just lying there and that sort of sparked the conscience of a lot of people and then they said you have to stop killing the whales and there was an international agreement okay we will stop hunting whales and as a result of that in 20 30 years where populations have started to see an increase because you had an international agreement so unless you have an international agreement on something like fishing or on the sort of discharge you're doing in the water it it isn't going to change and a fair bit of this responsibility is with corporates with with companies that dump out a lot of toxic chemicals on a large scale but the responsibility is also on us i've read some of that fast fashion so you know the clothes you buy from like big fashion brands uh that's a huge contributor to uh water pollution in general yeah yeah so if you actually google uh photos of it if you check out google uh so then there's this one area in um china that makes uh washed jeans the


in um china that makes uh washed jeans the jeans that they have to give up that washed effect so for that they have to put it through to three different chemical processes and if you see the water outside that then it's uh blue it's completely blue but it's not natural it's that dark jeans pala blue similarly you have one area again in china uh which um where they manufacture hats for christmas those santa claus voila hats so the area outside that is red it's it's it's red it feels like there's it's a it's a river of blood so that's that's how it is and i'll give you an example not so uh far away from home but then um there were there was one case of um i think an ngo called one shakti had taken it up with the government that uh there were a few industries in uh navi mumbai they were not following pollution norms and the water over there had turned turquoise blue so that's something closer to home so so


blue so that's something closer to home so so over uh so across the entire world across all different countries and legislation there is a marked disrespect for water for water the life it holds and the help that water provides has the lockdown changed anything um well initially people were really happy he locked down just a pollution but now everything has started unlocking so you see that whatever behavioral patterns are going back yeah behavioral patterns are going back see unfortunately the lives that we live are hinged on um excessive consumption and excessive materialism your gdp a big component of your gdp is manufacturing which means that you actually have to manufacture more products you have to create more products when you create more products you also have significant amount of waste and those uh and not every polluter will actually end up paying the price for it it will be people who will be end up paying the price for it so speaking about uh people who will end up paying the price have you read about this mexican


paying the price have you read about this mexican fisherman who got washed ashore have you read the story it was a crazy story he basically was with a friend they both uh kind of got swept away like in a storm they were near their mexican village but they got swept away into the pacific ocean and i think about 100 days after being swept away or something that friend went insane because of just being out like they got lost in the ocean and they couldn't contact anyone and this guy apparently he was out there for more than two years like in the ocean he was around you're surviving on rain water and he was surviving on like eating raw fish and all that and finally he landed up near some very remote pacific island so i think at the start of the podcast you mentioned that high seas yeah yeah he got uh swept away into a part of the high seas where almost no trawler has ever been no big ship has ever been so


has ever been no big ship has ever been so he got washed out to like probably the most isolated part of the earth other than the seas near the poles yeah so that's a crazy thought and when that's when you realize the power of the ocean what it can isolate you from um you don't i mean imagine going to a part of this planet where not a single human being before you has been yeah yeah it's humbling i mean the thing is we tend to focus on our uh on on the world in terms of um you know the countries or the places that you can see and we often ignore that the earth is called the blue planet and it's called the blue planet for a reason because most of its area is covered by some form of water body or the other so have you read anything about uh things like the megalodon or megalodon yeah yeah that was and that was a megalodon is like a really ancient version of the shark however i have to tell you that in


the shark however i have to tell you that in the deep seas uh there is a species called chimera which is a two meter long shark which is uh the ancestor of our modern sharks wow and it's still alive yeah yeah it's still alive if you see the high see as well episode i just saw it it's quite a cute little thing so uh the thing about the thing that we ignore when it comes to our ocean is that the ocean is the reason that um we've been able to survive as we are especially given uh climate change and stuff like that we think what the oceans have been doing for all of these years is whenever we produce a lot of carbon dioxide and heat the carbon whatever carbon dioxide we produce will absorb a lot of heat and what the oceans have been doing is they've been absorbing this heat for us so they've been reducing the impact of whatever has been happening for so long and now they've reached like a critical point where they can't


they've reached like a critical point where they can't absorb heat for a very long time they can't absorb as much heat as they used to and secondly uh so so that has a big implications because uh that means that there's more heat in the atmosphere which is gonna heat up the earth faster and then cause more and more problems it's a whole domino effect secondly what people tend to uh forget is um that because oceans cover majority of our planet um you have these tiny uh oceanic plants that are called phytoplankton you and i can't see them but then uh that's how the whole marine ecosystem starts you'll have these tiny plants called phytoplankton that'll then feed small fish smaller fish and then the smaller fish are eaten by the bigger fish and bigger fish and that's how the whole chain goes on now these phytoplankton actually recycle all the nutrients uh from the fish sony any waste that the fish will leave all the marine creatures mammals as well


