an improbable, silly word.
Google – USP
The unique selling proposition of the Google brand was its searching specialization. Contrary to other search engines, which was evolved as media portals, Google remained a search engine. The four elements based on which Larry Page and Sergey Brin positioned Google differently from the rest of the companies were speed, accuracy, objectivity and easy usage. The easy usage and benefit transformed Google from a search engine to one of the most successful global brands.
Google – Logo
In 1998 Sergey Brin designed the logo of the company, to portray the essence of a cheerful, innovative and technical brand. Sergey Brin wanted Google to carry the fancy and fun Image which reflects in its name, image and logo of the company. The colorful rounded edges depicted that the company is approachable and friendly but at the same time means business and was serious about its work. Google, backed by a great idea and concept, supported by a service that delivers and portrayed by a fun logo and a relevant name, the company enjoyed high brand loyalty.
Google – Brand Expansion
By 2000, Google piggyback on the four elements – Speed, accuracy, objectivity and ease of use became the largest Internet search engine. With time only one aspect of Google brand changed, which was done in a careful manner. It extended its philosophy from online internet search to easy availability of information, without considering the mode of delivery. Google retained its core online search engine as a separate brand identity and launched a separate brand for its different product category. (I will discuss Google – Brand Expansion in detail soon)
In 2004, Google created new product categories and forayed into unrelated areas viz. social networking, email services, Google earth, Google mini. The Google Search Appliance, the new hardware of Google also signified the brand image of Google.
Google – word-of-mouth way
In 2006, Google became Generic brand with its unique model of service. Google also became synonymous for online search. Google became a household name and attained a power brand status without any advertising expenditure. The company did not spend anything on print or electronic media or online banners. Google, instead of developing the brand through the traditional way of advertising, focused on experience – user experience, customer experience or searcher experience. Google is a classic example of a power brand built on word-of-mouth. Google has strong word-of-mouth because it delivers on its uncomplicated promise. Its reputation spread with word of mouth from millions of satisfied users of Google as a search engine and helped the brand building process.
Google – Marching Ahead
A simple and uncomplicated business model which was supported by a simple brand and logo was the main prerequisite for the company’s success. Google portrayed itself as a company of 21st century and amazed many companies with its meteoric success.
Beginning of Journey
Google was co-founded by Larry Page and Sergey Brin while they were students at Stanford University. Larry Page and Sergey Brin planned to develop a new way for online search. The idea behind the setting up of the Google was to organize all the globally available information and make it accessible and useful to all people across the world. Google was incorporated as a privately held company on September 7, 1998.
In 2000, Google was answering 18 million queries daily and maintained a repository of one billion URLs (Uniform Resource Locator). Unlike other search engines, which relied on servers to answer the queries, Google linked PCs to answer the query fast and in accurate manner. This technology leads to a faster response time, greater scalability and lesser cost.
Google offers search facility on different subjects, in different languages, and users could search information on Google Toolbar, Google Deskbar, and on mobile through WAP and i-mode phones. Along with search facilities, Google also provided images, pages in different languages, airlines information and phone numbers, spell check and translation of web pages. Google to stay ahead in the competition and to become one of the most innovative companies, Google used PageRank and Hypertext-Matching Analysis technologies to provide reliable, fast and accurate information.
Google – Name
When Larry Page and Sergey Brin established Google, the prime focus was on developing a ‘perfect search engine’ as Larry Page, defined Google as some thing that, ‘understands exactly what you mean and gives you back exactly what you want’.
The name ‘Google’ was derived from the word ‘googol’ which meant a mathematical term for 1 followed by 100 zeroes (Googol means 10100). The company was named by nine year old Milton Sirotta, nephew of noted American mathematician Edward Kasner, and was popularized in the book, “Mathematics and the Imagination” by Edward Kasner and James Newman. The name Google itself portrayed the company’s mission to organize information available on the internet. The name and meaning of the name reflected the company’s mission to organize virtually all the information available on the web and make it easily available free of cost. The word Google portrayed both technological and scientific supremacy and not an improbable, silly word.
