The Indian Subcontinent in 2050

A timeline of events in the Indian subcontinent between 2035 and 2050.

The Great Indian War (2033-2038)

Rise of DUSS and PRT
Beginning in 2033 and lasting until mid-2038, the Great Indian War was, without a doubt, the bloodiest continental conflict since the Second World War, resulting in the deaths of over sixty seven million people including military casualties and civilian deaths and over two trillion dollars in terms of property damage and instrumental in completely changing the face of both Indian and Asian geopolitics forever. What began as ethnic and socioeconomic strife back in the 20s would spiral into a full-fledged continental war within ten years and while most scholars and historians regard 2033, the year of the declaration of independence of the southern Dravidian states, as the start of the Great Indian War, some argue that the war had begun as early as 2027 in the manner of ethnic and religious pogroms in India, especially targeted towards southern Indians and Muslims. Reaching a wide audience and acquiring great popular support for their separation from India, both the Dravidian Union of Socialist States and the People's Republic of Telangana were successful in keeping their territories under control despite heavy assaults and slowly chipped away at more and more territory; the city of Bengaluru, the tech capital of India, would fall to the DUSS in November 2035, a massive blow to an already deprecated morale in the Indian Army. The fall of the city also led to the Congress, already having been elected by a thin margin, to be voted out and replaced by the BJP although this time under Amit Shah, the assassinated former Prime Minister Modi's personal friend and ally. The civil strife in Maharashtra finally finds a voice in the newly rejuvenated Republican Marathi Congress (formerly the Republican Party of India), championing Marathi nationalism, secularism, anti-casteism, and laissez-faire capitalism with a focus on creating a welfare state. The party does not take up arms, however, and continues with its stance of non-violent resistance. Negotiations regarding increased autonomy with Delhi fail as the Indian economy completely collapses and inflation goes sky high, further cementing the idea of secession among all active groups and in states that had previously remained pro-Delhi as the odds of a return to a 'normal India' shrink away.
Indian GDP (incl. secessionists) in 2035: $6.4 trillion
Indian GDP (incl. secessionists) in 2036: $4.9 trillion
Indian GDP (incl. secessionists) in 2037: $3.7 trillion
The Gandharan Spring
Elsewhere, however, the archrival looks on while lapping up new and old investments and local growth as foreign investment meant for India is siphoned away to Pakistan, Southeast Asia, and even Central America. While civil strife continues in India, an entirely different movement strikes Pakistan - one demanding change, equality, and justice for all. While the Islamic Republic had slowly shied away from its Islamic morals and assumed a more pragmatic approach to world affairs and had significantly benefited from this new policy, it hadn't anticipated a social revolution to begin within its own borders. The thousands of coffee cafes established in its major (and liberal) cities became a breeding ground for new thought while the newfound prosperity through rapid economic development and industrialization led to a mass wave of 'wokeness' among the population. The annual women's march, coffee shop discussions, the emergence of Latin Urdu, and a new wave of Urdu poetry in the newly standardized Latin script became a part of a newly emerging unitary culture that transcended the bounds of ethnic nationalism and culminated into a cultural renaissance as people found new ways to express themselves, their words, and their art. Marches and protests to reduce military spending and the establishment of proper universal healthcare and social security became a norm as the country dived deep into what came to be known as the Gandharan Spring - named so after the ancient scholarly state of Gandhara. Economically, the Pakistani GDP exceeds $1.5 trillion in 2037 as new investments pour in and local industry, both large and small, prosper and the newly built planned city of Şahinpur becomes a major hub of technological innovation in Asia.
Total Collapse
But back in India, war was the only thing on the minds of the common people. Mass migrations across state and international lines further impacted local economies and the Dravidian cause became further ignited with the BJP's return to power, once again sparking ethnic conflict between the citizenry. Pogroms and killings continue as almost every state is plunged into anarchy over hyperinflation, ethnic and religious tensions, and the collapse of the Indian federation. Courts and the judiciary became irrelevant as the Constitution devolved into nothing more than a piece of paper and civil rights eroded away in the name of security and 'national integrity'. The Indian military, by now the only functional organ of the Delhi-based Indian government, becomes plagued with deserters and a collapsed morale among all ranks with nearly all but the staunchest of (Hindu) nationalists unwilling to fight to 'preserve the union'. Popular support for the Indian government is limited only to the states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar at this point with almost all other states in active revolt or too preoccupied with anarchy and ethnic, religious, or political unrest. Both the DUSS and PRT have gained strategically important and economically vital territory with the former gaining control of Madurai, Coimabatore, and Kochi port as well as large swathes of countryside in its claimed territory while the latter gained control over Hyderabad, the economic and political capital of Telangana.
But all was not rosy for the secessionists in the south either. With supplies running low and exhaustion high among its ranks, both the DUSS and PRT wanted, nay, needed, a quick end to this war. And that would come albeit not in a way they would've anticipated. In early July, Kashmir rose in uproar. While pro-Pakistani/independence militias had been active in the region since the departure of the British, this new uprising was far more organized and effective and an entire new front was opened up for the Indian government to worry about. This was also the first time the term 'Great Indian War' would be used to describe the civil strife going on in India. In response, the Indian military cracked down hard on the secessionists and news of continued war crimes in Kashmir would not be well-received by the neighbor to the west.
Here's Johnny!
True to its newfound commitment to 'neutrality', the Islamic Republic of Pakistan had remained neutral since the declaration of independence of the two southern secessionist groups. > On the eve of July 21, 2037 one of the few remaining squadrons of the Indian Navy intercepted an arms shipment from Djibouti en route to the southern port city of Kochi which had fallen into the hands of the DUSS and while it had been widely accepted that that country had been involved in this war in some capacity, the capture of the shipment finally sealed the deal for the hot-headed government of PM Amit Shah and the BJP. Although the shipment had decidedly come from Pakistan, the government in Islamabad wholly denied any involvement in the affair and called for 'peaceful dialog' between Delhi and the secessionists. Over the last two decades, the Islamic Republic had begun to care a lot about its international image, reflected in the permanent invitation it received from the United States to the G20, but the BJP, already seething with hatred for the country and holding it responsible for Narendra Modi's assassination all those years ago (that would ultimately snowball into the Great Indian War), would have none of it.
The very next day, the Indian military conducted a strategic surgical strike against a Pakistani military base in Gilgit-Baltistan which it defined as a 'warning shot' for its western neighbor to not interfere in its internal issues. All it did was ignite a national fervor that couldn't be extinguished even with the coldness of the deepest abyss. The three Pakistani soldiers killed in the strike were awarded the Nişan-i-Haider, the highest military award in the country, and Pakistan entered the Great Indian War with a declaration of war against the Republic of India on July 22, 2037.
The End
The initial Indian strike against Pakistan killed three Pakistani soldiers. The counterstrike conduced by the Pakistan Army as its first response killed forty seven Indian soldiers and disabled two Rafale fighter aircraft. But that was only the start.
During the kerfuffle between the two archrivals, major new developments would spring up across the rest of the subcontinent especially in the DUSS and Maharashtra. The Marathi Congress, beefed up with major donations (later revealed to be major Maharasthra-based businessmen such as Ambani and Tata as well as from anonymous accounts owned by REDACTED), took control of key buildings and locations in the state, including the very import Port of Mumbai, and declared independence from India as the Maratha Republic. In the south, ideological drift between the DUSS and PRT led to an end to an otherwise quite beneficial partnership between the two. The same ideological drift would begin to take hold within DUSS as well. Kerala, notable for its high standards of living and prosperity compared to other parts of India, began to wonder if it may be better off on its own just as Telangana had split to form a smaller but ultimately more manageable sovereign state. But the war had now escalated to a degree not initially imagined as the two competing megapowers of the region, India and Pakistan, finally came to a head.
While Pakistan had built up to a parity with its larger and traditionally stronger rival, it was the exhaustion of Indian forces that would give the smaller state the primary advantage early in the war as the fresh and qualitatively superior Pakistan Army blitzkrieged into Kashmir with its tank fleets of high-end Haider main battle tanks and state-of-the-art Griffin III IFVs, capturing Srinagar, Jammu, and the Siachen Glacier within twenty four hours of the declaration of war. Already exhausted in fighting the upstart rebels in the region, the Indian Army personnel stationed in Kashmir quickly resorted to defensive tactics as the invasive force rapidly captured town after town, putting sixty thousand of the ninety thousand strong Indian force under siege within just the first three days of conflict.
To the south, the Pakistan Navy destroyed the Indian naval bases in the state of Gujarat (the last pro-Delhi state on the western seaboard) and deploy a major submarine squadron in the region to deter any harassment from the massively depleted Indian Navy as it made its way south, breaking the blockade deployed against DUSS thus allowing relief aid (and weapons) to once again reach the rebels. But the actual intent of their move south would be revealed with the rapid landings of troops on the many tiny islands that made up the Lakshadweep union territory and the occupation of all government buildings and posts in the archipelago. By the end of the month, the Indian territories of Kashmir and the Lakshadweep islands had both been occupied by the invading Pakistani forces and a shockwave rocked the entire subcontinent to its core. The All India Trinamool Congress declared the independence of 'Kalinga Ganga' - a federation of the Indian states of West Bengal, Orissa, Jharkhand, and Chhattisgarh to 'oppose the fascist tendencies of the Delhi-based Hindi' with their capital in Kolkata. The Sikhs of Punjab declared the independence of the 'Khalsa' - the Sikh brotherhood worldwide - and called on all Sikhs to return home. In Delhi, Prime Minister Amit Shah handed power over to the military who declared martial law across the country, dissolved the Parliament, and declared the Constitution void. The Maratha Republic took this time to announce Pune, not Mumbai, as the capital of their nascent state.
At this time, cracks within the DUSS also began to show as the state of Kerala announced its separation from the socialist federation, declaring the People's Republic of Keralam, a social democratic state based on the principles established by the Self-Respect Movement and the original Dravidar Kazhagam rather than the European-derived ideology of the DUSS. Elsewhere, the Pakistan Navy crossed by Sri Lanka - where it refueled and restocked - and entered the Bay of Bengal to open up a brand new front in this massive continental war.
The Indian Army attempted five times to break the 'iron wall' - the Pakistan Army's three-thousand strong fleet of M1PK Matin tanks - but failed to make a dent, losing whatever was left of their morale and drive with every failed attempt. Indian formations were ripe targets for the Pakistan Air Force which maintained total air superiority in the war with its advanced aerial fleet of F-35s and AF-1 fifth generation plus fighter aircraft and this support allowed the Pakistanis to break into India proper on January 26, 2038 as they crossed the Punjab and seized control of the state for the newly declared Khalsa while the southern command crossed the Rann and captured all of the Kutch beyond the disputed border at Sir Creek. Already halved by personnel deserting and refusing to follow orders and to defections to the declared secessionist states, the defeated Indian Army was the first to capitulated following Pakistani landings on the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and the capture of Port Blair, Mayabunder, and Car Nicobar by Pakistani Marines.
The Indian Air Force was the next to follow. Having been defeated in the air, the IAF wouldn't find peace on the ground either as the enemy flew sortie after sortie, wrecking almost every airbase with its advanced platforms such as the F-35 and the AF-1. The defections to DUSS, PRT, Kerala, Maratha Republic, and Kalinga didn't help either and whatever was left of the Indian air fleets was lost in a final sortie over the city of Chandigarh as Pakistani troops crossed into the state of Haryana and came within two hundred kilometres of Delhi.
The last two states to secede from the Union were Goa and Garhwal, the latter of which claimed the northern Himalayan states of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand as their rightful territory while the former declared the small coastal state of Goa as its rightful sovereign territory. With two hundred thousand personnel in Kashmir, one hundred thousand in Gujarat, and about five thousand split between Lakshadeep and Andaman & Nicobar, the Pakistan Army entered Delhi on July 2, 2038 and forced the surrender of the final vestiges of the Indian military high command (and government) thus bringing the Great Indian War to a conclusion.
Treaty of Dharamsala
On August 14, 2038, exactly ninety one years after the independence of the subcontinent from British colonial rule, representatives from all belligerents of the Great Indian War met at the Himalayan capital of the newly-declared sovereign state of Garhwal to sign a treaty to decide the future of the Indian subcontinent and to ensure that this war would be the last of its kind, at least in the Indian subcontinent. The following are the salient features of the Treaty of Dharamsala.

• The Republic of India will be dissolved and its membership in all international organizations voided.
  
• All nuclear weapons and facilities to manufacture more nuclear weapons will be dismantled.
  
• No new sovereign state in the subcontinent will be regarded as the lawful successor state to the Republic of India and will seek memberships on their own merit.
  
• All new sovereign states will commit to the ideals of democracy, justice, and freedom.
  