will leave all the marine creatures mammals as well so all of their waste will be recycled by the phytoplanktons they'll absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and they'll produce oxygen as well so we actually owe a lot of the oxygen in the atmosphere to these creatures so every time we um use any product or we leave anything um some anything that goes into our sinks or drains that is uh chemical in nature we have to be mindful that it might hurt the very people who are creating our oxygen in the first place so that's one of the main reasons why whenever i talk i tell people try to go chemical free in terms of you know your soaps or your shampoos or you know any any other product that you may use on your face not only for your own benefits because you don't know what chemicals you're putting in your body but for the chemicals that you unwantedly are putting out into the world into the oceans into our water bodies i think


into the oceans into our water bodies i think it's a message that needs to be out there more i mean that's why i wanted to do this conversation and just kind of wake people up to the world off oceans uh the final question on this episode is what do you think the next 10 years will help us discover about the oceans will we discover new parts of it will we discover new species what do you think uh i would um i think in the next 10 years uh we will discover how um you know not to sound tomorrow's but in the next 10 years we'll probably discard this cover how badly we have impacted the oceans and possibly if international consensus happens we will start taking steps to regulate it we will start figuring out a model where um you know emissions can be treated where discharges can be treated effluents can be treated and as as consumers as individual households we'll figure out a model where we can use natural products that don't uh harm this because we we've


products that don't uh harm this because we we've discovered a lot of uh species a lot of species in the deep seas are left to be discovered but the problem is for those expeditions it's also quite costly so unless you have funding for them uh to go deep seas and then explore those creatures maybe discovering more creatures may not be possible what do you think is out there what do i think is out there possibly a lot of smaller creatures that we have no idea about possibly giant giant creatures also actually um there is one fish called ore fish which is like a really thin ore which has gills that have slightly they have a sheen on them so it looks like it's a light jar here that fish is like um 10 meters long wow so i mean you you'll find more creatures like that in deep space i'm sure a deep sea on deep space only if there is more funding towards that but i feel more funding should go towards making sure that uh our


funding should go towards making sure that uh our oceans can regenerate themselves and a lot of this will happen if we make uh international laws for commercial fishing and then you have different communities in islands or in coastal areas that take care of the oceans so a lot of times what happens is we expect lawmakers and laws to take care of areas but if you task communities or people to take care of it the results are better so you need to have uh no fish zones you need to have particular times of the year where you don't fish you need to basically have some sort of an international consensus on this more talk on it definitely more talk on it because uh you know the oceans are critical to our survival you know the oceans create our clouds uh the oceans manage our temperatures and uh the oceans sustain us so the more we start to talk about it in public domain the better it's gonna be like for us beautiful nearly thank you for being on the


for us beautiful nearly thank you for being on the runway show and until next time guys with near the from avian new we'll come back with another powerful power back topic sure so thanks so


today's guests on the run be show might be recognized by a lot of people as a bit thyroid caboose elder brother or Vidya Balan's husband but I recognize him as one of the top Bollywood producers in India today so that Roy Kapoor has worked his way up from becoming a top corporate to becoming a top Hindi film industry producer he's produced movies like barfi like jude akbar like fashion like dongle and those just round off a long list of iconic movies that most of us have grown up watching so this conversation was a deep dive into his complex mind he's had a long successful career learnt a lot through that career but what I love about this man is that he's extremely articulate he's got a very complex mind and he's able to take all those complex thoughts and put them out into the world in very simple words we spoke about everything from the future of India to relationships to his own childhood to ethics to leadership to how to create an extremely


ethics to leadership to how to create an extremely iconic and extremely successful legacy in modern India so if you're someone who chases greatness you should watch this particular podcast till the end one of the most beautiful minds of the country on the renovation [Music] welcome to another gorgeous episode of the Randi show so I'm honored to have you on the show today you ready to be here we've got Siddharth Roy a food one of Bollywood's what I call legendary film producers he's a super humble guy so he kind of played on the down low but really really honored to have you on the show sir it's great to be here so the business side of it is cool but my question to you is that all three of y'all the brothers so Suraj Kunal a little y'all have very like well-spoken people and like you know I see a lot of humility like radiating out of you guys so my question to you is that what went correct in your childhood because I