Google – USP
The unique selling proposition of the Google brand was its searching specialization. Contrary to other search engines, which was evolved as media portals, Google remained a search engine. The four elements based on which Larry Page and Sergey Brin positioned Google differently from the rest of the companies were speed, accuracy, objectivity and easy usage. The easy usage and benefit transformed Google from a search engine to one of the most successful global brands.
Google – Logo
In 1998 Sergey Brin designed the logo of the company, to portray the essence of a cheerful, innovative and technical brand. Sergey Brin wanted Google to carry the fancy and fun Image which reflects in its name, image and logo of the company. The colorful rounded edges depicted that the company is approachable and friendly but at the same time means business and was serious about its work. Google, backed by a great idea and concept, supported by a service that delivers and portrayed by a fun logo and a relevant name, the company enjoyed high brand loyalty.
Google – Brand Expansion
By 2000, Google piggyback on the four elements – Speed, accuracy, objectivity and ease of use became the largest Internet search engine. With time only one aspect of Google brand changed, which was done in a careful manner. It extended its philosophy from online internet search to easy availability of information, without considering the mode of delivery. Google retained its core online search engine as a separate brand identity and launched a separate brand for its different product category. (I will discuss Google – Brand Expansion in detail soon)
In 2004, Google created new product categories and forayed into unrelated areas viz. social networking, email services, Google earth, Google mini. The Google Search Appliance, the new hardware of Google also signified the brand image of Google.
Google – word-of-mouth way
In 2006, Google became Generic brand with its unique model of service. Google also became synonymous for online search. Google became a household name and attained a power brand status without any advertising expenditure. The company did not spend anything on print or electronic media or online banners. Google, instead of developing the brand through the traditional way of advertising, focused on experience – user experience, customer experience or searcher experience. Google is a classic example of a power brand built on word-of-mouth. Google has strong word-of-mouth because it delivers on its uncomplicated promise. Its reputation spread with word of mouth from millions of satisfied users of Google as a search engine and helped the brand building process.
Google – Marching Ahead
A simple and uncomplicated business model which was supported by a simple brand and logo was the main prerequisite for the company’s success. Google portrayed itself as a company of 21st century and amazed many companies with its meteoric success.
Yahoo! built out of Alliances, Acquisitions (and looking for Merger)
In 1994, Jerry Yang and David Filo, the two young PhD computer science students from the Stanford University, started compiling list of their favorite websites as a hobby. They also listed them on websites. They developed Web-searching software which helped in web search and indexing sites. They categorized and subcategorized their websites for better search result. The website in the early days was categorized under Art, Business, Computers, Economy, and Education and also subcategorized each of the categories soon became too cumbersome, as the number of websites in their list increased. Jerry Yang and David Filo named the search list Yahoo.
By January 1995, Yahoo, had 10,000 websites and was getting one million hits a day. However, the indexing was still done by humans. During the same time, Yahoo had to be moved out of the Stanford University server where it was hosted.
By this time, Yahoo had gained fame and respect and venture capitalists showed interests in investing in Yahoo against a pie of Yahoo. The industry had recognized the potential of Yahoo and AOL wanted to buy Yahoo for $2 million. However, both Yang and Filo declined the offer. The media covered these events in detail which helped Yahoo gain visibility. The feature story in Newsweek during that time coined the expression ‘did a Yahoo.’ This coinage was later modified to become the company’s famous slogan ‘Do You Yahoo!?’
Launch
In March 1995, Yang, Filo and Tim Brady (a friend of Yang) wrote the business plan for Yahoo. The business plan put forth the vision of Yahoo; to become the ‘TV Guide of the Internet.’ The business plan also focused on advertisers to help generate its revenues, without charging any fees from the users.
The plan also stressed the importance of Yahoo’s independence, editorial impartiality, brand equity and free service for the end users. The business plan also listed that the second-biggest source of income should be through licensing deals.
The business plan announced Filo as president and CEO, and Yang as chairman and CFO.
