Singham Again: Money lessons from Rohit Shetty’s Ramayana epic

Those who grew up watching Doordarshan, those who read Amar Chitra Katha, those who have heard the texts being chanted at homes, have seen many interpretations of the epic Ramayana in folk tales and during the Ram Leela being enacted in towns and cities small and big . In fact Dussehra and Diwali is celebrated in India as the triumphant return of Rama to Ayodhya after defeating Ravana. In Rohit Shetty’s cop universe, they take refuge in the same story of good vs evil and give it a popcorn treatment, cars blowing up and all that jazz…

What money lessons could we possibly learn from this epic tale?

Singham Returns is like Investing in Mutual Funds

Ads for Mutual Funds tell you that investing in them is the right choice. Here’s a simple reason why: as a single person, your money can only get you a limited amount of reach. When you pool in your money with other single investors and the money is invested by a professional, then you have many different kinds of stocks in your portfolio and earn the benefits of that bigger and better reach.

In the film, when the stakes are high - Sita has been kidnapped by the nighty Ravan and needs saving - Rama needs all the help he can muster to defeat Ravan’s army. Bajirao Singham (Ajay Devgn) seeks the help of Shakti Shetty (Deepika Padukone), Sangram Bhalerao aka Simmba (Ranveer Singh), Satya (Tiger Shroff) and Veer Suryavanshi (Akshay Kumar) to invade the domain where Danger Lanka (Arjun Kapoor is an amazing evil guy) has kidnapped and kept Singham’s wife Avni (the ever gorgeous Kareena Kapoor). Guns ablaze, bullets killing only the baddies this team recreates a rescue operation. It’s loud background score might harm your ears, but you come away chuckling because of the monkeying around of a Hanuman like Ranveer Singh.

Ajay Devgn has invested in a team that has different skill sets, just as your Mutual Fund manager invests in diverse stocks that pay handsome dividends because they work together to give you the benefits of the volume in which stocks are traded.

Stock Funds are like Ranveer Singh’s Simmba

As the name implies, this fund invests principally in equity or stocks. Some equity funds are named for the size of the companies they invest in: firms with small-, mid-, or large-sized capitalization. Others by their investment approach: aggressive growth, income-oriented, and value.

Ranveer Singh is shown to be like Hanuman in the film. And if you are familiar with the Epic, then you know Hanuman can change his size according to the need. He is gentle when he meets Avni, fierce when he just burns the lair of Danger Lanka just as Hanuman does.

Investing in Blue chip firms carry lesser risks than investing in small cap firms and yet, when the risk is great, the rewards can be greater too.

Akshay Kumar’s Suryavanshi is like a Money Market Fund

A money market fund is a kind of mutual fund that invests in highly liquid, near-term instruments. These include cash, securities equivalent to cash and high credit rating, debt based securities with short term maturity like treasuries.

Akshay Kumar’s Suryavanshi shows up when the baddies seem to be winning and he literally drops down from a helicopter (as is his cinematic entry style) to save the day.

So Akshay Kumar is your high-quality, short-term debt instrument, cash, and cash equivalent. If you compare him to other investing instruments, he’s low risk, generates income (taxable or tax-free, depending on its portfolio) but little capital appreciation. No matter how good he is, Simmba will always badmouth him!

Deepika Padukone’s Shakti and Tiger Shroff’s Satya are like Debt Funds

Deepika Padukone’s Shakti Shetty says she’s lady Singham, her dimple playing a huge role in making us smile back at her as she decimates the bad guys. Satya has grown up in an ashram, but he wields the Kalari blade beautifully and protects Avni and the others in the ashram when the baddies set fire to the buildings.

A Debt Fund is a Mutual Fund scheme that invests in fixed income instruments like government and corporate bonds, securities and other instruments that offer debt capital appreciation. Sometimes Debts Funds are called Fixed Income Funds or Bond Funds. That’s because their cost structure is low, they offer constant returns and are safe when compared to other instruments.

So if you are risk averse and want a regular income and cannot deal with the volatility of the markets, then invest in Debt Funds. You will achieve your financial goals in a tax efficient way and enjoy better returns.

Arjun Kapoor’s Danger Lanka is like all the risks rolled into one. When they see you dither, they will laugh, and the baddies can be easily crushed when you put your trust in your money manager and work as a team to make money!

This Rohit Shetty offering has all the crowd-pleasing lines and enough patriotism to appease all those who would be otherwise appalled by the violence and the ear-splitting sound. But if you are looking for some post festivities action without having to do anything more than putting your fingers into a bucket of cheese and caramel popcorn, then this film is your weekend watch.