is that what went correct in your childhood because I personally believe that humility and you know being well-spoken maintaining your relationships ethics are a huge part of careers so like go back to your childhood and just tell us about like what's going right there so to start with thanks for the compliment and on behalf of my brothers as well yes I would agree with you I I think it does come from having had a very grounded childhood we were very exposed to the arts you know because of my mom she was a choreographer she was a model she's she's a former Miss India she's been on stage as a dancer since the age of six yeah and you know it's something that we always had rehearsals happening around us etc so we were very exposed to the arts very early and I think you know just the grounding of having a really strong values based like sort of upbringing that we did helps you in life and you know we had a we had wonderful grandparents we


know we had a we had wonderful grandparents we had you know great cousins that we grew up with so it was just I think all in all a pretty grounding childhood and not a childhood where we were we were pretty much encouraged to follow whatever pursuit we had there were no restrictions on you know being free thinking free spirited a very open culture of debate and dissent Wow which is always nice to grow up with because then you tend not to rebel that much in your teenagers because there's not much to rebel against hahaha and and our parents were very very open-minded and do you see the wrong kind of upbringing kind of precipitating right now with be you work with all your work around you know I mean I wouldn't call it wrong you know because everyone has their own compulsions in terms of when they have children they're dealing with their own issues and therefore things that they do might have an impact on their child without them intending to to have it but yes one


without them intending to to have it but yes one I I think you carry the you know you carry your childhood with you well into adulthood in fact I don't think you ever let it go because those are almost impressionable years there's no way that if you've had scars then or if you've had a certain upbringing that has probably constrained you or kept you in a box then you act out in different ways as you grow older my question to you is when you see some people who you know you feel maybe don't have the correct set of ethics what's the one thing that sticks out to you but just like puts you off you know I think a lack of integrity and a lack of loyalty are the two things that one that you know I I don't stomach easily I I think it's very important regardless of your abilities which obviously vary from person to person are the things that you have control over really are how how how much integrity you can display like how many models you


much integrity you can display like how many models you have yeah like just the integrity of being true to your job being you know not not being corrupt and when I say corrupt I mean literally of course but also in letting corruption seep into your work and not really being true to what you set out to do in the first place and secondly a lack of loyalty to the people who helped you along the way because you know this this is a collaborative business and and in fact anything in life is a is really collaborative in there's a collaborative country yeah III think human beings have to be collaborative you know there's no way to function without that and if you've been given a leg up by people if they've helped you along the way there are people that you are beholden to then you know you need to display that loyalty to them through life and that's always going to number one hold you in good stead number two is just the right way to be so so this


is just the right way to be so so this is like you know the mental makeup side of it like this is what the correct kind of upbringing can do for a person my question to you is you know in a curio of a person I personally feel that mentors play a huge role especially early in your career they say our first boss actually sets a tone for the rest of your career so is it fair to say that Ronnie Screwvala was that person for you initially Ronnie's definitely been someone that I've looked up to you know from the time that I was a kid really because you know he came from South Bombay he had a background which I did too he entered into a space without any connections was able to make a mark for himself was able to do very unique and different and interesting and path-breaking things at a time when there was so much you know sort of government control over the media there were so many constraints that you might have had as an entrepreneur but he broke out


have had as an entrepreneur but he broke out of that he broke into the film industry and was able to really you know create a niche for himself so these are all things that I've admired all through and having had the opportunity to actually see him at close quarters even while I was growing up because we came from the same sort of malaya he was definitely a very inspirational figure in my life and then later of course being my boss you know it was a direct you know it was a direct sort of influence on me so I've I've spent a long part of my career working with him and those have been tremendous years he's he's he's taught me a lot but I and I I would say that Alec Padamsee also was someone that I looked up to tremendously because again he was from the theater but he made advertising his livelihood and he was able to merged his personal and professional life so beautifully so he was someone again that I had the opportunity to


he was someone again that I had the opportunity to actually be in place with him where he actually directed me and I had had a chance to actually be an actor Wow in a few of his productions and see him from close quarters in the way that he operated so he and Ronnie were the two people that I really growing up looked at as role models for way I'd like to see myself speaking moving in plays if someone scans any of the interviews you've done on YouTube you'll see a lot of the comment saying in Co the actor but not I ate I ate my good-looking it was that I was thought in your head because I know you grew up as a fan of the Hindi film industry so I I was a rabid fan I wish I was one of those kids who'd read screen magazine and see three eight figures at the age of eight I read every film magazine I could get my hands on if there was any opportunity to go for a movie shoot I'd be