Besides these salient points, all representatives set out to solve any territorial disputes that might cause tensions in the future. Pakistan claimed full sovereignty over the union territories of Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, Lakshadweep, and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands as well as the Kutch region of the state of Gujarat. Garhwal claimed full sovereignty over the Indian states of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand. Khalsa (Republic) claimed full sovereignty over the Indian state of Punjab and the union territory of Chandigarh. Kalinga Ganga claimed full sovereignty over the states of West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, Orissa, and Jharkhand. Kamarupa claimed full sovereignty over the Seven Sister States. The Maratha Republic claimed full sovereignty over the state of Maharashtra. The DUSS claimed full sovereignty over the states of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, and Karnataka as well as Puducherry, Karaikal, and Yanam districts of the union territory of Puducherry. Keralam claimed full sovereignty over the state of Kerala as well as the district of Mahe. PRT claimed full sovereignty over the state of Telangana. Nepal claimed sovereignty over the state of Sikkim. And finally, Gangarashtra claimed full sovereignty over the states of Haryana, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, and Bihar as well as the union territories of Delhi, Daman and Diu, and Dadra and Nagarhaveli.
Helpful map of the Treaty of Dharamsala

Rebuilding and the Mandala (2039-2044)

The conclusion of the Great Indian War completely changed the face of the subcontinent and left a permanent mark on world history. The dissolution of India left its archrival Pakistan as the new regional power in South Asia, further contributing to its rise as a major power. Outmatching any of the successor states of its once powerful rival in all relevant terms, the leadership in Islamabad instead adopted a different approach towards cementing its role as the leader of a new subcontinent. Instead of going the route of Russia and forcing its less powerful partners into being subservient subjects as seen in the USSR, the leadership instead looked towards Germany's role in the European Union not just as a leadership role but as a bonafide future for the Indian subcontinent. But first, it had to solve the rapidly rising issue back home.
In 2039, the Pakistani economy crossed the $2 trillion mark, solidifying its position as the largest economy in South Asia and among the largest in all of Asia as it overtook the severely damaged economy of South Korea following the end of the Second Korean War. Already being a 'permanent invitee' to the G20, it was also awarded India's now-vacant seat in the forum. But the renaissance that had sprung up during the Great Indian War had now become more than a social idea to be amused by. This Gandharan Spring had become the most important issue at home, inviting comparisons to the civil rights and counter-culture movements of the United States in the twentieth century. Pakistani cinema and television turned away from romantic dramas and towards something of more substance, tackling complex issues in a conservative, Islamic society such as drug use and pre-martial sex, women's empowerment and feminism, anti-state and anti-government feature films, and even films and dramas openly based on the Hindu heritage of the nation. Urdu literature, this time in the Latin script, saw a renaissance of its own and several instances of prose and poetry saw global success, works based on heritage and social issues rather than Islamic glory and prestige. Madrasahs became empty as parents chose functional skill over Islamic jurisprudence, attracting the ire of the mullahs who denounced the 'ever increasing degeneration' of the nation. But this was much bigger than them. The newly annexed territories of Jammu and Kashmir and the Andamans had brought in a, albeit small, but influential population of Hindus into the fold and they assimilated into this new Gandharan culture with ease.
Elsewhere, the Great War had left the rest of the subcontinent in a sorry state. Mass immigration and uncontrolled inflation had broken local economies while warfare had taken a severe toll on infrastructure. As relief, Islamabad organized the Hindustan Fund - a locally raised sum to help the broken economies of post-war India to once again find their footing and become functional sovereign states instead of going the route of Afghanistan and becoming burdens. Of course, such a task could never be accomplished by Pakistan alone and while the state did deliver about $88 billion in aid to the post-war states of the subcontinent over five years, substantial aid from the European Union, the United States, and China was significant in rebuilding these broken states. It is estimated that the total aid offered to these economies was in excess of $500 billion, enough to lay a groundwork on which to build new foundations for new states.
In 2043, the Pakistani economy crossed $3 trillion and accounted for almost half of the entire economy of the Indian subcontinent. But the Gandharan Spring had reached it breakout point and soon enough, the state would need to make some very crucial decisions.
On January 1, 2044 about forty million people across the country conducted what would come to be known as the Great Gandhara March, this time demanding significant decreases in military spending, a strong and robust healthcare and social security system, equality and liberty regardless of race and religion or any other personal metric, and a full transparent democratic system, calls that were then addressed personally by the state leadership and would be answered in the following two months.
On March 21, 2044 the state conducted a mass referendum to answer a singular question, threatened by a mass exodus of the younger, more progressive caucus of the People's Party if the demands were not addressed.
"Should Pakistan retain Islam as its official religion?
The answer was a resounding seventy eight percent no with an almost eighty five percent turnout. But this would only open the floodgates to a complete and total overhaul of the country. A second referendum would be held the next month asking the question,
"What should Pakistan's official name be?"
[ ] Islamic Republic of Pakistan
[ ] People's Islamic Republic of Pakistan
[ ] Republic of Pakistan
With eighty four percent of all votes choosing the final option, the official name of the country was changed once again to the name it had been awarded with the Constitution of 1962: the Republic of Pakistan. More questions were asked in five more referendums as Sharia-inspired laws were removed the penal code including the hotly-contested and controversial blasphemy law (which was amended to include all religion with a dramatically lighter punishment rather than being completely removed). Laws made through the controversial Hudood Ordinance of former military dictator Zia ul-Haq were completely scrubbed and the death penalty finally abolished as the country came more and more into its form as a modern nation-state.
In the Indian subcontinent, the gracious foreign aid brought the broken economies of the new states back to life as life began to settle into a normal routine once again but everyone knew that things would never, ever be the same as they once were. Several monuments were erected to honor the sixty seven million killed in senseless warring and brutality and all Indian leaders vowed to never allow a repeat of what had occurred again. The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) was redefined and rebuilt from the ground up to allow a better and more productive platform to settle disputes and to deter any future wars between new or old Indian states. A new age of cooperation would take over the subcontinent as nearly all states, regardless of ideology, became willing allies or at least established warm and cordial relations with one another, especially Pakistan and Gangarashtra. With the latter still being seen by some as the natural (if not recognized) successor state of the Republic of India as well as the strongest among all new country in the subcontinent, it was natural for the two to work towards establishing a regional environment conductive towards peace and dialogue and lead by example. With Gangarashtra toeing the line, it became quite easy for the modern Pakistani state to ensure the loyalties of other new states both to itself and to one another as it formulated a new plan to formalize the future of the region and to guide it towards a vision of peaceful cooperation, development, and shared dignity.

Indian Union (2045-2050)

Treaty of Panjim (2041)
Post-war India was not that different from post-war Europe. Both destroyed by a dangerous ideology, it was necessary for all peoples to work together to ensure that such an event could never take place again. To accomplish this, the Europeans established several commissions and organizations to negate the extreme nationalism that had ravaged Europe. European integration was seen as the antidote to such an event occurring again and the same was done with post-war India. It was easy to point out the Hindu nationalist ideology as the force that tore the subcontinent to shreds and caused the deaths of almost seventy million people. To counter the ideology and to further promote, representatives from all successor states met at the Goan capital of Panjim in 2041 to discuss the future of the Indian subcontinent. It was identified that while being proud of your nation and heritage is no crime, its devolution into hatred for other peoples is an ideology that must be combated at all cost. As part of this treaty, all Indian states agreed to curb all extreme nationalist parties and groups and denounce unwarranted religious and ethnic aggression both publicly and in their actions, leading to major purges across the region but especially in Pakistan (which continued to weaken the military-mullah consortium), the DUSS, Gangarashtra, and the Maratha Republic.
Treaty of Kandy (2042)
An year after the conference at Panjim, the Indian leaders met once again to do something of more substance and significance, this time in the Sri Lankan city of Kandy. Discussing further integration in the Indian subcontinent, several proposals were put forward including a bid to host a major sports tournament together (recommended by Maharashtra), to invite all leaders of the G-20 to visit the Indian states (recommended by Kalinga Ganga), to create a legislative assembly - an Indian parliament, per se - to sign off on any new laws established by any Indian state (recommended by Pakistan) but finally it was a suggestion from the representatives of Keralam that all other attendees agreed upon. A university to be established anywhere in the subcontinent, ultimately agreed upon to be in the city of Alappuzha in Keralam, to focus entirely on Indian studies including history, geopolitics, economics, and to provide training to students who will embody the values of unity and peace among all Indian peoples. Funded by all Indian states (except for Garhwal and Kamarupa which cited financial issues), the university would be established later than year with construction on the urban campus completing in early 2044. The institute would train future leaders, diplomats, and bureaucrats from all corners of the Indian subcontinent.
Treaty of Lahore (2044)
With the College of Indian Studies in full swing and the economies of all Indian states now rebounding from the damage suffered during the Great Indian War, leaders from the Indian states met once again to discuss further integration, this time in the second largest city of Pakistan - Lahore. A historical capital of several empire that once spanned the entirety of the subcontinent, the millennia old history of the city offered a great insight into the long and varied history of the Indian peoples. This was also where the idea for an Indian Council, created to uphold human rights, democracy and the rule of law in the Indian subcontinent, would be conceived and later brought to fruition which would establish the foundations upon which the future Indian Union would be built.
The Indian Council would become an official United Nations Observer party in 2047, an year after its establishment with the following members.

Country	Capital
Pakistan	Islamabad
Gangarashtra	New Delhi
Khalsa	Chandigarh
Garhwal	Dharamsala
Kalinga Ganga	Kolkata
Nepal	Kathmandu
Bhutan	Thimphu
Bangladesh	Dhaka
Kamarupa	Guwahati
Maratha	Pune
Telangana	Hyderabad
Goa	Panjim
DUSS	Bengaluru
Keralam	Thiruvananthapuram
Sri Lanka	Colombo
Maldives	Male

Treaty of Karachi (2046)
Meeting in the largest and wealthiest city in the Indian subcontinent, the conference at Karachi would establish what would become the Indian Union in 2049. At the conference, especially called by the leaders of Pakistan, Gangarashtra, and the Maratha Republic, all members of the Indian Council would decide to establish the Indian Cooperative Council (ICC) - a customs union between all members of the Indian Council to promote further economic cooperation between all Indian states. All major languages of the Indian subcontinent such as Hindustani, Bengali, Marathi, Gujarati, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, Punjabi, and Sindhi were recognized as official languages while English was declared the working language for all official business within the ICC. Two major organs of the council were established - the Indian Commission and the Indian Parliament. A third organ was created with the annexation of the Indian Council into the ICC with the first major amendment to the ICC charter through the Treaty of Delhi (2047).
Treaty of Kolkata (2049)
The second amendment to the ICC created (or brought back) the Indian Rupee, originally pegged to the Pakistani Rupee due it being the strongest currency among the sixteen member states of the ICC. The currency was adopted in Pakistan, Khalsa (Republic), Garhwal, Gangarashtra, Kalinga Ganga, Kamarupa, and the Maratha Republic the year it was introduced and by the Maldives and Telangana in 2050. Increased trade made possible through the single currency and the liberalization of trade between the Indian states led to rapid economic growth among all member states and further improvements in terms of HDI and per capita income.
Treaty of Visakhapatnam (2050)
The name of the Indian Cooperative Council was changed to the Indian Union (IU) and the three organs were located permanently instead of revolving annually. The Indian Council was relocated to the city of Dharamsala, the Indian Commission was relocated to the city of Panjim, while the Indian Parliament was relocated to the city of Alappuzha in Garhwal, Goa, and Keralam respectively. Encompassing agreements such as single market, common currency, customs union, free trade and movement, and a mutual defense treaty, the Indian Union has the potential to become one of the key players in global geopolitics and affairs if it manages to remain stable for at least the next ten years.

Peace in India (2050-?)

While it may seem like a little early to make such statements, the successful integration of post-war Indian subcontinent into a function Indian Union has led many to claim that we may finally have established peace in the most populous region in the world. But the sky's only the limit and there's quite a lot that is still to be done.
Future Milestones
To remain functional and retain its relevance, any organization must continue to evolve with time and conquer new frontiers for the prosperity of its stakeholders. While the Indian Union is a promising step towards a peace Indian subcontinent, many have already identified key milestones the union must tackle together including a unified space research organization that will be discussed at the special conference at Allapuzha in 2051, the expansion of the unified currency to all members of the Indian Union, and the possible expansion of the IU to include new members such as Myanmar and Afghanistan, both of whom have expressed strong interest in joining the union. But for now, Pax Indica has set in and how long that may last is anyone's guess.