In March 1995, Yahoo was incorporated and in April the company got its first $1 mn venture funding from Sequoia Capital. As soon as venture funding was received, the founders put an interim management in place at Yahoo. Yahoo launched its website in early August 1995.
Yahoo Expansion
In April 1996, Yahoo launched Yahoo Japan as a joint venture with Softbank, with Yahoo and Softbank owning 40% and 60% respectively. However, in all other cases it always held the majority stake. In Europe, Yahoo launched as Yahoo Europe in United Kingdom, Germany and France along with rest of Western Europe with Ziff Davis Yahoo held 70% of the equity stake while Ziff Davis held only 30%.
Yahoo forged strategic alliances with different companies like Procter & Gamble, Walmart, Coca-Cola, Nabisco, Pepsi, Microsoft, and Real Networks. To improve its pure search capability, Yahoo licensed AltaVista’s search engine and to broaden its distribution, Yahoo forged deals with Compaq and Gateway which allowed Yahoo to put its button on the desktops of Compaq and Gateway PCs. However, Yahoo and MTV alliance to create, a music search engine failed soon after its creation.
Yahoo initially started as a search engine, but with alliances and joint ventures it slowly developed as a portal. Mostly growth happened through acquisitions. Some of the companies acquired by Yahoo were Flickr, Konfabulator, Upcoming.org, Del.icio.us, and Webjay. The new Yahoo search engine was built on the acquired technology from Inktomi and Overture. The new search engine created the best search technology for consumers and an effective advertising platform for the advertisers. Yahoo also launched Yahoo 360, a social networking service.
In long run, Yahoo has become a victim of success. The company had adopted the model of being a one-stop portal, offering all the services on its web site. Yahoo’s homepage had links to a host of products and services like e-mail, music, mobile, small business services, health, finance, games, movies, personals, etc.
Acquired Companies
2002 Hotjobs, Inktomi
2003 Overture,
2004 3721 Internet Assistant, Kelkoo, Oddpost, The All-Seeing Eye, Music Match, Stata Labs Inc, WUF Networks
2005 Verdisoft, Ludicorp Research, (Flickr), Stadeon, TeRespondo, Dialpad
2005 blo.gs, Konfabulator, Alibaba, Upcoming.org, Whereonearth, del.icio.us
2006 Searchfox, Meedio, Gmarket, Jumpcut.com, Adlnterax, Right Media, Kenet Works, Bix.com, Wretch
Strategic Alliances and Joint Ventures
During the same time, Yahoo initiated strategic partnerships. Yang’s objective of strategic partnerships was, to leverage relationships for future financing, rather than raising money. They zeroed on Reuters, and struck a distribution and revenue sharing deal with Reuters. The success of the yahoo – Reuters deal led Yahoo to bring together a pilot program of six advertisers like GM and Visa, each of which paid $20,000 per month.
As the number of paid advertisers along with the daily visitors in Yahoo’s website increased, few companies showed interests in investing in Yahoo. Reuters, computer-magazine publisher Ziff Davis, Japanese software publisher and distributor giant Softbank invested in Yahoo against a portion of its equity
stake. Reuters invested $1 mn for a 2.5% stake, Ziff Davis and Softbank each invested $2 mn for 5% stakes.
In 1999 when the dotcoms started to collapse in 1999, and the advertising market shrank, Yahoo had to search new ways other than advertising to make money. Yahoo started charging for some of its existing services, like auctions and personals and introduced new paid services, like extra storage space for email and photos, registration of personal domain names and tools for building personal Web pages. In 1999, Yahoo also entered the ecommerce business by introducing Yahoo Shopping where 9000 merchants joined. Yahoo also partnered with Kmart’s retail website, BlueLight.com, to provide free Internet access to the users, with the objective of attracting large number of new Net-savvy customers.
By January 1995, Yahoo, had 10,000 websites and was getting one million hits a day. However, the indexing was still done by humans. During the same time, Yahoo had to be moved out of the Stanford University server where it was hosted.