opportunity to go for a movie shoot I'd be like salivating was a completely you know film obsessed you know junky growing up and I I did act quite a bit in in theatre I did a lot of theater all through school and college I think what I realized in college was that I'm more a producer than an actor and that's probably comes from the fact that I enjoyed being involved in multiple projects simultaneously and being involved in every aspect of those productions when I was putting up plays in college so I was a chairperson of the Dramatic Society College and that gave me a huge thrill racing sponsorships to put the place up figuring out what your slate for the year is going to be do we have a comedy do we have a drama do we have a romance of figuring out which directors we should use how do we publicize the place so now microcosmic way I was actually doing what I'm doing today back in college and I think that I realize


today back in college and I think that I realize more than acting or even directing which I did to give me much more of a kick Wow crazy um so do some I feel like this is your internal calling you're one of those lucky people who actually found their calling in life that doesn't happen everyone it happened to me quite late I have to say you know it wasn't like I grew up thinking I'm going to be a film producer you know you you know you want to be associated with the arts you know that cinema and theatre probably are the two areas which you feel closest to but if you don't literally want to be an actor only then it's difficult because you know the term film producer is not something you grow up knowing what what does a film producer do you grow up thinking that is he's a person put some money into the film you don't realize that actually the entire setup of a movie from start to finish the way that it's envisioned bringing all the artists


the way that it's envisioned bringing all the artists on board managing the logistics manage you don't know that that's a job so it was hard it took a while for me to come to the realization that oh this is the kind of job that actually I would love to do it's easier for a cricketer offer an actor at the age of three or four they're set they know this is what I want that's why I want to go but for me it was much more about wanting to be a media person someone who was associated with a medium that was able to impact people's hearts and minds and I found that in cinema and and in the theatre core it coming back to your mentors again Alec form say Ronnie Screwvala what's like the one take away from each person that has stayed with you for the rest of your career I think the ability to dream big and then make that happen you know in the where I worked with Alec Hughes to say it's about converting ideas


Alec Hughes to say it's about converting ideas into action and his thing was all about that he'd be like an idea and Ronnie would say the same and that's something that stayed with me quite a bit an idea is only 10 percent of your work done 90 percent is actually the operations of that idea making that happen but I think what I learned from them is never being worried about being seen as a madman and being seen as some who's got just these crazy ideas and visions of what they want to do that has never been done before and that people will scoff at you before even thinking that you can achieve and then going on and doing them so there's a lot of people including myself who when they begin their media careers they look at people like you and say okay that's somewhat where I want to go you genuinely never felt that things will go this big or did something like awaken the hunger inside you I'd say 20 to 25 when you're mid-20s you know


20 to 25 when you're mid-20s you know there's a difference between having a sense of self belief and actually knowing where things will go I had a lot of self belief I have to say that that's something that I've been rocky from when he - Oh from from actually ever since I can remember there's been a fair amount of self belief and I would give all credit to my parents for that because I think it's really that reinforcing and conditioning that you get as a child that you can do whatever you set out to do that helps you to be able to achieve it but I don't think I would have been able to envision in which direction that would go I knew I wanted to do things that would make an impact on people but I didn't know what that would actually translate into what's life like now at 45 great you're you're in your dream career you know everything's going well are you hungry are you three I know you're grateful I'm sure you're grateful but what's your


grateful I'm sure you're grateful but what's your mindset like right now you know it's it's interesting to actually distill it down to what is it that you want to leave a mark on the world as the time that you leave it and if you think about it that way and I I think as you get to my age you start thinking that you're at that halfway mark and now what is the next half way going to be able to to to do what are you going to be able to achieve in the next half having Ghana the experience had all the failures and a few successes you know along the way what is it that you learn from that that you can now bring to practice and I think for me it's really about being able to create pieces of work that leave an impact on people's hearts and that are remembered long after one is gone now whether that's a great movie whether that's a wonderful series whether that's a piece of theater you know something that I'm able to help


theater you know something that I'm able to help create and help bring to life could be someone else's vision it could be a vision that I have for that actually leaves behind something that you know once once one is gone I think that's the broadest way to look at it and that's really what I'd like to be able to do they say that content films web series all these things determine the culture of like a country or the world so I think that's what your vibe is about right now you're trying to play your role and impacting culture anyway yeah and you know not as broader saying that from at this point it's really a personal journey but I think when you look at it on a larger level the impact that India can have on the world with the soft path that we wield is tremendous in you explain oh you know down down the years the US has managed to make all things American very aspirational for the whole world from McDonald's to Disneyland coke to hamburgers