Kingpins are leaders who prefer an organized structure for running the show. Success is important to the Kingpin and they feel at home when they are managing a business or team of people.
The role of a leader is - 𝒅𝒆𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒚 (the issues that affects one's surrounding) & 𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒘𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒉𝒐𝒑𝒆. Now, that sounds simple, but it’s often hard to understand exactly what is going on in the world around you, and then to translate it in a way that is both accurate and hopeful to the people in your domain.
In order to successfully navigate these challenges, the successful leader requires the following 4 𝑷❜𝒔 :
First, a leader needs a 𝑷𝒖𝒓𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒆/𝑷𝒂𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏. Call it a vision or a mission or an ideal or a cause or a calling, but successful leaders need to be pointed in the right direction, and they need to be able to inspire others to join in their pursuit.
Second, a leader needs a 𝑷𝒍𝒂𝒏. Again, call it a strategy or a road-map or a set of goals and objectives, but successful leaders need to not only know where they are headed, but how to get there. A destination is not enough – putting one foot in front of the other is the key to achieving visionary goals.
Third, a leader needs 𝑷𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆. Successful leaders have followers that are committed to the 𝑷𝒖𝒓𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒆 and the 𝑷𝒍𝒂𝒏, and are motivated to be part of a movement or community or group that is bigger than a sum of its parts. Leaders need to be able to motivate those people to walk the talk.
And finally, a leader needs 𝑷𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒓. Power can come from people or money or ideas or capital or some kind of other resource, but an engine needs fuel to move forward. Leaders need to be able to marshal these resources in support of their cause.
In Mani Ratnam's unofficial 𝑲𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒑𝒊𝒏 𝑩𝒊𝒐𝒑𝒊𝒄𝒔 we see the protagonists work towards amassing these 4 𝑷❜𝒔 deliberately or inadvertently. One is set in Gujarat, the other in Tamilnadu.
𝟭. 𝗚𝘂𝗿𝘂(𝟮𝟬𝟬𝟳)
Guru is an Indian Hindi-language Drama starring Abhishek Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai, Madhavan, Vidya Balan, Arya Babbar & Mithun Chakraborty in the the main cast with a guest appearance by Mallika Sherawat.
The general consensus is that this film is loosely based on the life of Dhirubhai Ambani, one of India's biggest industrial tycoons, who from humble beginnings built Reliance Industries into one of the largest and most profitable firms in the world while also having elements of other stories & businessmen. It's a Biopic, but not really.
The film is actually about 𝑭𝒓𝒆𝒆 𝑴𝒂𝒓𝒌𝒆𝒕𝒔 & 𝑷𝒐𝒔𝒕𝒔𝒐𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒔𝒎.
Guru has others involved in the production as a film that is reflective of a man's desire for ambition and success, and how times have changed from the period immediately after the country's independence to the present. Some reports have speculated that this film is a biographical film of Dhirubhai Ambani. Like Guru, Ambani also had roots in Gujarat as the son of a schoolteacher, went abroad to work for the gas company Shell, and returned to India to import polyester. Ratnam has described Guru as inspired by stories both past and present.
The film begins with Guru telling how his father said never to dream, because dreams don't come true. We then are taken to Guru's youth where he wishes to go to Turkey because he has failed his mathematics exams. This shames his father who is the school's headmaster, still his father allows him to go. There, he stands out as an employee at Shell where he is promoted to sales supervisor, a position he refuses in order to start his own business.
He returns home where he gains Sujata's hand in marriage, along with it a dowry that will afford him the opportunity to become a businessman in cloth trading. Guru goes on to take on the trading union and builds his own factory, the Shakti Corporation where he creates his own cloth. His corporation grows to be one of the largest in the country but he has adopted corrupted ways to gain the success he seeks.
Manik Dasgupta, who has become a father figure to Guru, runs the newspaper, Swatantra. Once he learns of Guru's manipulation of his newspaper he enlists Shyam Saxena, one of his reporters to take Guru down. Shyam discovers that Shakti has smuggled factory parts into the country without paying tax on it, and his plant is producing double the legal daily output. All of this is exposed by the newspaper. Guru goes on to have a stroke from the stress of his fight with the newspaper and Meenu, Manik's daughter who has married Shyam dies of her fight with multiple sclerosis.
Guru is brought before a government panel in order to defend himself against the corruption charges set out against him. Once Guru speaks to the press the next day his speech causes the government to clear him of nearly all of the charges set out against him. He must only settle two charges against him by paying the fines. Once he does he is allowed to return to run his company.
𝙋𝙧𝙤𝙙𝙪𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣
The film was conceptualized in 1987 during the making of Maniratnam's movie Nayakan. The less known fact is that, the role of Madhavan is based on Swaminathan Gurumurthy, who along with Ramnath Goenka worked to expose Reliance Industries. The title is speculated to be an acknowledgement of this fact, where in his name is playfully swapped with Ambani's character. In real life , Gurumurthy has twin daughters much like the Guru character in the movie.
Guru was written and directed by Mani Ratnam, while Vijay Krishna Acharya(Dhoom) wrote the Hindi dialogues. Filming took place in Mumbai, Turkey, Badami and Melkote (Karnataka), as well as in Chennai, Pollachi, Madurai, Chettinad region Tamil Nadu, and Athirappilly in Kerala. This is the first film to be shot at Express Estates, a 21-acre stretch of old buildings in the heart of Madras. These buildings happen to be the home of the Indian Express and Dinamani newspapers.
The music is composed by A. R. Rahman, with lyrics by Gulzar. Cinematography for the film is handled by Rajiv Menon. Several scenes were deleted from the final theatrical version, including a scene in which Sujata first gives birth to a stillborn child and a scene in which Guru becomes angry with his wife for visiting Manik Dasgupta.
𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒄𝒂𝒑𝒔 𝒐𝒏, 𝒍𝒆𝒕'𝒔 𝒅𝒊𝒈 𝒅𝒆𝒆𝒑 -
𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐅𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐭𝐬 & 𝐏𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐬𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐦
Guru follows Gurukant “Guru” Desai from his small village in India to Turkey where in a series of evocative scenes he shows a natural affinity for the rhythms of markets. Determined to work for himself, Guru returns to India and tries to enter the cotton market but he needs a license and the license system is monopolized by a rich clique with close ties to the government.
Guru has no entry into this clique, which differs in class and caste from his village roots, but his cause is taken up by a liberal newspaper editor, Manik Dasgupta, a veteran of the independence movement, who shames the government into opening up the license system. Guru and Manik become close and Guru becomes godfather to Manik’s daughter who has epilepsy.
The movie’s portrayal of entrepreneurship and the problems that Guru must surmount–financial, familial, and political–is unusually smart and sympathetic.
As Guru rises to the top the movie becomes more complex. Guru bribes politicians and skirts rules and regulations. His previous benefactor, the newspaper editor, turns against him. Derek Elley at Variety says Guru “forgets his ethics on the way to the top.” That’s a common but incorrect reading. What is going on is more subtle.
Ratnam is telling us that Guru’s virtues are incompatible with a corrupt system and a choice must be made. Consider that on his way to the top, Guru has promised to always honor, love and respect his elder patron and even as they are at odds, he never wavers in this promise. Nor does he waver in his love for Manik’s epileptic daughter, even as she marries the reporter who has led the charges against Guru.
Rather than having been corrupted, Guru demonstrates an iron-willed commitment to virtue. Riches and success did not corrupt Guru’s personal virtue nor has his public virtue been corrupted. In contrast to the earlier corruption of the ruling clique we never see Guru preventing others from competing with him. He bribes only in order to build.
The movie is powerful not because it opposes virtue and corruption but because it opposes two ideas of virtue. Is it virtuous to follow the law when the law itself is corrupt? Other artists have explored this question when the lawbreaker opposes social injustice, ala Gandhi and Martin Luther King, but what about when the lawbreaker opposes economic injustice? The question the movie asks is a classic question from Ayn Rand, how can an honest (business)-man live in a corrupt world? The theme becomes clear in the climax, a trial in which Guru, ala Howard Roark, puts society on trial.
The director, Mani Ratnam, has great ambitions. In telling the story of India’s liberation, not from colonialism but from socialism, he aims to elevate a new type of hero for post-socialist India, a business guru. In the trial, Ratnam is also arguing that a house divided against itself, a house half slave and half free, cannot long remain standing. Either India must push forward with a new vision for itself based on business, free and open markets and liberal views (on gender, the disabled, religion and other issues) or it will indeed fall back into internal strife and corruption.
𝐕𝐢𝐬𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐬
Certain techniques are slowly changed within the film to mark the passing of time and the growth of Guru as an individual: - When Guru is a young man in Turkey, the camera is handheld and in perpetual motion, giving Guru and that period of his life a racy, edgy feel.
As he ages, the camera movements become smoother and towards the end of the film the camera is almost stationary. - The editing closely follows the above concept: the young Guru is shown in quick cuts and as Guru grows older the editing is smoother and becomes less frequent.
Lighting also changes with the times In Turkey, direct and specular lights were initially used to capture the aura of a foreign land, thus producing a sepia-yellow phase. Then the lighting changed to the more directionless soft light seen in the early and middle 1960s. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, tube lights came into style, thus producing a dramatic cyan-green light needed for the climax.
(𝑭𝒐𝒓 𝑭𝒓𝒂𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒆𝒄𝒉𝒏𝒊𝒒𝒖𝒆/𝑺𝒄𝒆𝒏𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒂𝒍𝒚𝒔𝒊𝒔 𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒄𝒌 𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒌 𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒆𝒏𝒅)
𝙍𝙚𝙘𝙚𝙥𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣
Guru has received positive reviews from critics. Abhishek Bachchan received almost unanimous praise for his performance.
The film was released on 12 January 2007 with its première at the Elgin Theatre in Toronto, Canada, on Thursday 11 January 2007 by Roger Nair, making it the first Indian film to have a mainstream international première in Canada. Roger Nair productions acquired the rights for Canada and held a premiere with most of the cast and crew flown to Toronto, Canada. The film was premiered in the Tous Les Cinemas du Monde (World Cinema) section of 2007 Cannes Film Festival.
In the United States, it was a blockbuster. The New York Times said of the film "You might think it would be difficult to fashion an entertaining account of the life of a polyester manufacturer, even a fictitious one. But director Mani Ratnam has done so with "Guru," an epic paean to can-do spirit and Mumbai capitalism."
The New York Post gave it 3 out of 4 stars, and the Los Angeles Weekly called it "The best Hindi film since Lagaan". Richard Corliss of Time compared the film to Frank Capra's "It's a Wonderful Life" and said that "One of the main highlights of the film was its climax. This Guru is more like a fine polyester."
𝟮. 𝗜𝗿𝘂𝘃𝗮𝗿(𝟭𝟵𝟵𝟳)
‘Iruvar’ which translates to 'The Duo' is a 1997 Indian Tamil-language Epic Political Drama film co-written, produced and directed by Mani Ratnam. Iruvar is a fictitious depiction of the duo of eminent politicians M.G.Ramachandran (M.G.R) and Karunanidhi as Anandan and Tamil Selvam. It's a Biopic, but not really
The film is actually about 𝑷𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒓 𝑫𝒚𝒏𝒂𝒎𝒊𝒄𝒔 𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒘𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝑰𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝒓𝒆𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒑𝒔.
The movie enjoys enormous fan following among Cinephiles and has achieved cult status over the years. In 2012, Iruvar was included by critic Rachel Dwyer in the British Film Institute Sight and Sound 1000 greatest films of all time.
𝐄𝐱𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐩𝐭 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐀𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐲𝐬𝐢𝐬:
Tales on friendship are of 2 kinds, the kind that sugar-coats reality into a pretentious show of perfection with fairy tale plots, and tragedies such as Iruvar, the kind that brings you to terms with the brutality and iniquity of relationships.
At a time when filmmakers hesitated to question authority and altered their scripts to avoid cuts by the censor board, there came Maniratnam’s bold move establishing the relationship between Cinema and Politics and the significance of power, with which the two were able to unite Tamil Nadu, in a setting beautifully rendered by the purity of friendship and layered through emotive characterization. (𝑭𝒖𝒍𝒍 𝒂𝒏𝒂𝒍𝒚𝒔𝒊𝒔 𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒌 𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒆𝒏𝒅)
Starring Mohanlal and Prakash Raj in the lead, ‘Iruvar’ follows the story of Anandan (Mohanlal), an aspiring actor who befriends Tamilselvan (Prakash Raj), a Dravidian loyalist. Apart from Mohanlal and Prakash Raj, the film also starred Tabu, Aishwarya Rai, Gautami, Revathi and Nasser in prominent roles.
𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑪𝒂𝒑𝒔 𝒐𝒏, 𝒍𝒆𝒕'𝒔 𝒅𝒊𝒈 𝒅𝒆𝒆𝒑: ᴬʳᵗⁱᶜˡᵉ ᶠʳᵒᵐ ᴰᵉᶜᶜᵃⁿ ᴴᵉʳᵃˡᵈ
Here Ratnam at last found a cinematic subject worthy of his gifts — Tamil cinema, music and politics: The 3 great obsessions of the Tamil people (indeed, Indian people). Irvuar chronicles 5 decades in the history of Tamil cinema and politics. AR Rahman’s songs, one of his most inventive and versatile scores to date, evocatively and accurately reflect the sound and song style of films from each of those decades.
Struggling actor Anandan (Mohanlal) meets poet, screenwriter & active politician Thamilchelvam (Prakash Raj) and this becomes the basis for a long, passionate & conflicted friendship. Anandan believes that together they can make cinema history while the poet is more interested in making political history.
Enter Kalpana (Aishwarya Rai): An ambitious actress who obsesses about Anandan. After the death of the party’s leader Annadurai (Nasser), both Anandan and Thamilchelvam find themselves in contention for the party’s top position. Will their idealism and ambition draw them closer or make them rivals?
The key characters are, of course, based on real life screen stars turned politicians: The rise to fame of actor and cult-figure Anandan is loosely based on the life of legendary movie star Marudur Gopalamenon Ramachandran, Thamilchelvam is based on Muthuvel Karunanidhi and Kalpana on Jayalalitha. Cinema, music and politics are so deeply connected in the history and psyche of Tamils that Ratnam seems to have instinctively and profoundly known how to approach these as a filmmaker.
The level of melodrama and fantasy (grandeur more than truth), the sweeping emotions (overwhelming more than intense) and the songs (enchanting more than clever) are stunning. Ratnam deftly moves from scenes of grandly scaled melodrama to understated, intimate moments that subtly reveal or betray something about his characters.
We see a sepia-tinged film within a film — it is Anandan as a masked hero come to save the princess. The sets (a fortress/temple with a giant bell) are exactly like the surreal ones from the MGR films from the late 40s (probably Rajakumari) but the sequence itself (a song more chanted than sung rising in tempo) with the hero on horseback galloping over hills, is modern, stylized: A cinematic nod to Kurosawa.
As the chanting fades, and the prince rides away with the princess, the scene morphs into a gigantic screen, and we now watch it inside the dark of a movie theatre with the actor Anandan watching the screen.
Cut to: Anandan and the heroine waving from the theatre balcony to a throng of fans below, we see black and white posters of the movie everywhere. The moment is thrilling: At once you feel what movies are all about, the visceral high they give you. A moment known and shared by both, the fan and the actor.
The other intriguing bit from the film is more low-key: That poetic, refined beauty Tabu plays a school teacher and an intellectual, waiting for Selvam in his house. Drawn to his radical ideas and his political commitment, she has quit her job to become his mistress simply because he wrote and asked her to. But now she is full of doubt — what is she to him? Selvam rushes in, looks for her everywhere and then finds her sitting on the steps that lead to the second floor. He sits down a step below her and begins talking to her. She is quiet. After a pause, he asks her why and she wonders aloud who she is to him and he answers passionately: “My lover, my companion, my friend.” She lets her head gently fall on to the banister, the camera moves in closer: There are tears in her eyes and then slowly a smile, a smile full of a quiet joy.
An often remarked scene that follows this is the two of them lying on the floor, opposite each other, perspiring from having made love, as Santosh Sivan’s camera swirls above them, caressing them, and Selvam’s impassioned poem is heard over and over again. It is, as passionate movie scenes go, unforgettable. It is preceded by the subtler, incandescent passage.
Aishwarya Rai in her debut is alluring. Mohanlal and Prakash Raj give great, controlled performances. Lal’s performance is nuanced, subtle, restrained while Raj is fiery, eloquent, complex. Ratnam said of Mohanlal's performance - "Hereafter, I will never work with a man of whom I am a fan. I often forgot to say 'Cut' in Iruvar."
Apart from the pitch perfect work of the leads, there are remarkable performances from Nasser, Tabu, Gouthami and Revathi. The dialogues by the director and his wife, Suhasini (a gifted dialogue writer) is both powerful and poetic.
Ditto for the song lyrics by Vairamuthu. The challenging and pleasurable task of writing tunes that will reflect the style and sound of 5 decades of Tamil film music is effortlessly met by Rahman. Each song is a jewel. Ratnam pictures each song according to the look and sensibility of a particular decade in Tamil cinema history: Narumugaye is in sepia and features the actress Madhoo in a cameo as Tagore’s classic mythological heroine, Shakunthala. (Ratnam chose Madhoo for her face which recalls the features of classic actresses from the 40s and 50s).
Hello Mister Edirkatchi, set in a smoky club with Rai practically smoldering, cleverly imitates the faux-jazz inflected songs that dominated Tamil dance songs once upon a time. In Ayirathil Naan Oruvan the playback singer, Mano, sounds exactly like the playback singer who voiced MGR. And Mohanlal deftly mimes this legendary actor’s famous gestures (raising one hand and twirling it) when he danced and sang for 5 decades.
Ratnam’s ability to always use large, sweeping themes as a backdrop to foreground more personal stories is one of his major achievements & a unique style of telling a story in contemporary cinema. As the film ends, you are surprised into tears to discover that Iruvar has not really been about cinema or politics but a personal, intimate movie about friendship.
𝑬𝒙𝒄𝒆𝒓𝒑𝒕 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝑩𝒂𝒓𝒂𝒅𝒘𝒂𝒋 𝑹𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒂𝒏'𝒔 𝑨𝒓𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒍𝒆 𝒐𝒏 𝑰𝒓𝒖𝒗𝒂𝒓 (𝑭𝒖𝒍𝒍 𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒍𝒆 𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒌 𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒆𝒏𝒅):