By this time, Yahoo had gained fame and respect and venture capitalists showed interests in investing in Yahoo against a pie of Yahoo. The industry had recognized the potential of Yahoo and AOL wanted to buy Yahoo for $2 million. However, both Yang and Filo declined the offer. The media covered these events in detail which helped Yahoo gain visibility. The feature story in Newsweek during that time coined the expression ‘did a Yahoo.’ This coinage was later modified to become the company’s famous slogan ‘Do You Yahoo!?’
Launch
In March 1995, Yang, Filo and Tim Brady (a friend of Yang) wrote the business plan for Yahoo. The business plan put forth the vision of Yahoo; to become the ‘TV Guide of the Internet.’ The business plan also focused on advertisers to help generate its revenues, without charging any fees from the users.
The plan also stressed the importance of Yahoo’s independence, editorial impartiality, brand equity and free service for the end users. The business plan also listed that the second-biggest source of income should be through licensing deals.
The business plan announced Filo as president and CEO, and Yang as chairman and CFO.
In March 1995, Yahoo was incorporated and in April the company got its first $1 mn venture funding from Sequoia Capital. As soon as venture funding was received, the founders put an interim management in place at Yahoo. Yahoo launched its website in early August 1995.
Yahoo Expansion
In April 1996, Yahoo launched Yahoo Japan as a joint venture with Softbank, with Yahoo and Softbank owning 40% and 60% respectively. However, in all other cases it always held the majority stake. In Europe, Yahoo launched as Yahoo Europe in United Kingdom, Germany and France along with rest of Western Europe with Ziff Davis Yahoo held 70% of the equity stake while Ziff Davis held only 30%.
Yahoo forged strategic alliances with different companies like Procter & Gamble, Walmart, Coca-Cola, Nabisco, Pepsi, Microsoft, and Real Networks. To improve its pure search capability, Yahoo licensed AltaVista’s search engine and to broaden its distribution, Yahoo forged deals with Compaq and Gateway which allowed Yahoo to put its button on the desktops of Compaq and Gateway PCs. However, Yahoo and MTV alliance to create, a music search engine failed soon after its creation.
Yahoo initially started as a search engine, but with alliances and joint ventures it slowly developed as a portal. Mostly growth happened through acquisitions. Some of the companies acquired by Yahoo were Flickr, Konfabulator, Upcoming.org, Del.icio.us, and Webjay. The new Yahoo search engine was built on the acquired technology from Inktomi and Overture. The new search engine created the best search technology for consumers and an effective advertising platform for the advertisers. Yahoo also launched Yahoo 360, a social networking service.
In long run, Yahoo has become a victim of success. The company had adopted the model of being a one-stop portal, offering all the services on its web site. Yahoo’s homepage had links to a host of products and services like e-mail, music, mobile, small business services, health, finance, games, movies, personals, etc.
Acquired Companies
2002 Hotjobs, Inktomi
2003 Overture,
2004 3721 Internet Assistant, Kelkoo, Oddpost, The All-Seeing Eye, Music Match, Stata Labs Inc, WUF Networks
2005 Verdisoft, Ludicorp Research, (Flickr), Stadeon, TeRespondo, Dialpad
2005 blo.gs, Konfabulator, Alibaba, Upcoming.org, Whereonearth, del.icio.us
2006 Searchfox, Meedio, Gmarket, Jumpcut.com, Adlnterax, Right Media, Kenet Works, Bix.com, Wretch
Strategic Alliances and Joint Ventures
During the same time, Yahoo initiated strategic partnerships. Yang’s objective of strategic partnerships was, to leverage relationships for future financing, rather than raising money. They zeroed on Reuters, and struck a distribution and revenue sharing deal with Reuters. The success of the yahoo – Reuters deal led Yahoo to bring together a pilot program of six advertisers like GM and Visa, each of which paid $20,000 per month.
As the number of paid advertisers along with the daily visitors in Yahoo’s website increased, few companies showed interests in investing in Yahoo. Reuters, computer-magazine publisher Ziff Davis, Japanese software publisher and distributor giant Softbank invested in Yahoo against a portion of its equity
stake. Reuters invested $1 mn for a 2.5% stake, Ziff Davis and Softbank each invested $2 mn for 5% stakes.