from McDonald's to Disneyland coke to hamburgers towards to the American Way of life Broadway you know these are things that the whole world aspires to as being something that they want to be a part of and that actually helps in raising the profile of the country as a preeminent dominating cultural pie in the world now Hollywood has managed to go into every country and decimate the local film industry and pretty much become the de-facto film industry in that country you have very few local language movies being made around the world India is the one country in the world where we have a thriving local film industry and a culture of our own stars our own stories our own concepts Hollywood hasn't managed to make a dent here beyond 10 to 20 percent of our revenues for the last 60 to 70 years or more I think we should celebrate that that's a massive cultural advantage that we have we have a massive South Asian Diaspora you know across the world Indians Pakistanis Bangladeshis Sri


across the world Indians Pakistanis Bangladeshis Sri Lankans around the world who love our content and love our cinema and love our culture and I think if we're able to broaden that horizon and become an aspirational cultural force for the world that actually helps raise the profile of the country you know tremendously and I hope that the government you know increasingly recognizes this they have definitely shown signs of doing so and you know helps the Indian cultural fraternity to be able to do that yeah so I strongly believe that because of the size of our population and the kind of education that's spreading because of things like YouTube I feel that we're gonna be living in a very different India and say as soon as 2040 or 2050 very different do you think that the role reversal will happen where Bollywood will be impacting you know the world in the way Hollywood is impacting the world today do you think that's gonna happen I think it's bound to happen because we've


I think it's bound to happen because we've got such a rich array of stories in our culture whether it's the mythology or whether its history whether it's what's happening today in in our culture to tell the world I mean if you just look at the example of a film like dangle right when we made the girl we had no idea that it would do the sort of business that it did in a place like China yeah because dangle is a film that is so local you think it's about a little Haryana my family so culture specific and the trials and tribulations that it goes through in the patriarch of the family realizing the importance of his daughters but the fact that it could resonate in China means that actually what it takes is trying to be as local as possible because those are the stories that will culturally resonate elsewhere because they see some truth in it they see some authenticity and truth in it the moment we try to reconstruct ourselves to fit what we think they will


reconstruct ourselves to fit what we think they will like I think that's where we will fail we need to be very true to our own selves and what comes from us and that's when I think people will see the truth of that Gorin coming back to slightly more personal conversations what were your failures of your twenties that like set you up for your life but this I possibly 20s is just and maybe life but I just have perspective of being 26 what are the failures in your mid-twenties which are like okay that kind of help me construct my mental makeup for though there's so many to choose from where do I start I'd say you know I don't look at them as failures I sort of look at them as learnings you know because every every thing that you go through in life actually helps you moving forward you know I'll start even earlier than that when when I took up Commerce as a subject that you know I I wanted to study I had no interest in commerce whatsoever I was


study I had no interest in commerce whatsoever I was an art student all the way like there was no question about it but because I did fairly well in my tenth the peer pressure around taking arts at that time was so intense it was like only women take and if you are a failure then then you'll take and I was like but that's what I enjoy I enjoy literature I enjoy history I enjoy you know sociology those are the subjects that I think I gravitate towards and the irony here is that my parents were actually encouraging me to take arts and they were like that's that's what you're all about but I think the peer pressure of wanting to fit in and wanting to be part of the crowd also maybe not having any other role models in terms of an elder sibling to be able to go to who I fare who would be able to guide me in that direction or just made me follow the herd and I took up commerce while I loved Signum as a college


up commerce while I loved Signum as a college I had had the greatest time there I was part of the Dramatic Society we had a wonderful extracurricular you know sort of situation going but I have to admit I must have attended all of 20 lectures in five years literally and you know you just got by so that's five years of a wasteland of Education then of course I'm very grateful that I got into journal arbitrage I did my MBA but it was two more years of studying things that I didn't enjoy it gave me the security of therefore getting a great job and being able to be positioned well in terms of you know just your security in life in terms of financially but it was definitely I so I regret my academic career those those seven years I spent studying things that I did not enjoy lot of kids are watching this saying that wait I want to drop out of so rather I come here saying that you know in danger is that gonna


saying that you know in danger is that gonna make career I don't want to do this you know it's not about not it's about doing what you really enjoy I think I've been you know I've been very fortunate in even despite that being able to have found my way back into doing something that I that I do enjoy the probably the journey from arts into movies would have been a different kind of journey but who knows if that would have happened at all this is all you know 20/20 hindsight it's worked out in a way that I I would have wanted but I probably didn't spend those years studying something I enjoy and I my only advice if I had any for you know the younger generation is you're spending those seven crucial years of your five or seven you know depending on whether you do a postgraduate degree or not just study subjects that you enjoy and that you know that you're good at and that you gravitate towards because I feel that work ethic ethics