"𝘐𝘳𝘶𝘷𝘢𝘳 𝘥𝘦𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘴 𝘢 𝘴𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘛𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭 𝘕𝘢𝘥𝘶 𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵’𝘴 𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘢 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘔𝘎𝘙-𝘒𝘢𝘳𝘶𝘯𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘥𝘩𝘪-𝘑𝘢𝘺𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘢 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘴 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘢 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘛𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭 𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘮𝘢 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘨𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘦. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘭𝘮 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘴 𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘴. 𝘔𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘺 𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘛𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭 𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘮𝘢 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦, 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘐𝘳𝘶𝘷𝘢𝘳, 𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘲𝘶𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘨𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘒𝘢𝘮𝘢𝘭 𝘏𝘢𝘢𝘴𝘢𝘯’𝘴 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘷𝘢𝘳 𝘔𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘯 (𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘦𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘭𝘭-𝘵𝘰𝘰-𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘤 𝘕𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘩 𝘐𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘢𝘯 𝘷𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘝𝘪𝘳𝘢𝘢𝘴𝘢𝘵)"
𝐕𝐢𝐬𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐬
Mani Ratnam’s 3rd collaboration with with Santosh Sivan after Thalapathi (1991) & Roja (1992) was Iruvar (1997) which is described by the cinematographer as his most challenging project -
“𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱𝘴 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘳𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘢𝘵 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴,” 𝘚𝘪𝘷𝘢𝘯 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥. “𝘈𝘴 𝘢 𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘢 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘳 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘰 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮. 𝘐𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘧𝘪𝘭𝘮 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘢𝘮𝘦.
𝘐 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘐 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘱𝘢𝘺 𝘮𝘺 𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘣𝘶𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘚𝘶𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘢 𝘔𝘪𝘵𝘳𝘢(𝘊𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘈𝘱𝘶 𝘛𝘳𝘪𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘺), 𝘔𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘪 𝘐𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘪(𝘒𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘭𝘢 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘭𝘮 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘉𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘊𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘺) , 𝘞𝘪𝘭𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘔𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘝𝘒 𝘔𝘶𝘳𝘵𝘩𝘺(𝘊𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘯 𝘎𝘶𝘳𝘶 𝘋𝘶𝘵𝘵 𝘧𝘪𝘭𝘮𝘴). 𝘐 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘶𝘳𝘨𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺. 𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘥𝘢𝘺, 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥. 𝘔𝘢𝘯𝘪 𝘙𝘢𝘵𝘯𝘢𝘮 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘭𝘮 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘥𝘰𝘤𝘶𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘺. 𝘐𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘦, 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘐𝘳𝘶𝘷𝘢𝘳."
One composition in Iruvar has been frequently praised – a top-angle shot of Tamizhselvan (Prakash Raj) and Senthamarai (Tabu) lying on the ground close to each other. Sivan’s camera points downwards and encircles the characters for the length of the scene. The camerawork heightens the intensity and turmoil of the lovers – Senthamarai has left her family and come to live with Tamizhselvan.
"𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘳 𝘴𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘰𝘥𝘢𝘺’𝘴 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘩𝘯𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦,” 𝘚𝘪𝘷𝘢𝘯 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥. “𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘯𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘴 𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘤 𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯. 𝘐𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘴𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘰𝘱 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘤𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘮𝘺 𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘢 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘭𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯. 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘳𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘢𝘯’𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘱𝘶𝘭𝘭 𝘧𝘰𝘤𝘶𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘵. 𝘐𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘮. 𝘐 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘔𝘢𝘯𝘪 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘫𝘦𝘳𝘬𝘺 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘯𝘰, 𝘭𝘦𝘵’𝘴 𝘨𝘰 𝘢𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥. 𝘚𝘰 𝘐 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵, 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘨𝘩 𝘢𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘤𝘶𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘱𝘵𝘩 𝘰𝘧 𝘧𝘪𝘦𝘭𝘥 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘪𝘵. 𝘐𝘵 𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘶𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘪𝘵.
𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘐𝘳𝘶𝘷𝘢𝘳 𝘸𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘱𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵. 𝘐𝘵’𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘭𝘴. 𝘐𝘵’𝘴 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯. 𝘐𝘯 𝘐𝘳𝘶𝘷𝘢𝘳, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘶𝘨𝘦 𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘥 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘵𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘹 𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘢 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘪𝘭𝘮 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘨𝘰𝘦𝘴. 𝘐𝘵’𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘴𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘴𝘩 𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺. 𝘐 𝘥𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘐𝘳𝘶𝘷𝘢𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘚𝘶𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘢 𝘔𝘪𝘵𝘳𝘢."
𝘿𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙡𝙤𝙥𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩
In October 1995, Mani Ratnam announced that he was set to make a feature film titled Anandan featuring dialogues written by Suhasini with Mohanlal, Nana Patekar and Aishwarya Rai in the lead roles.
Initial speculation suggested that the film would visualise the duel between Vellupillai Prabhakaran and his former Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam deputy Mahattiya, who was executed in 1995 for an alleged plot to kill his mentor, with Aishwarya Rai reported to be playing Indira Gandhi.
Mani Ratnam was quick to deny any political backdrop claiming that the film would be about the Indian movie industry, however this proved to bluff the public as the film was to be set within a political canvas.
The film was later retitled Iruvar (The Duo) and the idea to make a film on the lives of 1980s Tamil Nadu political icons M. G. Ramachandran and M. Karunanidhi and their influential relationship between Tamil cinema and Dravidian politics by Mani Ratnam was sparked by a conversation he had with renowned Malayalam author, M. T. Vasudevan Nair.
𝘾𝙖𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜
When interviewed about the difficulties of casting, Mani Ratnam revealed he "struggled" citing that casting "is most important as far as performance is concerned" and that "fifty per cent of the job is done if you cast correctly".
Mohanlal was approached to play Anandan, a character inspired by the former actor-politician M. G. Ramachandran and about his performance in the film, Mani Ratnam claimed that Mohanlal had "the ability to make everything absolutely realistic with the least amount of effort".
He described that debutant Aishwarya Rai, the former Miss World beauty pageant winner, who appeared in two different characters - one inspired by actress-politician Jayalalitha, as a "tremendous dancer" and "having a lot of potential". The director revealed that the only difficulty Mohanlal and Aishwarya had was the language, both being non-Tamil speakers adding that the pair had to work hard over the dubbing trying to get as close to the Tamil tongue.
The actor to play the role of Tamizhselvan, inspired by politician M. Karunanidhi, took substantially longer to finalise with the initial choice, Nana Patekar, withdrawing after several discussions about his remuneration. Later, Mohanlal's Malayalam counterpart Mammootty was offered the role but declined, as did leading Tamil actors Kamal Haasan and Sathyaraj.
Negotiations with R. Sarathkumar and Mithun Chakraborty were also unsuccessful as the pair demanded a higher remuneration, while Arvind Swamy was briefly signed on to play the role and had recorded two poems for the soundtrack, before opting out due to other commitments. Mani Ratnam also called R. Madhavan, then a small-time model for the screen test, but left him out of the project citing that he thought his eyes looked too young for a senior role.
Subsequently, Prakash Raj, who had played a small role in Mani Ratnam's 1994 film Bombay was signed up to essay the character. Prakash Raj initially told Mani Ratnam that he was unprepared to essay such a delicate role in such short notice, with Prakash Raj later revealing that Mani Ratnam nurtured the character and brought self-confidence into the actor. Renowned for being a perfectionist film-maker, Mani Ratnam made Prakash Raj take 25 takes for his first shot, lasting over six hours. Actress Tabu was also signed to play an important role in the film and shot for Iruvar alongside her Tamil debut film, Kadhal Desam.
𝙁𝙞𝙡𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙜
The film was shot across 1996 and schedules were canned all across India from Kerala to Leh with Mohanlal stating that it was the longest duration he had shot for a film.The film was briefly stopped by the FEFSI strike of 1996, making technicians unavailable for use, but Mani Ratnam carried on filming and completed a song using only natural light. After the shooting for Iruvar was completed, Mani Ratnam asked Prakash Raj to dub in Tamil himself for the first time, with his work taking four days to complete.
𝘾𝙤𝙣𝙩𝙧𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙮
Though the movie starts with a note saying "Idhu Unmai Kadhai Alla (meaning: this is not a true story)," the movie deals with a very sensitive subject of the two men whose lives were chronicled that enjoy an enormous fan following.
The dash and flair and captivating oratory abilities of M. Karunanidhi has attracted many millions over the 50 years of his political life and M. G. Ramachandran enjoys a semi-divine status in of his own, in Tamil Nadu. On account of this the movie invited much criticism from both the camps.
Moreover, the personal lives of the lead characters (their extramarital relations, ego problems) have been portrayed with near accuracy in the film. M. G. Ramachandran is shown as a person who meets his match in the wiles of J. Jayalalithaa. When the movie was released, various political parties staged demonstrations to prevent theaters from showing the movie.
Both M. Karunanidhi and Jayalalithaa denied the relevance of the film to their lives and never admitted to the film being a bio-pic
𝙍𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙡𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨:
In a scene from the film 'Iruvar', DMK founder CN Annadurai urges a young Karunanidhi to rise and join him after an attack by political opponents leaves him bed-ridden.
Over 21 years after the movie hit the screens, the film's dialogue 'Ezhundhu Va' became a chant for thousands of Karunanidhi loyalists who were camped outside Kauvery Hospital in Chennai while the DMK patriarch waged a grim battle against his death. 'Va Va Thalaiva, Ezhundu Va Thalaiva', which means ‘Come back leader, rise again’ they all shouted day and night.
The relationship between Annadurai and Karunanidhi, and Karunanidhi and MG Ramachandran were established through this film. It faced flak from all parties in Tamil Nadu after its release. Though it did not do well on the box office, it was critically acclaimed.
Prakash Raj’s portrayal of Karunanidhi was appreciated by the Kalaignar himself. He said it was a beautiful moment to meet the man whose role he had essayed - “He was 70 plus then and I was just 30. Many years later, I met him and I asked him: ‘Did I look like you (in the film) and he said: ‘Almost’.”
“When I asked him if I was close to the character, he said ‘almost'. He is a politician and hence he said the two words – ‘almost there'.”
Prakash Raj said that while he had known about Karunanidhi the politician, the role helped him learn about him as a character - his wit, his love for literature.
“It was a character I saw. I was not imitating him. It was very fascinating to see a man who changed the system, who dared to live his personal life too, who did not think of politics of religion,” he said.
He recounted how the Kalaignar indirectly mentioned his role in the movie Iruvar while giving him a state award for the movie ‘Kalki’. “I’m very happy (Anandamaa) to give away this award to you. You know it. I know it. We know it,” he quoted the DMK chief as saying.
“So, he connected the film and the award though this (Ánandan)…..” Interestingly, when Mani Ratnam started the film, it was titled Ánandan’ (meaning a person who is happy).” Anandan was the role of MGR (essayed by Mohanlal) in Iruvar.
He also narrated his interactions with the DMK Supremo. “During Chennai Sangamam that Kanimozhi organised, I had the chance of reciting Purananuru which he (Karunanidhi) had written. I remember his speech after that and he said: ‘I had written this for Shivaji and I always used to hear it in his voice. But when Prakash Raj speaks, I can hear it in his voice’. He was very inquisitive about my language in terms of how did I get the command. I said - I just know the sound but you are the creator,” added Prakash Raj.
With the demise of Karunaidhi, many including Prakash Raj feel that one wouldn’t find a man like Kalaignar again. “Such men are not made. In future, you won’t see anyone like that. You can have differences with him, that's fine. But in totality, he was a champion of the Tamil pride, about an identity to the oppressed and how he made it coming from a poor family himself. He was a great revolutionist,” he said.
“Later what happened with the party and the corruption charges whatever it is….but if you know the man, single-handedly to have run the party and to have kept the national parties away - both MGR and Kalaignar and to have always celebrated a cultural identity relentlessly and with such commitment with for 5 decades is not a joke,” he added.
In her very first film, Mani Ratnam’s Iruvar, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan was cast as Jayalalithaa. It was a well-kept secret not revealed to this day, by either the director or his leading lady. Though it was obvious that Iruvar was all about the infamous friendship-turned-rivalry between two of Tamil Nadu’s most high-profile film personalities turned politicians — MGR & Karunanidhi — no one, back then, was vocal about the role that Jayalalithaa played in shaping Indian politics.
This was Aishwarya’s acting debut after winning Miss World, and she wasn’t sure if doing such a volatile subject was the right start. But Mani convinced her.”
“This was also the era when the ‘de-Mani-tization’ (post his flops) had not started. Sure enough, there was a lot of trouble when Iruvar released — first, from the censor board, which wanted many key scenes deleted as it showed ‘easily recognisable political figures from Tamil Nadu’ in a less-than-flattering light. Protests were staged throughout Tamil Nadu on the film’s release”
But to this day, Aishwarya refuses to acknowledge her character in Iruvar as being based on Jayalalithaa. In one earlier interview, she did concede though that her role in Iruvar was closer to real life than any other she had played — “I’ve always believed in taking leaps of faith and always gone in pursuit of roles that require me to explore facets of my personality that are not known to anyone, not even me. I’ve been doing character-driven parts from the time I did Iruvar. I’ve taken risks from the start.” Apparently, Jayalalithaa had seen Iruvar too and spoke about how much she liked the film.
In the film, Kalpana is ‘understood’ to have perished in a car crash. In reality, however, she survived to win the Tamil Nadu elections not once, not twice, but four times! Mani Ratnam’s magnum opus Iruvar (1997, Iddaru in Telugu) maps the Dravidian Movement with its lead players MG Ramachandran, M Karunanidhi and its leading lady J Jayalalithaa! Both MK and Jayalalithaa denied the relevance of the film to their lives and never admitted to the film being a bio-pic but watch some of the scenes doing the rounds social media now and it all adds-up! In that context Iruvar is highly recommended, to comprehend the contextual significance Jayalalithaa played in TN politics and how her film career embellished her entry into the AIADMK party because of her 27 films with its brand ambassador MGR!
MGR’s first wife and Jayalalitha bear a striking resemblance and this came through in the dual role played by Aishwarya Rai’s Pushpa and Kalpana. MGR was ‘brought to life’ with great aplomb by Mohanlal’s Anandan while Prakashraj gave his career’s best performance as the poet-politician Thamizhselvan! The situations and scenarios unfold in unpredictable ways which make the story more than just a political saga.
Iruvar is as much a love story as it is a tale of friendship! It is the only surviving celluloid version of the Dravidian political history which is mostly hearsay today or what one might read on the internet! The film highlights stellar personalities who shaped the DK/DMK/AIADMK parties, their personal equations which propel their political decisions and as their careers expand, the political landscape of this state also widens! Craft-wise, it is Ratnam’s best film till date!
𝙇𝙚𝙜𝙖𝙘𝙮
The film is still regarded as one of Mani Ratnam's best works. Ratnam himself has named Iruvar as his best film, in an interview to National Award-winning film critic Baradwaj Rangan. Baradwaj Rangan also named the film the best work of Ratnam, in his list “All Mani Ratnam Movies Ranked” .
"𝘐𝘳𝘶𝘷𝘢𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘧𝘪𝘭𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘦𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘤 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘦 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘹 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘦, 𝘢 𝘱𝘩𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘛𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭 𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘮𝘢. 𝘏𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳, 𝘐𝘳𝘶𝘷𝘢𝘳 𝘸𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘴, 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘪𝘯𝘷𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘪𝘭𝘮 𝘧𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘢𝘭𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 – 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 51𝘴𝘵 𝘓𝘰𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘰 𝘐𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘍𝘪𝘭𝘮 𝘍𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘢𝘭 1998, " 𝘉𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘸𝘢𝘫 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥.
The film was also noted for its vignette style of making, with many single-shot scenes, where a fluid camera setup captures the entire action. Director Gautham Menon mentioned Iruvar as his inspiration, along with Martin Scorsese's Goodfellas, for long single-shot scenes.
The film was screened in the Masters section at the 1997 Toronto International Film Festival. Iruvar went on to become a critical success winning the Best Film award at the Belgrade International Film Festival and 2 National Film Awards - Best Supporting Actor - Prakash Raj & Best Cinematography - Santosh Sivan.
𝙎𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙘𝙠
The film's soundtrack features six songs composed by A. R. Rahman with lyrics by Vairamuthu.It has songs ranging from pure Carnatic to Tamil folk and Jazz. Rahman blended two Carnatic ragas—"Naatai" and "Ghambeera Naatai"—in "Narumugaye". "Venilla Venilla", sung by veteran singer Asha Bhonsle, and "Hello Mister Edirkatchi" are based on Jazz music. "Udal Mannukku" and "Unnodu Naan Irundha" were recitals sung by actor Arvind Swamy. The songs "Hello Mister Edirkatchi", "Narumugaye" were popular.
𝙇𝙞𝙣𝙠𝙨:

1. Guru Lesson in Framing | Scene Analysis - https://youtu.be/HMcNU30WM3o
   
2. Iruvar Film Analysis | Fully Filmy - https://youtu.be/opYqRpds5kE
   
3. Iruvar Single Shot Scene | One of the greatest scenes produced by Indian Cinema - https://youtu.be/syiV6ZHrVi8
   
4. Iruvar in 4 minutes | Lesson in Framing/Cinematography/Visual Storytelling - https://youtu.be/zV_t-oaY7G4
   
5. Guru | Marginal Revolution article - https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2016/05/guru.html
   
6. Iruvar | WordPress Analysis - https://naveenamariamjacob.wordpress.com/2016/07/31/iruvar-analysing-duality/
   
7. Iruvar | Deccan Herald Article - https://www.deccanherald.com/content/77587/mani-ratnams-classic-revisited.html
   
8. Guru Synopsis - https://www.gradesaver.com/guru/study-guide/summary
   
9. Santosh Sivan’s Masterclass, Journey Of Light: On Thuppakki, Iruvar, Dil Se, Roja - https://www.filmcompanion.in/features/tamil-features/santosh-sivans-masterclass-journey-of-light-on-thuppakki-iruvar-dil-se-roja-baradwaj-rangan/
   
10. Guru Review | Baradwaj Rangan - https://baradwajrangan.wordpress.com/2007/01/14/review-guru/
    
11. Two People, one industry | Baradwaj Rangan on Iruvar - https://www.india-seminar.com/2004/535/535%20baradwaj%20rangan.htm
    

Ref: Wiki, IMDb, Online articles, YouTube.

ATTN: These AMA questions are from Autumn 2019 - before the official launch of the Kava Mainnet, and it's fungible Kava Token.
These questions may no longer be relevant to the current Kava landscape, however, they do provide important historical background on the early origins of Kava Labs.
Please note, that there are several repeat questions/answers.

Q1:

Kava is a decentralized DEFI project, why did you implement the countries restrictions to run the node? Will there be such restrictions by the time of the mainnet?

• Answer: There are not country restrictions for nodes. But there are country restrictions for who Kava the company can sell tokens to and remain compliant based on laws and regulations. Anyone can hold Kava, anyone can run a Node. We just can't sell directly to some people which is unfortunate. While we have issues selling directly to Russia, partners like Binance do not. In addition, we have partners like P2P.org that run validators for the Russian communities. (I highly recommend them btw!)

Q2:

According to the project description it has been indicated that staking reward (in KAVA tokens) varies from 3 to 20% per annum. But how will you fight with inflation?

We all know how altcoins prices are falling, and their bottom is not visible. And in fact, we can get an increase in the number of tokens for staking, but not an increase in the price of the token itself and become a long-term investor.

• Answer: Kava is both inflationary with block rewards, but deflationary when we burn CDP fees. Only stakers who bond their Kava receive inflationary rewards - users and traders on exchanges do not get this. In this way, rewards are inflated, but given to stakers and removed value from the traders who are speculating like a tax. The Deflationary structure of fees should help counterbalance the price drops from inflation if any. In the long-term as more CDPs are used, Kava should be a deflationary asset by design if all things go well

Q3:

In your allocation it is indicated that 28.48% of the tokens are in the "Token treasury" - where will these tokens be directed?

• Answer: Investors in financing rounds prior to the IEO have entered into long-term lock-up agreements in-line with their belief in Kava’s exciting long-term growth potential and to allow the projects token price to find stability. Following the IEO, the only tokens in circulation will be those sold through the IEO on Binance and the initial Treasury tokens released.
  
• No private sale investor tokens are in circulation until the initial release at the end of Q1 2020 and then gradually over the [36] months The initial Treasury tokens in circulation will be used for a mixture of ecosystem grants, the expenses associated with the IEO as well as initial market making requirements as is typical with a listing of this size. Kava remains well financed to execute our roadmap following the IEO and do not envisage any need for any material financings or token sales for the foreseeable future.
  

Q4:

Such a platform (with loans and stable coins) is just the beginning since these aspects are a small part of many Defi components. Will your team have a plan to implement other functions, such as derivatives, the dex platform once the platform is successfully launched?

• Answer: We believe Kava is the foundation for many future defi products. We need stable coins, oracles, and other infrastructure first that Kava provides. Once we have that, we can apply these to derivatives and other synthetics more easily. For example, we can use the price feeds and USDX to enable users to place 100x leverage bets with each other. If they both lock funds into payment channels, then they can use a smart contract based on the price feed to do the 100x trade/bet automatically without counter party risk. In this way, Kava can expand its financial product offerings far beyond loans and stable coins in the future.

Q5:

There are several options for using USDX on the KAVA platform, one of which is Margin Trading / Leverage. Is this a selection function or a compulsory function? Wondering since there are some investors who don`t like margin. What is the level of leverage and how does a CDP auction work?

• Answer: This is a good #Q . Kava simply provides loans to users in USDX stable coins. What the users do is completely up to them. They can use the loans for everyday payments if they like. Leverage and hedging are just the main use cases we foresee - there are many ways people can use the CDP platform and USDX.

Q6:

Most credit platforms do not work well in the current market. What will you do to attract more people to use your platform and the services you provide? Thank you

• Answer: Most credit platforms do not work well in the current market? I think that isn't correct at least for DeFi. Even in the bear market, MakerDao and Compound saw good user growth. Regardless, our efforts at Kava to build the market are fairly product and BD focused. 1) we build more integrations of assets and expand financial services to attract new communities and users. 2) we focus on building partnerships with high quality teams to promote and build Kava's core user base. Kava is just the developer. Our great partners like Ripple, Stakewith.Us, P2P, Binance - they have the real users that demand Kava. They are like our system integrators that package Kava up nicely and present it to their users. In order to grow, we need to deepen our partnerships and bring in new ones around the world.

Q7:

KAVA functions as a reserve currency in situations where the system is undercollateralized. In such cases new KAVA is minted and used to buy USDX off the market until USDX becomes safely overcollateralized.

Meaning, there will be no max supply of KAVA?

• Answer: Yes, there is no max supply of Kava.

Q8:

Why Kava?

• Answer: ...because people are long BTC and the best way to go long BTC without giving up custody is Kava's platform. Because it is MakerDao for bitcoin. Bitcoin has a 10x market cap of ETH and Maker is 10x the size of Kava. I think we're pretty undervalued right now.

Q9:

How do you plan to make liquidity in Kava?

• Answer: Working with Binance for the IEO and as the first exchange for KAVA to trade on will be a huge boost in increasing the liquidity of trading KAVA.

Q10:

Most crypto investors or crypto users prefer easy transaction and low fees, what can we expect from KAVA about this?

• Answer: Transaction fees are very low and confirm if seconds. The user experience is quite good on Tendermint-based blockchains.

Q11:

How do I become a note validator on KavA?

• Answer: The basic requirement for a node is nothing really. But in order to earn block rewards you must be a node with the top 100 KAVA by weighted stake at a given time. If you are looking for technical specs, I suggest you check out the Cosmos FAQ for a guide. https://cosmos.network/docs/cosmos-hub/validators/validator-faq.html

Q12:

It is great to know that KAVA is the first DEFI-supported project sponsored by Binance Launchpad, do you think this is the meaning that CZ brings: Opening the DEFI era, as a leader, you feel like how ?

• Answer: We are the first DeFi platform that Launchpad has supported. We are a very strategic blockchain for major crypto like BNB. Kava's platform will bring more utility to the users of BNB and the Binance DEX. It feels good of course to have validation from the biggest players in the space like Cosmos, Ripple, CZ/Binance, etc.

Q13:

Since decentralized finance applications is already dominating, how do you intend to surpass those leading in the market?

• Answer: The leaders are only addressing ethereum. BTC, XRP, BNB, ATOM is a much larger set to go after that current players cannot.

Q14:

What does Ripple play in the Kava's ecosystem, since Ripple is like a top tier company and it’s impressive that you are partnered with them?

• Answer: Ripple is an equity investor in Kava and a big supporter of our work in cross-chain settlement research and implementations. Ripple's XRP is a great asset in terms of users and liquidity that the Kava platform can use. In addition, Ripple's money service business customers are asking for a stable coin for remittances to avoid the currency heading risk that XRP presents. Ripple will not use USDC or other stable coins, but they are open to using USDX as it can be XRP-backed.

Q15:

Considering the connectivity, Libra could be the biggest competitor if KAVA leverages interchain for efficiency.

• Answer: With regard to USDX, it is important to understand the users interacting with the Kava blockchain have no counterparty that people could go after for legal actions. A user getting a USDX loan has no counterparty. The software holds the collateral and creates the loan. The only laws that would apply are to the very users that are using the system.

Q16:

Wonder how KAVA will compete with the tech giants

• Answer: Libra is running into extreme issues with the US Senate and regulators. Even the G7-G20 groups are worried. Its important to understand that Libra is effectively a permissioned system. Only big companies that law makers can go after are able to run nodes. In Kava, nodes can be run by anyway and our nodes are based all over the world. It's incredibly hard for a law maker to take down Kava because they would need to find and legally enforce hundreds of business in different jurisdictions to comply. We have an advantage in this way over the larger projects like Libra or Clayton.

Q17:

In long-term, what's the strategy that KAVA has for covering the traditional finance users as well? Especially regarding the "stability"

• Answer: Technical risk is unavoidable for DeFi. Only time will tell if a system is trustworthy and its never 100% that it will not fail or be hacked. This is true with banks and other financial systems as well. I think for DeFi, the technical risk needs to be priced in to the expected returns to compensate the market. DeFi does have a better user experience - requiring no credit score, identity, or KYC over centralized solutions.
  
• With our multi-collateral CDP system, even with it overcollateralized, people can get up to 3x leverage on assets. Take 100 USD in BTC, get a USDX loan for 66 USDX, then buy $66 BTC and do another loan - you can do this with a program to get 3x leverage with the same risk profile. This is enough for most people.
  
• However, it will be possible once we have Kava's CDP platform to extend it into products that offer undercollateralized financial products. For example, if USER 1 + USER 2 use payment channels to lock up their USDX, they can use Kava's price feeds to place bets between each other using their locked assets. They can bet that for every $1 BTC/USD moves, the other party owes 3x. In this way we can even do 100x leverage or 1000x leverage and create very fun products for people to trade with. Importantly, even in places where margin trading is regulated and forbidden, Kava's platform will remain open access and available.
  

Q18:

In long-term, what's the strategy that KAVA has for covering the traditional finance users as well? Especially regarding the "stability"

• Answer: Kava believes that stable coins should be backed not just by crypto or fiat, but any widely used, highly liquid asset. We think in the future the best stablecoin would be backed by a basket of very stable currencies that include crypto and fiat or whatever the market demands.

Q19:

Compound, maker they're trying to increase their size via the competitive interests rates. THough it shows good return in terms of growth rate, still it's for short-term. Wonder other than financial advantage, KAVA has more for the users' needs?

• Answer: Robert, the CEO of Compound is an investor and advisor to Kava. We think what Compound does with money markets is amazing and hope to integrate when they support more than just Ethereum assets. Kava's advantage vs others is to provide basic DeFi services like returns on crypto and stable coins today when no other platform offers that. Many platforms support ETH, but no platform can support BTC, XRP, BNB, and ATOM in a decentralized way without requiring centralized custody of these assets.

Q20:

The vast majority of the cryptocurrency community's priorities is symbolic pricing. When prices rise, the community rejoices and grows. When they fall, many people begin to cast in a negative way. How will KAVA solve the negative problem when the price goes down? What is your plan to strengthen and develop the community to persuade more people to look at the product than the price?

• Answer: We believe price is an important factor for faith in the market. One of Kava's key initiatives was selecting only long-term partners that are willing to work with kava for 2 years. That is why even after 6 months, 0 private investor or kava team tokens will be liquid on the market.
  
• We believe not in fast pumps and then dumps that destroy faith, but rather we try and operate the best we can for long-term sustainable growth over time. It's always hard to control factors in the market, and some factors are out of our control such as BTC price correlations, etc - however, we treat this like a public company stock - we want long-term growth of Kava and try to make sure our whole community of Kava holders is aligned with that the best we can.
  