In 1999 when the dotcoms started to collapse in 1999, and the advertising market shrank, Yahoo had to search new ways other than advertising to make money. Yahoo started charging for some of its existing services, like auctions and personals and introduced new paid services, like extra storage space for email and photos, registration of personal domain names and tools for building personal Web pages. In 1999, Yahoo also entered the ecommerce business by introducing Yahoo Shopping where 9000 merchants joined. Yahoo also partnered with Kmart’s retail website, BlueLight.com, to provide free Internet access to the users, with the objective of attracting large number of new Net-savvy customers.
Kamal Haasan
Kamal Haasan is an actor, producer, director, screenwriter, lyricist, playback singer and choreographer has won a total of 172 awards which is more than any other actor in the world living or dead. He was named as "kalaignani" – an idol of art, by M. Karunanidhi for his classical work towards Tamil cinema. The kalaignani was born on November 7, 1954 is the youngest of four children born in to an Iyengar family to Rajalakshmi and Srinivasan.
Early career: 1960s – 1970s
Kamal Haasan began his career as a child artist at age of six. In the 1960s, he made his screen debut with film Kalathur Kannamma, produced by AVM production and directed by by A. Bhimsingh, and won his first National Award for Best Child Artist. He acted as a child actor in five other Tamil films in the subsequent few years.
In 1972, after completing his education, Kamal Haasan returned to films and played supporting roles to more estblished actors. In 1974, Naan Avanillai final establishing him as a lead actor and in the same year he received a regional Filmfare Award for his role in the Malayalam movie Kanyakumari. The next four years, he won six regional Best Actor Filmfare Awards, including four consecutive Best Tamil Actor Awards.
Kamal Haasan in most of his late 1970s films, was usually the hero, with Rajinikanth as the villain. He reached stardom in 1979 with multiple classics and mass blockbusters. A huge factor behind Kamal's success is his versatility.
Growth career: 1980s – 1990s
In 1981, Kamal Haasan' acted in 100th film Raja Paarvai, which also marked his debut in film production. The portrayal of a blind session violinist earned him a Filmfare Award. In 1981, he incidentally ventured into direction. This was his first attempt at direction, which came through an unfortunate turn of events with the demise of director T.N. Baalu during the filming of Sankarlal. Kamal Haasan's next acting role, in Ek Duuje Ke Liye, became his first Hindi-language film. In 1985, his performance in Saagar, won him both the Filmfare Best Actor Award as well as the Best Supporting Actor Award, making him the first actor to win both awards for a single film in the award's history.
In 1987, Mani Rathnam' directed him for Nayagan, commonly referred to The Godfather of Tamil cinema. The film helped Kamal Haasan bag a Indian National Award. The film was nominated by India as its entry for the Best Foreign Language Film for the Academy Awards in 1987. in 1990, Kamal Hassan received India's fourth highest civilian honour, the Padma Shri for his services to Indian cinema.
Unlike the eighties, Kamal Haasan films in the nineties lost sheen and were unsuccessful, barring Thevar Magan, Michael Madhana Kamarajan, and Avvai Shanmugi. The 1990s saw Kamal Haasan breaking out of the romantic hero mould to explore some more gritty, unconventional roles. In 1996, he acted in the police cop story, Kuruthipunal, which met with a strong critical reception. The success in Kuruthipunal, was followed by Indian which helped him bag him third National Film Award for Best Actor. Kamal Haasan's second attempt at direction came through another unfortunate turn of events when the original director Shantanu Sheroey failed to do a good job while filming Chachi 420 in 1997.