towards because I feel that work ethic ethics in life and just having a vision kind of makes up for not having the appropriate degree in life that's my perspective yes No according to the modern world I feel that whatever you want to do in life it is possible if you have some amount of self-awareness and just that promise to yourself gee I will work hard now and I think today the other thing is that for your generation and and the younger generation the vocational course is available today not having to follow the straight and narrow arts Commerce science said we had to are tremendous so take advantage of that because you can actually be able to you know take your academic journey in a direction that today is much more specific rather than just those three broad streams so keeping entrepreneurship on one side okay let's not talk about Roy Kapoor films let's talk about your corporate career what did you do correct to break out of the crowd why do people promote you to become like you know the chief


promote you to become like you know the chief of marketing of things and the CEO of Disney MD of Disney things like that what did you do right like what did you do to break out now that's a tough question for me to answer myself but I'll take a stab at saying what what I what I tried to do what what I try to do in my career was number one work work really hard because and I guess that happened because I was enjoying it I was really like I was doing exactly what I wanted to be doing when I joined you TV that was actually at the age of 30 when I moved from Star TV and moved to you TV because it was movies and of course it was television and animation and all those other things as well but it was a show I enjoyed it was the the spirit of entrepreneurship that I enjoyed around me and I just worked flat out even though you were the entrepreneur oh yeah because I think what Ronnie managed to do was cut


because I think what Ronnie managed to do was cut was foster culture of entrepreneurship where you could debate decisions with him quite freely he'd sometimes change his mind based on a strong argument he would encourage you to take risks he actually valued you know risk-taking abilities he so we were sort of interpreters within the company of course he was the entrepreneur and of course our you know monthly paycheck came in at the end of the month but it was almost like making you feel like a sense of ownership over you know the organization which which I really valued and that helped that just kept you working it did it did and I think the harder you work the luckier you get under budget you know that that that I think honestly is the is the one philosophy that our you know taken away from my my years in in this industry and I think it's true for any that you know luck I give very less importance to because I I believe Shaw definitely there are sometimes factors that work beyond


definitely there are sometimes factors that work beyond your control that put you in a certain position but I think if you keep working really hard and with integrity the likelihood of you being in that spot at that time is that much higher so I I'd say if there was one thing then it would be hard work okay um you know I feel from two different generations you're like one generation before mine and they call my generation the burnout generation because the too much social media too many options to do so many things that you kind of get confused about Michalka rule life me there's a lot of people with mental health issues my age people are 26 who probably not found the vibe in life and they're not able to actually work hard right now so what's your message to them other than the fact that choose our career that you'll enjoy possibly they've done that but they're still kind of struggling with putting in the work you know to start with I have a tremendous amount of compassion for for this


a tremendous amount of compassion for for this generation because it's true that it is bombarded by messages or 24/7 of all kinds about aspirational lives that they think other people are living and the peer pressure is tremendous probably every generation feels that it encounters that to some extent but I think it's even more amplified as as the years are going by because of social media so there aren't any easy answers here I I do think and it sounds trite and it sounds cliched but the one piece of advice I can give is to just follow your heart because peer pressure can be so crippling and it can be so misleading the aura that's created around imaginary lifestyles that you believe people are living just know that that's not true just you know because of the highlights of someone else's those are the highlights or so or those are the curated or you know the the curated images of their lives that they hope that if they put out they will actually feel good about themselves


put out they will actually feel good about themselves probably not realizing that they're impacting generations of people who are seeing those and imagining that their lives are so much worse than someone else's but you've got to have compassion for everyone and this equation you know no one's doing it to hurt someone else but invariably that that seems to be what's happening but I think it's just about following your heart in terms of I think if we just listen to that little voice inside us we know what we really want to be doing and we know the right we really want to be living it's about just pursuing that and not getting distracted by these imaginary lives that you think everyone else is living have you dealt with any mental health issues oh not you know I mean not in a way where I can say that they've been crippling or they've been debilitating thankfully but we all go through periods of time when we feel low and we feel you know depressed hold up even right now