Q21:

Do you have any plans to attract non-crypto investors to Kava and how? What are the measures to increase awareness of kava in non-crypto space?

• Answer: We are 100% focused on crypto, not the general market. We solve the problems of crypto traders and investors - not the average grandma who needs a payment solution. Kava is geared for decentralized leverage and hedging.

Q22:

Adoption is crucial for all projects and crypto companies, what strategy are you gonna use/follow or u are now following to get Kava adopted and used by many people all over the world?

Revenue is an important aspect for all projects in order to survive and keep the project/company up and running for long term, what are the ways that Kava generates profits/revenue and what is its revenue model?

• Answer: We have already partnered with several large exchanges, long-term VCs, and large projects like Ripple and Cosmos. These are key ways for us to grow our community. As we build support for more assets, we plan to promote Kava's services to those new communities of traders.
  
• Kava generates revenue as more people use the platform. As the platform is used, KAVA tokens are burned when users pay stability fees. This deflates the total supply of Kava and should in most cases give rise to the value of KAVA like a stock-buyback in the public markets.
  

Q23:

In order to be success in Loan project of Cryptocurrency, I think marketing is very important to make people using this service without any registration. What is main strategy for marketing?

• Answer: Our main strategy is to build a great experience and offer products that are not available to communities with demand. Currently no DeFi products can serve BTC users for example. Centralized exchanges can, but nothing truly trustless. Kava's platform can finally give the vast audiences of BTC, BNB, and ATOM holders access to core DeFi services they cannot get on their own due to the smart contract limitations of those platforms.

Q24:

Currently, some project have policies for their ambassadors to create a contribution and attract recognition for the project! So the KAVA team plans to implement policies and incentives for KAVA ambassadors?

• Answer: Yes, we will be creating a KAVA ambassador program and releasing that soon. Please follow our social media channels to learn about it in the coming weeks.

Q25:

Currently there are so many KAVA tokens sold on exchanges, why is this happening while KAVA is going to IEO on Binance? Are those KAVA codes fake or not?

• Answer: For everyone's safety, please understand Kava tokens do not exist yet and they will only exist starting with the Binance IEO. Any other token listings or offerings of Kava are not supported by Kava Labs and I highly discourage you all from trying to get them there. It is most likely a big scam. Please only trust Binance for this.

Q26:

KAVA have two tokens, the first is called Kava - a governance and staking token; the second is called USDX - an algorithmically managed crypto-backed stable coin. What are the advantages of USDX compared to other stablecoins such as: USDT, USDC, TUSD, GUSD, ...?

• Answer: USDX is one of the few stablecoins to be fully backed by crypto-assets. This means that we do not deal with fiat to back the value, and thus we don't have some of the issues when it comes to storing fiat funds with banks and custodians. This also makes our product fully digital and built for the future of crypto growth.

Q27:

As a CEO, does your background in Esports and Gaming industry help anything to your management and development of KAVA Labs?

• Answer: Esports no. But having been a multi-time venture-backed foundeCEO and have gone through the start-up phase before has made creating and running a 2nd company easier. Right now Kava is still small, Fnatic had over 80 employees. It was at a larger scale. I would say developing software is much more than doing the hardware at fnaticgear.com

Q28:

Why did Kava choose to launch IEO on Binance and not other exchanges like: Kucoin, Houbi, Gate, ....?

• Answer: Kava had a lot of interest from exchanges to partner with for IEO. We decided based on a lot of factors such as userbase, diverse exposure across multiple regions and countries, and an amazing team that provides so much insight into so many communities such as this one. Binance has been a tremendous partner and we also look forward to continuing our partnership far into the future.

Q29:

Currently if Search on coinmarketcap has 3 types of stablecoins bearing the USDX symbol (but these 3 stablecoins are no information). So, what will KAVA do to let users know that Kava's USDX is another stablecoin?

• Answer: All these USDX have no volume or listings. We will be on Binance. I am not worried.

Q30:

In addition to the Token Allocation for Binance Launchpad, what is the Token Treasury in the Initial Circulating Supply?

• Answer: This is controlled by Kava Labs, but with the big cash we have saved from fundraising, we see no reason why these tokens would be sold on the market. The treasury tokens are for use in grants, ecosystem growth initiatives, development, and other incentive programs to drive adoption of the platform.

Q31:

How you will compete with your competitors? Currently i don't see much but for future how you will maintain this consistency ? No doubt it is Great and Unique project, what is the main problem that #KAVA is currently facing?

• Answer: Because our industry is just starting out, I don't like to think of them as our direct competitors. We are all working to grow the size of the pie rather than get a larger slice from a small pie. The one thing that we believe will allow us to stand apart is the community we are building. Being able to utilize our own community along with Cosmos and our other partners like Binance for the IEO, we have a strong footing to get a lot of early users onto our platform. Also, we are also focusing on growing Kava internationally particularly Asia. We hope to build our platform for an even larger userbase than just the west.

Q32:

How do you explain your project to a random person who has never heard of your project?

• Answer: non-crypto = Kava is a lending platform for users of cryptocurrencies.
  
• crypto = Kava is a cross-chain DeFi platform for loans and stablecoins backed by BTC, BNB, XRP, ATOM and other major cryptocurrencies.
  

Q33:

Will KAVA team have a plan on implementing DAO module on your platform since its efficiency on autonomy, decentralization and transparency?

• Answer: All voting is already transparent on the Kava blockchain. We approved a number of proposals on our test net.

Q34:

how to use usdx token :only for your platform or you have plan to use usdx for payment ?

• Answer: Payments is a nice use case, but demand for crypto payments is still small. We may choose to focus here later if demand for crypto payments increases. Currently it is quite small with the bulk of use remaining in trading and speculative use cases.

Q35:

Do you have plans to spread KAVA ecosystem across other continents. if yes, what are the strategies and how can I as a community member contribute to making it possible?

• Answer: We are already across many continents - I don't think we are in antarctica yet. Africa might be light on nodes as well. I think as we grow on major exchanges like Binance, new node operators will get interested and help decentralize Kava further.

Q36:

Maker's CDP lending system is on top in this market and its Dominance is currently sitting on 64.90 % , how kava will compete will maker and compound?

• Answer: adding assets like bitcoin which have more value and more users than ETH. It's a bigger market that Maker cannot compete with Kava in.

Q37:

Currently, the community is too concerned about the price. As prices rise, the community rejoice and grow, when falling, many people start throwing negatively. So what is KAVA's solution to getting people to focus on the project rather than the price of the token?

What is your plan to strengthen and grow the community to persuade more individuals to look at the product than the price?

• Answer: We also share similar concerns as price and price direction is always a huge factor in the crypto industry. A lot of people of course are very short-term focused on flipping for bigger profits. One of the solutions, and what Kava has done, is to make sure that everything structured is for the long-term. So that makes sure that our investors and employees are all focused on long-term gains and growth. Locking vesting periods are part of that alignment. Another thing is that we at Kava are very transparent in our progress and development. We will be regularly posting updates within our own communities to allow our users and followers to keep up with everything we're up to. Please follow us or look at our github if you're interested!

Q38:

How did Kava get on Piexgo?

• Answer: We did not work with Piexgo. We have not distributed tokens to any exchange other than Binance. I cannot speak to what is going on there, but I would be very wary of what is happening there.

Q39:

Why was the 1st round price so much lower than the current price

• Answer: It is natural to worry that early investors got better pricing and could dump on the market. I can assure you that our investors are in this for the long-term. All private sale rounds signed 2 year contracts to run validators - and if they don't they forfeit their tokens. You can compare our release schedule to any other project. We have one of the most restricted circulating supply schedules of any project EVER and its because all our investors are commiting to the long-term success of the project and believe in Kava.
  
• About the pricing itself - it is always a function of traction like for any start-up. When we made our public announcement about the project in June, we were only a 4 man team with just some github code. We could basically run a network with a single node, our own. Which is relatively worthless. I think our pricing of Kava at this time was justified. We were effectively a seed-stage company without a product or working network.
  
• By July we made severe progress on the development side and the business side. We successful launched our first test net with the help of over 70 validator business partners around the world. We had a world-wide network of hundreds of people supporting us with people and resources at this point and the risk we would fail in launching a working product was much lower. At this point, the Kava project was valued at $25M. At this point, we had many VCs and investors asking for Kava tokens that we turned away. We only accepted validators that would help us launch the network. It was our one and only goal.
  
• Fast forward to today, the IEO price simply reflects the traction and market demand for Kava. Our ecosystem is much larger than it was even a month ago. We have support from Ripple, Cosmos, and Binance amongst other large crypto projects. We have 100+ validators securing our network with very sophisticated high-availability set-ups. In addition, our ecosystem partners have built products for Kava - such as block explorers and others are working on native integrations to wallets and exchanges. Launchpad will be very big for us. Kava is a system designed to cater to crypto traders and investors and in a matter of days we distributed via Binance Launchpad and put in the hands of 130+ countries and tens of thousands of users overnight. It doesn't get more DeFi than that.
  

Q40:

What is the treasury used for?

• Answer: Kava's treasury is for ecosystem growth activities.
  
• Investors in financing rounds prior to the IEO have entered into long-term lock-up agreements in-line with their belief in Kava’s exciting long-term growth potential and to allow the projects token price to find stability. Following the IEO, the only tokens in circulation will be those sold through the IEO on Binance and the initial Treasury tokens released. No private sale investor tokens are in circulation until the initial release at the end of Q1 2020 and then gradually over the [36] months The initial Treasury tokens in circulation will be used for a mixture of ecosystem grants, the expenses associated with the IEO as well as initial market making requirements as is typical with a listing of this size. Kava remains well financed to execute our roadmap following the IEO and do not envisage any need for any material financings or token sales for the foreseeable future.
  

Q41:

Everyone have heard about the KAVA token, and read about it. But it would be great to hear your explanation about it. What is the Kava token, what is it's utility? :)

• Answer: The Kava token plays many roles. KAVA is the native staking token of the Kava blockchain and is used for securing the network. KAVA is delegated to validators, basically professional node operators that run highly-available servers to secure the Kava blockchain. The top 100 validators by weight of staked KAVA earn block rewards that range from 3-20% APR based on the total amount staked in the network. These rewards are split between the validators and the KAVA holders.
  
• When users of the platform repay their loans, they must a stability fee (a percentage of the loan) in KAVA tokens. These tokens are burned by the system, effectively deflating the total supply overtime as more users use the CDP system.
  
• KAVA is also the primary token used in governance of the platform. KAVA token holders can vote on key system parameter changes and upgrades such as what assets to support, how much USDX in total can be loaned by the system, what the debt-to-collateral ratio needs to be, the stability fees, etc. KAVA holders have a very important responsibility to govern the system well.
  
• Lastly, Kava functions as a "Lender of Last Resort" meaning if USDX ever gets undercollateralized because the underlying asset prices drop suddenly and the system manages it poorly, KAVA is inflated in these emergency situations and used to purchase USDX off the market until USDX reaches a state of being over collateralized again. KAVA holders have incentive to only support the good high quality assets so risk of the system is managed responsibly.
  

Q42:

No matter how perfect and technically thought-out a DeFi protocol is, it cannot be completely protected from any unplanned situations (such as extreme market fluctuations, some legal issues, etc.)

Ecosystem members, in particular the validators on whom KAVA relies on fundamental decision-making rights, should be prepared in advance for any "critical" scenario. Considering that, unlike the same single-collateral MakerDAO, KAVA will be a multi-collateral CDP system, this point is probably even more relevant here.

In this regard, please answer the following question: Does KAVA have a clear risk management model or strategy and how decentralized is / will it be?

• Answer: Simialar to other CDP systems and MakerDAO we do have a system freeze function where in cases of extreme issues, we can stop the auction mechanisms and return all collateral.

Q43:

Did you know that "Kava" is translated into Ukrainian like "Coffee"? I personally do love drinking coffee. I plunge into the fantasy world. Why did you name your project "Kava" What is the story behind it? What idea / fantasy did your project originate from, which inspired you to create it?

• Answer: Kava is coffee to you.
  
• Kava is Hippopotamus to Japanese.
  
• Cava is a region in Spain
  
• Kava is also a root that is used in tea which makes your mouth numb.
  
• Kava is also crow in Hindi.
  
• Kava last but not least is a DeFi platform launching on Binance :)
  
• We liked the sound of Kava it was as simple as that. It doesn't have much meaning in the USA where I am from. But it's short sweet and when we were just starting, Kava.io was available for a reasonable price
  

Q44:

What incentives does a lender get if a person chooses to pay with KAVA? Is there a discount on interest rates on the loan amount if you pay with KAVA? Do I have to pass the KYC procedure to apply for a small loan?

• Answer: There is no KYC for Kava. Its an open blockchain software platform where anyone with a computer can connect to it and use it.

Q45:

Let's say, I decided to bond my cryptocurrency and got USDX stable coins. For now, it`s an unknown stable coin (let's be honest). Do you plan to add USDX to other famous exchanges? Also, you have spoken about the USDX staking and that the percentage would be higher than for other stable coins. Please be so kind to tell us what is the average annual interest rate and what are the conditions of staking?

• Answer: Yes we have several large exchanges willing to support USDX from the start. Binance/Binance-DEX is one you should all know ;)
  
• The average annual rates for USDX will depend on market conditions. The rate is actually provided by the CDP fees users pay. The system reallocates a portion of those fees to USDX users. In times when USDX use needs to grow, the rates will be higher to incentivize use. When demand is strong, we can reduce the rates.
  

Q46:

Why should i use and choose Kava's loan if i can use the similar margin trade on Binance?

• Answer: If margin is available to you and you trust the exchange then you should do whatever is cheaper. For a US citizen and others, margin is often not available and if it is, only for a few asset types as collateral. Kava aims to address this and offer this to everyone.

Q47:

The IEO price is $ 0.46 while the price of the first private sale is $ 0.075. Don't you think that such price gap can negatively affect the liquidity of the token and take away the desire to buy a token on the exchange?

• Answer: It is natural to worry that early investors got better pricing and could dump on the market. I can assure you that our investors are in this for the long-term. All private sale rounds signed 2 year contracts to run validators - and if they don't they forfeit their tokens. You can compare our release schedule to any other project. We have one of the most restricted circulating supply schedules of any project EVER and its because all our investors are commiting to the long-term success of the project and believe in Kava.
  