New century – A new beginning
In 2000, Kamal Haasan filmed his second directorial venture, Hey Ram. He also donned roles of the writer, the lyricist, the choreogrpaher and the producer for the movie Hey Ram. The decade also saw his third directorial venture, Virumaandi. In 2006, Kamal Haasan's long delayed project, Vettaiyaadu Vilaiyaadu became a blockbuster at the box office. Kamal Haasan latest release, Dasavatharam has got positive response of audiences. He is set to direct his fourth directorial venture under the production of Walt Disney Pictures. The film tentatively titled Marmayogi, is believed to be set in the 7th century and feature several leading stars in the lead roles alongside Haasan. The film was announced with a higher budget than Dasavatharam.
Hollywood Inspiration
Kamal Haasan's remakes are usually inspired by Hollywood originals, but the story and screenplay are customized for Indian Audiences viz. Nayagan was inspired by Godfather, Avvai Shanmugi and Chachi 420 were inspired by Mrs. Doubtfire, Anbe Sivam was inspired by Planes, Trains & Automobiles, Sathi Leelavathi was inspired by She-Devil, and Magalir Mattum was inspired by Nine to Five.
Awards
Kamal Haasan is a three-time winner of the National Film Award for Best Actor for the films Nayagan, Moondram Pirai and Indian. He also won the national award for Best Child Actor for his performance in Kalathur Kannamma. Six of his movies have been sent as India's official entry to the Oscars. He has won the Filmfare awards 18 times. He was awarded the Padmashri in 1990. He has won a total of 172 awards which is more than any other actor in the world living or dead. He was named as "kalaignani" – an idol of art, by M. Karunanidhi for his classical work towards Tamil cinema. In 2007, he was conferred with "Living Legend" in the film business by FICCI, India.
Source: http://www.chakpak.com, and http://www.imdb.com, http://www.screenindia.com, http://www.apunkachoice.com,
Early career: 1960s – 1970s
Kamal Haasan began his career as a child artist at age of six. In the 1960s, he made his screen debut with film Kalathur Kannamma, produced by AVM production and directed by by A. Bhimsingh, and won his first National Award for Best Child Artist. He acted as a child actor in five other Tamil films in the subsequent few years.
In 1972, after completing his education, Kamal Haasan returned to films and played supporting roles to more estblished actors. In 1974, Naan Avanillai final establishing him as a lead actor and in the same year he received a regional Filmfare Award for his role in the Malayalam movie Kanyakumari. The next four years, he won six regional Best Actor Filmfare Awards, including four consecutive Best Tamil Actor Awards.
Kamal Haasan in most of his late 1970s films, was usually the hero, with Rajinikanth as the villain. He reached stardom in 1979 with multiple classics and mass blockbusters. A huge factor behind Kamal's success is his versatility.
Growth career: 1980s – 1990s
In 1981, Kamal Haasan' acted in 100th film Raja Paarvai, which also marked his debut in film production. The portrayal of a blind session violinist earned him a Filmfare Award. In 1981, he incidentally ventured into direction. This was his first attempt at direction, which came through an unfortunate turn of events with the demise of director T.N. Baalu during the filming of Sankarlal. Kamal Haasan's next acting role, in Ek Duuje Ke Liye, became his first Hindi-language film. In 1985, his performance in Saagar, won him both the Filmfare Best Actor Award as well as the Best Supporting Actor Award, making him the first actor to win both awards for a single film in the award's history.
In 1987, Mani Rathnam' directed him for Nayagan, commonly referred to The Godfather of Tamil cinema. The film helped Kamal Haasan bag a Indian National Award. The film was nominated by India as its entry for the Best Foreign Language Film for the Academy Awards in 1987. in 1990, Kamal Hassan received India's fourth highest civilian honour, the Padma Shri for his services to Indian cinema.
Unlike the eighties, Kamal Haasan films in the nineties lost sheen and were unsuccessful, barring Thevar Magan, Michael Madhana Kamarajan, and Avvai Shanmugi. The 1990s saw Kamal Haasan breaking out of the romantic hero mould to explore some more gritty, unconventional roles. In 1996, he acted in the police cop story, Kuruthipunal, which met with a strong critical reception. The success in Kuruthipunal, was followed by Indian which helped him bag him third National Film Award for Best Actor. Kamal Haasan's second attempt at direction came through another unfortunate turn of events when the original director Shantanu Sheroey failed to do a good job while filming Chachi 420 in 1997.