we feel you know depressed hold up even right now like right now at the age of 44 sure absolutely I don't think that ever goes away and if it does then you're clearly closing yourself or numbing yourself to your feelings because it's unnatural not to feel low or to feel depressed you have a flop you feel depressed you are not able to cast a film you feel depressed or something doesn't go your way in terms of a script not working out like you wanted to you feel depressed obviously things at home happen or fights within families you feel depressed I mean those are not things that with age or experience or wealth you never go away and don't don't imagine that they do because you know you'll you'd be you will be imagining a future that's quite different to the reality and you'd be quite disappointed with that but I think the recognition frankly that I've had also that sometimes people can have clinical reasons why they are feeling a certain way which are not


they are feeling a certain way which are not related to what's happening around them but related to what's going on inside them and then for people to recognize that that's not something that I have experienced but I know people around me who have and I know of people who have and I think earlier it was just looked on as being there in a funk or there in a mood or they're moody or they are you know there's nothing wrong with them I don't know why they're always cribbing those are things that could still exist with some people are not it's not black or white but there are some people who are despite themselves and despite whatever else they might be going through feeling that way because there is something chemically happening inside them that's making them feel like that and it's frankly a realization I've also had over the last few years it's not something that you could know if it's not happened to you but I would advise anyone who's going through that to


I would advise anyone who's going through that to actually professional help because there's nothing wrong with it you're treating other parts of your body the way that you would in a scientific manner your brain is as much an organ of your body as as any other why would you not treat that if there's a problem so I want to talk about self-doubt it's something that youtubers see a lot social media starts see a lot the way you said that you know maybe a flop kind of messes with your mood I'm no producer but I run my own mini like YouTube channel and if we have a piece of content that we are expecting a lot out of and you know the views don't come in and people don't respond well definitely affects me but what I have figured over time is you have come out of this funk in the past as well and have to just kind of read touch that kind of formula that helped me in the past is that a parallel to what's happening with you


is that a parallel to what's happening with you right now that if there's a flop you do get that little bit of self-doubt but you're like okay I'm old enough now to like belittle know actually what what I do whenever there's a setback it could be a flop it could be something not working like I wanted it could be personal could be professional is I try to go back to source I mean one is I've learned to acknowledge it I've learned not to brush it under the carpet and to just tell myself you can go on there's no issue and to block myself to it I've learned to experience it let myself feel that way you know allow myself to grieve whatever it is that I'm feeling number one and number two what always helps me is really going back to sources of inspiration once again to motivate me like like so it could be a book it could be a book about someone I admire it could be a it could be a biography or it


could be a it could be a biography or it could be an autobiography of someone that I know will give me the motivation because I know that they'll have spoken about situations like that that they've gone through and come through it could be watching a great movie that I've always been inspired by it could be just going off on a short break but allow yourself that and be kind to yourself in that way because it's only that that'll get you through it and then move you forward and I think this only happens over time and age and experience where you realize what it is that works for you to draw you out of a situation but I think the biggest thing is to acknowledge it to start with because very often we're taught to just dust yourself off and pick yourself up and move on that's great but do that only when you've dealt with whatever it is that you've experienced rather than just brushing it under the carpet because it's there recess of your brain is


carpet because it's there recess of your brain is gonna come back to bite you at some point if you if you don't deal with it can I ask you something personal sure when was the last time you cried I cry all the time in movies oh I'm a very easy cry oh I'm a very very easy crier so I watch the screening of a film last night I can't tell you which one because it's unreleased and I cried so yeah last night but does life ever make you cry oh yeah for sure for sure what specifically I think if there are if there are situations with loved ones that you're going through that you know you you feel helpless in it could be anything if you you know if you're going through a period of time in your life when you're feeling low about something but I've been someone who's actually with my near and dear ones won my heart on my sleeve quite a bit so I I don't find any issue with you know letting it out there


find any issue with you know letting it out there and crying when you need to you can do it in your own bathroom in front of the sink or you can do it with someone that you trust and love and you know care about but III think it's important to to deal with sadness and to deal with a low period and give yourself that Liberty because it collects inside you although it does it does my question to you is coming back to those movies and those content pieces that help you could you name like a couple of books a couple of movies and hopefully a couple of YouTube channels that you watch so I'm really I have to say that I'm a digital not a digital native what's the opposite of being a digital native ala diet ed rookie a rookie so yeah I I mean I watch a lot of YouTube videos but I have to say I don't follow any YouTube channels I will be following yours after this but movies so many so surely probably cinema paradiso you know these these