• About the pricing itself - it is always a function of traction like for any start-up. When we made our public announcement about the project in June, we were only a 4 man team with just some github code. We could basically run a network with a single node, our own. Which is relatively worthless. I think our pricing of Kava at this time was justified. We were effectively a seed-stage company without a product or working network.
  
• By July we made severe progress on the development side and the business side. We successful launched our first test net with the help of over 70 validator business partners around the world. We had a world-wide network of hundreds of people supporting us with people and resources at this point and the risk we would fail in launching a working product was much lower. At this point, the Kava project was valued at $25M. At this point, we had many VCs and investors asking for Kava tokens that we turned away. We only accepted validators that would help us launch the network. It was our one and only goal.
  
• Fast forward to today, the IEO price simply reflects the traction and market demand for Kava. Our ecosystem is much larger than it was even a month ago. We have support from Ripple, Cosmos, and Binance amongst other large crypto projects. We have 100+ validators securing our network with very sophisticated high-availability set-ups. In addition, our ecosystem partners have built products for Kava - such as block explorers and others are working on native integrations to wallets and exchanges. Launchpad will be very big for us. Kava is a system designed to cater to crypto traders and investors and in a matter of days we distributed via Binance Launchpad and put in the hands of 130+ countries and tens of thousands of users overnight. It doesn't get more DeFi than that.
  
• TLDR - I think KAVA is undervalued and the liquid supply of tokens is primarily from the IEO so its a safer bet than other IEOs. If the price drops, it will be from the overall market conditions or fellow IEO users not due private sale investors or team sell-offs.
  

Q48:

Can you introduce some information abouts KAVA Deflationary Fee Structure? With the burning mechanism, does it mean KAVA will never reach its max supply?

• Answer: When loans are repaid, users pay a fee in Kava. This is burned. However, Kava does not have a max supply. It has a starting supply of 100M. It inflates for block rewards 3-20% APR AND it inflates when the system is at risk of under collateralization. At this time, more Kava is minted and used to purchase USDX off the market until it reaches full collateralization again.
  
• TLDR: If things go well, and governance is good, Kava deflates and hopefully appreciates in value. If things go wrong, Kava holders get inflated.
  

Q49:

In your opinion what are advantage of decentralized finance over centralized?

• Answer: One of the main advantages is not needing to pay the costs of regulation and compliance. Open financial software that is usable by anyone removes middle men fees and reduces the barrier for new entrants to enter and make new products. Also DeFI has an edge in terms of onboarding - to get a bank account or an exchange account you need to do lots of KYC and give private info. That takes time and is troublesome. With DeFi you just load up your funds and transact. Very fast user flows.

Q50:

Plan, KAVA how to raise capital? Kava is being supported by more than 100 business entities around the world, including major cryptocurrency investment funds like Ripple and Cosmos, so what did kava do to convince investors to join the project?

• Answer: We have been doing crypto research and development for years. Ripple and Cosmos were partners before we even started this blockchain with Kava Labs. When we announced Kava the DeFi platform they knew us already to do good work and they liked the idea so they support us.

ATTN: These AMA questions are from Autumn 2019 - before the official launch of the Kava Mainnet, and it's fungible Kava Token.
These questions may no longer be relevant to the current Kava landscape, however, they do provide important historical background on the early origins of Kava Labs.
Please note, that there are several repeat questions/answers.

Q51:

How do you think about France in Kava market development plan?

What is your next plan to raise awareness among French about Kava?

• Answer: It is important to reach many top markets. For countries like France we need to find 1st regulator partners such as Binance that can help provide access to KAVA for users. When our CDP platform launches, we will work through local validator partners to help translate content and work with local users.
  
• We have some great community efforts where people create content for us.
  

Q52:

Why did you choose Cosmos instead of Aion, which comes with AVM built on JAVA, which can be accepted by many developers?

Will there be a possibility that one day we will be able to collateralize a privacy coin, such as Monero, on KAVA?

• Answer: We like programming in GO, interfaces are OK for Java. Cosmos will also feature a WASM module and EVM later. The Cosmos-SDK is very flexible and it allowed us to choose our own security model. That was unique compared to other frameworks where we had to adopt the underlying blockchains. In Cosmos-SDK we can create our own blockchain.
  
• Re: privacy - you can do some fun things in payment channels to make transactions more private. Such as onion routing clearing and settlement across different nodes. This can be possible in the future, but not our priority now.
  

Q53:

The biggest advantage of finance is the efficient allocation of resource allocation. If KAVA connects assets of multiple platforms through the interchain technology, the efficiency across the market will be improved.

But in terms of connectivity, Facebook's Libra, with its centralized giant platform, could be a big threat for the future. Of course, regulatory uncertainty still exists. KAVA wonders what big platform companies think about entering the blockchain field and how they can cope with their competition.

• Answer: We think of Kava as a DeFi service that can integrate with wallets, exchanges, and other platforms when users want loans or stable coins for payments. We don't see competition with Libra, but we see lots of users potentially getting into crypto which will be good for the market, good for BTC, and good for Kava.

Q54:

What will you do with the money after IEO?

What is the most important markets that Kava is focusing?

What is your marketing strategy to approach those markets?

• Answer: What will we do with the IEO money? Put it in a bank and keep building. We keep our funds safe in secure accounts that are insured. We always maintain at least 2 years runway in pure fiat to ensure we can survive in any bear market conditions and come out on top in the end.

Q55:

On mainnet, which function/feature can we expect to see on Kava since i only saw informations about its testnet?

• Answer: mainnet will feature KAVA, staking, delegating, validator software, voting and governance / parameter changes. Following mainnet, the validators will vote to enable transactions and the CDP platform. We expect this to be towards the end of the yeaQ1 2020

Q56:

How does Kava maintain the stability of its stablecoin? Are there any opportunties for outsiders to arbitrage or any other mechanisms to maintain price stabilization?

• Answer: Kava users deposit crypto assets as collateral and can withdraw a loan based on the amount they deposited. They must always provide more collateral than the loan is worth. When the value of the collateral drops due to market conditions, before it reaches the value of the loaned amount, the platform will auction off the crypto assets for USDX that is on the market at a discount. Holders of USDX can buy these assets at a profit. This removes USDX from the market and makes sure that the global USDX to collateral in the system remains balanced. Similar to MakerDao, 3rd parties can run "keepers" - very simple implementations which continuously monitors the Kava/USDX credit system for unsafe CDPs, and execute the liquidation function the moment they become unsafe. Keepers can also perform arbitrage on DEX/Exchanges executing trades across the Kava platform and the markets.

Q57:

Alright! So KAVA is doing DeFi right, could you explain DeFi in layman term to us.

• Answer: Decentralized Finance. Finance is really ensuring everything about past, present, and future value of money. You need safe custody and a store of value to keep money you earned in the past safe to be used later when you need it. You need something liquid and easily tradable to be used in the present. And the trickier one is the future - people need to get loans on the assets they have or hedge against the assets they have in order to ensure they can build for a better future. That’s finance.
  
• DeFi is taking all those things and making them open access and unregulated so that regardless if you were born with out an ID, if your credit score is bad, or if the government is trying to censor your actions and limit your spending - DeFi promises to give you a way to get access to the financial products you need.
  

Q58:

Could you please briefly explain your projects, and why you choose DeFi as a problem to solve?

• Answer: Kava is a cross-chain DeFi platform for cryptocurrencies. Kava offers decentralized loans and stable coins for any other crypto asset such as BTC, XRP, BNB, and ATOM.
  
• DeFi is the killer use case of crypto today. I think most people see this clearly now. We believe providing the basic DeFi services is the very first step that is required before blockchain technology can really become wide spread - so we started here.
  

Q59:

Why the name of the project KAVA?

• Answer: We started in crypto thinking we would build banking products and we wanted a more relaxed cool name to stand out from other solutions. Turns out Kava means many things.
  
• Kava = Hippopotamus in Japanese
  
• Kava = crow in hindi
  
• Cava = wine region in spain
  
• Kava = a medicinal root you add to Tea
  
• Kava = now a cross-chain DeFi platform
  
• But TLDR - we liked the name and thought it sounded short and sweet.
  

Q60:

What do you think of the future of DeFi in this space? Will DeFi one day take over the traditional financial systems? -- any wild guess on when it might happen?

• Answer: I think centralized solutions will always have certain advantages and DeFi will also have certain advantages.
  
• But truthfully, KYC is a problem from a user experience point of view. One of the big things with DeFi is there is no need to make people go through a KYC process anymore.
  
• If we imagine a world where USD Is king, or Renminbi is king, or BTC is king. DeFi has a place in all of them because open access to financial services is a basic human necessity.
  

Q61:

As we have known, Lending is not the only problem to solve in the whole financial areas, are you planning on going beyond lending? What other financial products are in your pipeline?

• Answer: Thats a good #Q .
  
• While we have a lot to solve to offer lending to other crypto assets - we can expand our support to non-crypto assets, to NFT tokens, and other assets.
  
• We also have plans to offer derivatives and other synthetics other than USDX - such as synthetic bitcoin and Yuan. What is exciting about Kava and the oracle system run by validators is that we can leverage this infrastructure around the world to do all sort of things.
  
• One of the more interesting products is creating under-collateralized loans using payment channel (layer-2 tech) of our USDX coin. Two parties can lock funds in payment channels and place bets on the price feeds from the oracles. When the funds reach a maximum threshold, the bet closes. Since a price feed is just a data set, we can have the settlement rules be multiples of the real data. In simple terms we can create 100x leverage products for the craziest of traders 😉
  

Q62:

Btw KAVA is a bit unique because it use Cosmos/Tendermint. While other DeFi use Ethereum , why you guys choose Cosmos?

• Answer: Cosmos is the future. Even facebook’s Libra consensus design was just a copy of Tendermint. Kava, Binance, the Cosmos Hub and many other blockchains are built on the same Cosmos-SDK framework.
  
• It’s very flexible and soon interoperable. This is a huge advantage over Ethereum. Where system’s like MakerDAO will be forced to develop in a slowly evolving chain like Ethereum and only touching Erc20 assets, Kava will be able to rapidly evolve, program in GO rather than solidity, and interoperate with chains like Binance directly.
  
• We’re very excited to get BNB and BTCB onto Kava’s CDPs and to put KAVA and USDX onto the Binance DEX. This is fairly easy on Cosmos.
  

Q63:

I saw in KAVA deck that you guys will use USDX, is it a stable coin? How is it going to work and its relationship with KAVA token itself?

• Answer: USDX is an algorithmically stable token pegged to the USD. USDX is the token users recieve when they get a loan from the Kava platform. USDX is collateralized or backed by crypto assets so the Kava platform should always hold more crypto value than the USDX it loans making USDX a very safe store of value even if the market crashes 10x overnight. That is what a stable coin should do.
  
• USDX is special though. Natively, users can spend or trade USDX freely like other stable coins, but the important difference is that 1) USDX is free of censorship and does not require a bank or anything else. 2) USDX can be “bonded” or “staked” providing an interest bearing yield between 2-10% APR. This is substantially more than what I can even get from my bank account.
  

Q64:

From your point of view as KAVA team, what would be most anticipated feature in KAVA ?

• Answer: Our CDP platform launch later this year. The first USDX will be minted then.
  
• Support of BTC in the CDP smart contracts. No blockchain has supported a real decentralized custody and use of BTC with smart contracts before.
  

Q65:

Indonesia is one of the “developing” countries, how is DeFi can help in making a difference in those “developing” countries?

• Answer: I can’t speak for developing countries as it’s not my expertise, but DeFi in general is trying to offer the exact same services to EVERYONE. Whether you are in San Francisco or Indonesia, the financial services you should have should be similar. The rates and fees you pay should be the same. DeFi is fair treatment and open access for everyone. That is what’s nice about having things run on a protocol.

Q66:

Last but no least, since we are doing AMA in Indonesian group, I believed our members wants to know if you are interested in going to Indonesia to expand your community and reach?

• Answer: As I said, I have not been before! I am traveling throughout South East Asia for a lot of the year. It is one of my destinations. I hope to meet many of you while I am out there.

Q67:

Defi companies are growing at a rapid pace, but they're actually smaller than traditional financial institutions. In order for Defy to become a global trend, it must eventually acquire consumers within the traditional financial industry.

Traditional financial consumers, however, have poor technical understanding and want psychological stability through government guarantees such as deposit insurance. After all, what does KAVA think about long-term competitors as traditional financial institutions, and what long-term strategies do they have to embrace traditional financial consumers?

• Answer: We think of financial institutions as big honey pots of potential DeFi users. For example, if Kava can offer margin lending at better rates than a bank because there is no middle men or compliance costs, users should want to use that service.
  
• As crypto grows, I believe more FIs will integrate crypto assets and DeFi services. For example, in the US you cannot currently margin trade crypto as a retail user. But it could be possible for a regulated FI to integrate a lending service like KAVA without causing issues with regulators due to Kava having no counter party risk other than the user itself.
  

Q68:

MakerDAO is only for ethereum but Kava support multiple assets, is this only difference?

What are Kava main advantages compared to MakerDAO?

• Answer: Kava supports multiple assets THAT are on different blockchains. Maker can only support ETH. This is a huge difference. In addtion, the role of Maker is quite likely a security token. It represents fees paid by others. Where in Kava, the token is used in security of the blockchain protocol itself. The holders of Kava have a lot at stake and need it to govern the system. Maker holders have nothing at stake.
  
• I think a huge difference is that with our model being POS and based on validators with slashing if they don't participate our governance participation and management will be much more effective than MakerDao.
  

Q69:

Ticket claim for KAVA Launchpad is comming around the corner. This maybe last IEO ticket claim of this year. With this hype and expectation of investors/traders, do you think KAVA will be a big boom to end this year with happy tears?

If someone wants to manipulate Governance function of KAVA by changing voting result by possessing many Validators Node through buying over 51% KAVA of market, what will KAVA team do? Do you think Emergency Shutdown(Maker has this) can be considerd as a solution?

How will USDX be minted and backed on KAVA platform? If its based on uses crypto collateral, how will KAVA team make it stable since the inflation of crypto price?

• Answer: I believe Kava to be underpriced currently, especially compared to maker which is 10x the value and serving ETH which is much smaller market than ours.
  
• But I cannot tell you with certain if Kava will boom or bust - only the market can decide that. As with all speculative assets, do your homework and trade at your own risk. We here at kava are very LONG Kava, but we are biased 😉
  

Q70:

Stablecoin is the word that I heard everyday, so do you have any plans to release wallet for stablecoin?