New century – A new beginning
In 2000, Kamal Haasan filmed his second directorial venture, Hey Ram. He also donned roles of the writer, the lyricist, the choreogrpaher and the producer for the movie Hey Ram. The decade also saw his third directorial venture, Virumaandi. In 2006, Kamal Haasan's long delayed project, Vettaiyaadu Vilaiyaadu became a blockbuster at the box office. Kamal Haasan latest release, Dasavatharam has got positive response of audiences. He is set to direct his fourth directorial venture under the production of Walt Disney Pictures. The film tentatively titled Marmayogi, is believed to be set in the 7th century and feature several leading stars in the lead roles alongside Haasan. The film was announced with a higher budget than Dasavatharam.
Hollywood Inspiration
Kamal Haasan's remakes are usually inspired by Hollywood originals, but the story and screenplay are customized for Indian Audiences viz. Nayagan was inspired by Godfather, Avvai Shanmugi and Chachi 420 were inspired by Mrs. Doubtfire, Anbe Sivam was inspired by Planes, Trains & Automobiles, Sathi Leelavathi was inspired by She-Devil, and Magalir Mattum was inspired by Nine to Five.
Awards
Kamal Haasan is a three-time winner of the National Film Award for Best Actor for the films Nayagan, Moondram Pirai and Indian. He also won the national award for Best Child Actor for his performance in Kalathur Kannamma. Six of his movies have been sent as India's official entry to the Oscars. He has won the Filmfare awards 18 times. He was awarded the Padmashri in 1990. He has won a total of 172 awards which is more than any other actor in the world living or dead. He was named as "kalaignani" – an idol of art, by M. Karunanidhi for his classical work towards Tamil cinema. In 2007, he was conferred with "Living Legend" in the film business by FICCI, India.
Source: http://www.chakpak.com, and http://www.imdb.com, http://www.screenindia.com, http://www.apunkachoice.com,
Kamal Haasan filmography
1960 Kalathur Kannamma Tamil Winner: National Film Award for Best Child Artist
1975 Apoorva Raagangal Tamil Winner: Filmfare Best Tamil Actor Award
1977 16 Vayathinile Tamil Winner: Filmfare Best Tamil Actor Award
1982 Moondram Pirai Tamil Winner: National Film Award for Best Actor
1983 Sagara Sangamam Telugu Winner: Filmfare Best Telugu Actor Award,Nandi Award for Best Actor
1987 Nayagan Tamil Winner: National Film Award for Best Actor
1988 Pushpak Silent Winner: Filmfare Best Kannada Actor Award
1989 Apoorva Sagodharargal Tamil Portrayed triple roles
1991 Michael Madhana Kamarajan Rajan Tamil Portrayed four roles, Scripted and Produced by Kamal Haasan, Scripted and Produced by Kamal Haasan
1992 Thevar Magan Tamil Winner: Filmfare Best Tamil Actor Award
1996 Indian Tamil Portrayed a dual role, Winner: National Film Award for Best Actor, Filmfare Best Tamil Actor Award
1998 Chachi 420 Tamil Produced, Scripted, and Directed Kamal Haasan
2000 Hey Ram Tamil Winner: Filmfare Best Tamil Actor Award, Simultaneously made into Hindi as Hey Ram, Produced, Scripted, and Directed Kamal Haasan
2001 Aalavandhan Tamil Portrayed a dual role
2003 Anbe Sivam Tamil Scripted by Kamal Haasan
2004 Virumaandi Tamil Produced, Scripted, and Directed Kamal Haasan
2006 Vettaiyadu Vilayadu Tamil Scripted by Kamal Haasan
2008 Dasavatharam Tamil Portrayed 10 different roles, Directed By K.S. Ravikumar, Story, Screenplay and Scripted by Kamal Haasan, Produced by Aascar Ravichandran
1975 Apoorva Raagangal Tamil Winner: Filmfare Best Tamil Actor Award
1977 16 Vayathinile Tamil Winner: Filmfare Best Tamil Actor Award
1982 Moondram Pirai Tamil Winner: National Film Award for Best Actor
1983 Sagara Sangamam Telugu Winner: Filmfare Best Telugu Actor Award,Nandi Award for Best Actor
1987 Nayagan Tamil Winner: National Film Award for Best Actor
1988 Pushpak Silent Winner: Filmfare Best Kannada Actor Award