• Answer: There are already wallets created for Kava that can hold our tokens 😉

Q71:

My first question is: Why do traders choose to use KAVA instead of margin on exchanges?

My second #Q is: What happens whenKAVA doesn't have enough cash to loan out?

• Answer: Traders who cannot get passed KYC can use Kava. Traders who want better rates than exchanges can use Kava. If regulators like in the US prevent margin trading, Kava is a great solution.
  
• Kava creates USDX out of thin air when users withdraw loans. It will only create Kava is the user locks a great value of crypto in the system to back it. When the USDX loan is repaid, it is destroyed. In this way, Kava can scale however big it wants - it will never run out of cash.
  

Q72:

i heard as you said before in San Fransisco, Silicon Valley. what is the relationship about Silicon Valley and KAVA? and what will KAVA done in this Q1 ?

• Answer: I am born and raised in Silicon Valley. I am blessed to have grown up in this area where lots of tech innovation is. However, I am the only one at Kava that lives here full time. The others on my team are in the Cayman Islands and Cambridge.
  
• San Francisco is a hub for the largest crypto projects - Ripple, Coinbase, Stellar, etc. It's a great place to network with founders and feel inspired to do big things. It is not the best weather here, but the people are focused and extremely helpful if they can be if you aim to do big things.
  

Q73:

With regard to minting new USDX, is there any potential chance to against Global financial law? Likewise USDT, issuing money should guarantee deposit of real collateral as I have known.

• Answer: USDX is debt. It is not a guarantee, but the protocol's rules state it must have more crypto assets behind it than the # of USDX issued. In this way, rules are better than guarantees. Tether guaranteed 1:1 USD, it turned out not to be true because their funds were seized by regulators. That is impossible in the case of Kava.

Q74:

What is the uniqueness of KAVA project that cannot be found in other project that´s been released before?

• Answer: Cross-chain is unique for us. But most unique is our partners and validator group that is launching our blockchain. We have incredible partners that support our work including Ripple, Cosmos, Arrington, Hashkey, SNZ, Lemniscap, etc.

Q75:

KAVA was initially planned to launch on Ripple network but later switched to Cosmos Tindermint Core. What is that something you see in Tindermint Core that is not available anywhere.

• Answer: We did not plan to launch on ripple and did not launch on "Tinder"-mint. I have a fiance - she would be quite mad.
  
• We did however use the Cosmos SDK - a tool set, to build our blockchain that features tendermint consensus.
  
• Tendermint is just the consensus so I assume you mean the SDK. The SDK is very much "choose your own adventure" you can build anything and design all the spec of your blockchain easily. In this way you choose the tradeoffs that make the most sense for your special application/network
  

Q76:

How much portion of USDX is backed from crypto/fiat money ...& please mention why any trader, hodler will prefer USDX over other stable coins?

What are the biggest challenges you expect to face and how do you plan to overcome these challenges?

• Answer: 150% of USDX or more is backed by crypto. Traders will use USDX because it offers a savings rate. This rate allows traders heding bitcoin or other assets to not only store value, but earn a return.

Q77:

What do you think about creating liquidity for the Kava project?

• Answer: It's the biggest challenge. My hope is the savings rate USDX offers will give it natural organic demand over existing stable coins. It will definitely be a large BD process to get USDX listed and used worldwide.
  
• We work with some of the worlds best market makers to seed liquidity today. But we will need organic demand in the long-term
  

Q78:

So many IEO projects consistently drop in price after listing. Whats different with KAVA, what are some special highlights?

• Answer: Why is Kava based on Cosmos? Based on what considerations?

Q79:

How do you see the chinese language community? How do you view the opportunities for growth in the chinese community?

• Answer: You will be soon listing on Binance, what are your plans on the business side after listing? In one years time, what are your thoughts on where Kava's development will be?

Q80:

If we take a look at all the different types of DeFi products/apps out there, including decentralized exchanges, stablecoins, atomic swaps, insurance products, lending platforms, trade financing platforms, custodial platforms, crowd investment platforms, etc, nearly cover all the important areas of traditional finance.

In this age of all these different platforms taking hold, where does Kava see itself appealing to its app developers, users, investors?

• Answer: What does Kava do? What can a normal user (of crypto) achieve by using KAVA?

Q81:

How does Kava maintain the stability of its stablecoin? Are there any opportunities for outsiders to arbitrage or any other mechanisms to maintain price stabilization

• Answer: What is the reason for the IEO price reaching 6x the first round private sale price? How did you come about to reaching this valuation?

Q82:

What would you be able to do more for Russian-speaking communities and regions?

• Answer: one thing to keep in mind is that yes, we do have limitations and regulations to follow when it comes to certain countries and we will adhere to those regulations in hopes of proving ourselves to be a thoughtful and long-term solution. while we may not directly work with some countries, we hope that communities there can understand that we're here focused on being sustainable rather than another project around shorter-term gains.
  
• for myself, I'm actually belarusian myself so I absolutely see the value of working in the CIS/Russian-speaking regions. we'll continue to do AMAs, interviews, and always engage with Russian-speaking communities to better understand what the #Q s, concerns, and thoughts.
  
• If there's anything else we can do in this region and with the @gagarin_ico communities, please let us know!
  

Q83:

What are your major goals to archive in the next 3-4 years? Where can we KAVA ecosystem in this period? What are your plans to expand and gain more adoption?

Do you guys feel satisfied by seeing your progresses and achievements till now, when you look back to the day when you have started this project?

• Answer: We want to really build out great DeFi products for the masses. I really believe that DeFi will be a major force to allow much more mass adoption for crypto over the coming years. In the sorter term, we want to push out our blockchain and build on top of that our CDP platform, which allows users to trustlessly put collateral onto the Kava blockchain, and receive a loan in USDX that will be also trustlessly administered.
  
• We will then build out more complex products and financial derivatives for crypto users and traders. We have barely scratched the surface in what we can do with DeFi so I can't predict the future, but we want to build products that are pegged to BTC values so that traders have more leverage purely in crypto.
  

Q84:

Which one of your milestone do you think was difficult and which was the encouragement that courages you to achieve it?

What were the Minimum and Maximum limit of KAVA tokens that one can be able to STAKE after the Mainnet launch ? And What will be the percentage of reward one gets and will it in future ?

• Answer: Good #Q ! Well we've been working on open source cross-chain technologies for a number of years and honestly it can be a pain. I think the Cosmos SDK made it significantly easier to implement the features that we wanted into the software.
  
• I think the largest challenges for Kava are not software based but in market adoption. Makerdao is a great project and they have spearheaded a lot of the work in the lending field. Hopefully Kava can be a very meaningful contributor as well
  

Q85:

What if someone fails to repay the debt? Is that KAVA is taking collateral system to enterprise level & if so, what's the plan? How secure KAVA is to safely handle the collateral tokens?

• Answer: These CDPs or "collateral debt positions" are always over-collateralized, which means you have to have more asset locked up in the bucket than you can draw from the bucket. The system leaves a margin when the collateral is 'called' to be able to sell off. If the asset cannot be fully redeemed KAVA is minted to cover the balance. Hence KAVA is a 'lender of last resort". This is why its important that we select good initially assets to support 👍

Q86:

I am very impressed with your voting method, how does it work? Whether users can vote to change things in the platform, are you a programmer with filters to decide what can be voted on and what is not possible?

• Answer: Thanks. A lot of this was pioneered with the Tendermint team. Basically voting is entirely open and asynchronous, meaning anyone can submit a proposal to be voted on. All the project in the Cosmos ecosystem are working diligently to expand the space of variable or features that can be modified via this governance method in protocol. For example, we were the first to enable transactions directly via governance in our Testnet-2000!

Q87:

Where does the interest rate come from for holding USDX specifically & technically?

• Answer: Great #Q ! Just like in MakerDAO, lenders of collateral (e.g. BTC, BNB) pay an annual interest rate to borrow USDX. A portion of that interest rate accretes to holders of KAVA, the rest we can apply a 'carrot' for users to adopt USDX. In short, Savings rate is loan interest rate less 'rents' collected from KAVA holders

Q88:

As far as I understand it KaVa is used both as a staking token and as collateral for Kava stablecoins (UsDX) .Can you talk a bit about the stability mechanism? Can other forms of collateral be used to create Kava stablecoins (a la Multi-Collateral Dai)?

• Answer: KAVA will not be used as a collateral type in the CDPs. Collateral types will be assets exogenous to the system, like BTC and BNB. Of course BTC and BNB's value fluctuates. To make USDX not fluctate we ensure there is always more BTC or BNB in the CDP bucket than 'stable' USDX. Therefore BTC could increase or decrease a lot, as long as its less than the 'stable' debt of USDX that you have drawn, the system is healthy and functional 👌

Q89:

As far as I know, KAVA had 150 Validators in the test. Why do you have so much. Which conditions are your team based on to choose / invite them to stay decentralized, important for a Defi platform like KAVA?

• Answer: KAVA mainnet will launch with a cap of 100 validators. We want as many validators as possible. The reason? What if KAVA was run by just you and me. Well that works if people trust us, but its pretty for us to collude and act maliciously. Its harder for 100 people to collude -- its still possible, but harder. And so we put a lot of effort in to promoting a healthy and large validator community, and empowering them to grow their stake in the system

Q90:

As a developer, which program languages can i use in kava core smart contracts?

2How secure your fully on-chain liquidity protocol & What's is a core Smart Contract ?can you briefly explain.

• Answer: Yay developers! 🤓 The Cosmos SDK is currently written in Golang. So thats a good start. What other language would you like to work in?

Q91:

What do you think of DEFI in the Blockchain space?

DeFi brings many benefits to users, but conflicts of interests with the Bank. What is the solution of kava?

• Answer: Defi to me is offering financial primates, the supplies of which are spreadout amongst many participants, as opposed to few. People offer loans on BTC today. Kava's goal is to maximize the amount of counterparties to any loan, thereby 'socializing' the returns on any activiely used financial product

Q92:

What is the crucial thing, in your opinion,that would increase adoption of KAVA and possibly the rest of crypto. What’s the KAVA economic model and how will it is architecture ensure scarcity of the token and help to growth token price?

Can you tell me more about the new technology that combines the benefits and interactive functions of Cosmos with the DeFi applications you have built?

• Answer: Principly what I believe is 'new' about the KAVA tech stack is that we are building a standalone piece of software that treats other network techologies as 'first class citizens'. This means from the ground up our design is mean to easily incorporate and work with other software. A lot of blockchain is a story of "everyone will use my software, because its the best". Kava Labs worked for years against this view while bringing open Interledger to market.

Q93:

As Per Kava website ! $KAVA was done many partnerships with Big project like Ripple, Cosmos, TenderMint, Hashkey, etc ! So, whats the major reason and benefits of these partnerships to kava project?

Kava Project have their own Mainnet Blockchain So, whats the main work of Cosmos Blockchain in Kava ? Is Kava projects is on Both mainnet and Cosmos OR Kava is just using the Cosmos Blockchain services?

• Answer: Working together. Pooling resources and talent to make something bigger! Crypto is still a little fish in a huge ocean of financial services. Kava Labs has always had an eye for inclusivity. Grow the pie!

Q94:

I have been too involved in KAVA's AMA, I think I know all about your technology.I want to ask a successful person like you why come with cryptocurrencies and blockchain, with talent. There are many other areas for you to choose, so why are you targeting such a risky market?

• Answer: Successful ay? hehe. Depends how you define success and what your goals are. I love delivering products to users. Crypto has some fantastic users, and there is still sooo much to be built. I think KAVA has a lot of promise, but there is still so much work to be done and I hope users like you all become producers some day as well

Q95:

What's the most critical and innovative point of KAVA to ensure users that it is the best under DeFi niche?

How can you compete MakerDAO which has done good number of business with recent market! If I hold KAVA tokens how KAVA leverage the tokens value and make it moon for me? 🙈

• Answer: "IF" you hold KAVA tokens now? 😂 Again I think this a markets concern. To the extend that users on other chains begin to trust KAVA brand for loan issuance, and we get some solid adoption of USDX I think we're in a good spot. I would say a benefit of KAVA is that we are FOCUSED. We're not trying to be everything for everyone. This is lending, quite simply, for the large market cap coins -- and that's hard enough

Q96:

Why KAVA needs to create it's own stable coin, whereas there are are many other options available in the market? Is that crypto tokens can be stable!!?

• Answer: Yeah there are a lot of USD backed stable coins that is true. Indeed we have looked around with working together with a number of them. The difference with USDX (and DAI) is that its crypto-collateral backed. Doesnt mean we won't work with others in the future 😉

Q97:

Processing fees on loans we need to pay in kava or usdx?

Which types of success you've been seen in testnet? Why on Nov 5th you've planned to launch mainnet? How many testnet was processed in the past?

• Answer: Three major testnets with some minor iterations therein. Testnet-3000's software was pinned to KAVA mainnet software. That testnet is looking good which is a good indicator for smooth sailing on mainnet launch, we'll see 🤞

Q98:

DeFi is a hot niche when it comes to crypto/blockchain project! Most of the projects are developing aiming DeFi, How KAVA is looking to contribute in DeFi ecosystem? What will be the approach of KAVA to systemize & increase adoptability?

• Answer: DeFi is big. Mostly on Ethereum, which is great! KAVA is for non-ethereum networks 😇

Q99:

What is the main reason that you think that Cosmos-based Kava zone will present a new validator opportunity :- a complex and multi-faceted governance system that allows differentiation?

• Answer: Validator #Q , nice. I believe its important for validators to be able to distiguish there service in multiple ways, not just on security (otherwise they will be treated as a commodity). KAVA present an opportunity for validators to distiguish themselves on the basis of proper governance of system parameters on behalf of their delegating constituents. KAVA is a "lender of last resort", so delegating to a sophisticated validator could lead to better results beyond security.

Q100:

How is kavas tendermint better than other defi consensus especially with the introduction of etheruem 2.0 which many believe will be better than all others - considering kavas association with ripple, is it possible to foresee defi loans from crypto to fiat ?

Maybe kava partnership with centralised banks?

• Answer: IDK about that. But we will be working closely with the great folks over at Ripple, thats for sure!

Q101:

Adoption is one of the important factor that all sustainable blockchain projects should focus to be more attractive in the invertors' eyes.

Can you tell me what KAVA has done and plan to do to achieve Adoption in the reality, real use cases, our real society?

• Answer: Bitcoin is real!? I'm continuously impressed by the demand and size of that network. Help us capture that demand! Really, if we can I think the future looks bright for KAVA!