1989 Apoorva Sagodharargal Tamil Portrayed triple roles
1991 Michael Madhana Kamarajan Rajan Tamil Portrayed four roles, Scripted and Produced by Kamal Haasan, Scripted and Produced by Kamal Haasan
1992 Thevar Magan Tamil Winner: Filmfare Best Tamil Actor Award
1996 Indian Tamil Portrayed a dual role, Winner: National Film Award for Best Actor, Filmfare Best Tamil Actor Award
1998 Chachi 420 Tamil Produced, Scripted, and Directed Kamal Haasan
2000 Hey Ram Tamil Winner: Filmfare Best Tamil Actor Award, Simultaneously made into Hindi as Hey Ram, Produced, Scripted, and Directed Kamal Haasan
2001 Aalavandhan Tamil Portrayed a dual role
2003 Anbe Sivam Tamil Scripted by Kamal Haasan
2004 Virumaandi Tamil Produced, Scripted, and Directed Kamal Haasan
2006 Vettaiyadu Vilayadu Tamil Scripted by Kamal Haasan
2008 Dasavatharam Tamil Portrayed 10 different roles, Directed By K.S. Ravikumar, Story, Screenplay and Scripted by Kamal Haasan, Produced by Aascar Ravichandran
Archies Apparel Branding
Archies Limited was set up in 1979 by Anil Moolchandani is an Indian company into the business of manufacturing and selling greeting cards and other social expression products like gifts and posters. Archies has a market share of about 50% of India’s greeting cards market. Archies has about 2000 outlets and franchisees, called Archies Galleries, spread across 120 cities and 6 countries. Archies has licensing arrangements for popular merchandising characters like Dennis the Menace and Disney characters. It has got arrangements with Paramount Cards. Inc, Carlton Cards, Expressions Gifts Co, Anne Geddes, American Greetings, for greeting card design, and Russberrie – a designer company and pioneers in soft toys, to source gifts. Last month, Archies had entered into a licensing agreement with UK’s leading brand Paper Island to market and distribute its flagship brand Fizzy Moon in India. They also entered the apparel business and is offering tee shirts under the brand name ‘Ginger Lemon’ and plan to enter the luxury product segment for infants this year.
Archies to replicate the humor of the greeting cards into tee shirts venture into the apparel business. This is an attempt to offer a product to suit individual buying. It can be seen as the migration from the Archies positioning from a gift company to merchandise and gift company. These tee shirts are targeted at the youth and will be priced between Rs 325 and Rs 399. Initially there will be 40 designs and Archies plans to introduce new designs each month replacing older ones. The tee shirts will be available across Archies stores and other multi-brand apparel stores.
The company will also enter a new segment of luxury toys and accessories for infants, this year. Archies has tied up with US based soft toys and infant accessories maker GUND for new-born babies. GUND’s portfolio includes soft toys , apparel, accessories and even room decor products for new borns.
Archies to replicate the humor of the greeting cards into tee shirts venture into the apparel business. This is an attempt to offer a product to suit individual buying. It can be seen as the migration from the Archies positioning from a gift company to merchandise and gift company. These tee shirts are targeted at the youth and will be priced between Rs 325 and Rs 399. Initially there will be 40 designs and Archies plans to introduce new designs each month replacing older ones. The tee shirts will be available across Archies stores and other multi-brand apparel stores.
The company will also enter a new segment of luxury toys and accessories for infants, this year. Archies has tied up with US based soft toys and infant accessories maker GUND for new-born babies. GUND’s portfolio includes soft toys , apparel, accessories and even room decor products for new borns.
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