surely probably cinema paradiso you know these these are films like I guess cinema paradiso is about the movies and about just you know it's Italian so there's a lot of very open emotion the way that we like it in our in our films that's a film that can get me you know laughing and crying every time I see it Sholay just because I think is the best you know Hindi film ever made you know I do you say that I think it had everything that a Hindi film could couldn't essentially have it's the perfect if you had to tell someone if the Bollywood had to be put in a zone and here to tell someone what's the quintessential Bollywood film then it would be that it had great music it had action it had emotion it had romance it had a wonderful villain it had great heroes you know it had laughter it had tears it had everything that you could probably ask for and that's a film that you know probably inspired me the most growing up


you know probably inspired me the most growing up then films a camera Akbar Anthony yeah I'm a complete but Jen you know feel as you can tell and most people of my generation are but you know any Amitabh Bachchan movie from the 70s can get me going books I'd say probably movies I mean books about you know people from the movies so there's a book called the Boy Wonder which is about Irving Thalberg he was the Boy Wonder producer in Hollywood in the 20s and 30s he founded MGM with Louie Mayer and he died at 37 oh but after making some of the most incredible movies of all time then I read this book called the kid stays in the picture about about Robert Evans who was a legendary producer he made Godfather Chinatown Rosemary's Baby you know some wonderful movies and just about you know when you when you read about him you realize that people in the movies go through similar things regardless which part of the world here in the UPS the downs of


of the world here in the UPS the downs of incredible high is incredible lows so these are the type of books I would read or movies I would watch at a time when maybe one is feeling like in need of inspiration but but there are so many yeah so what was the one single moment of a career where you look at and you're like okay that was my lowest moment pareo career-wise the Iranians I think it was when I was with the Star TV in Hong Kong I was actually at that time the youngest vice president inste TV in in Asia I had this what people would think would be a dream posting to Hong Kong wonderful city all that was great but I genuinely felt completely underutilized and that was not the fault of the company interest for me what the situation was at that point of time in terms of you know they're not being that much happening at the at the head office versus what was happening in the other areas and I felt completely underutilize


in the other areas and I felt completely underutilize I'd have literally three to four hours of work a day and the rest of time I just have to spend wiling away I had this wonderful large office overlooking the you know the Hong Kong skyline it was it was great it was everything on paper I picked all the boxes but I probably felt the lowest I felt in my career then and that's when I was sort of interacting with Ronny I'd stayed in touch with him over the years since a time there I did my internship at UTV and he said why don't you come back and we've just greens it often called wrong they Basanti and was I'm you know going helpful either with this movie studio called UTV Motion Pictures planned to do a lot comeback in head marketing for the studio and for the rest of the company and I think I was literally on the next flight back to Bombay and I was 30 and I'd say that was probably the best professional decision of my life


that was probably the best professional decision of my life that I've taken Wow crazy coming to current mood in life once again I love playing ping-pong show mind especially so coming to your current state of mind something I want to know on a very brotherly level we spoke about crying and the things I mean you cry personally at this stage of my life when my twenties I feel like my twenties are going to set me up for the rest of my life and a kind of always look at myself as the leader of this organization of like Bo Bice's Munk entertainment and the one thing that gets me teared up occasionally it may be like once a month or something is a little bit of the burden of leadership both in terms of the monkey and Bo Bice's leader and then the five million people following on social media because there is a whole lot of responsibility attached to your face to your identity so in terms of leadership what's your advice that kind of ease the process for potential leaders of


that kind of ease the process for potential leaders of the future again I think it's so individual and so driven by how you are as a person that I can't say there's one size fits all advice for someone but I'd say probably find opportunities not to take yourself so seriously you know find out find people around you who'll who will you know joke around with you probably make fun of you you know indulgent self-deprecating humor friends that you've known from way back probably who treat you like a kid and you you can have silly fun with them so just sort of let off in that way because I think it's really important especially when you are in a position of leadership because you're feeling like you're being watched all the time for your reactions for your for the way that you behave and I think it's important to give yourself that pressure cooker situation to to ease that at times and spend some time with people with whom you can just be completely or silly self and


you can just be completely or silly self and be as stupid as you want to be crack ridiculous jokes and just you know so I have a state and exit the inner that yeah yeah because then I think you'll come back refreshed and then you can be the role model that you want to be to to you know the people are involved because I guess if you put on that pedestal you must be doing something right for sure know for sure and it is true that you are that you're that the way that you behave with people is being looked at as a signal for the culture of the organization and and and it's true you can't deny that yeah so you are under scrutiny all the time if you choose to be in the position of a leader and you should enjoy that but that doesn't mean that that should become your whole life it's very important to allow yourself that time outside to be able to be the person that you just want to be when you let your hair down


just want to be when you let your hair down yeah so they say that you know maybe the last 20 years were about all the science degrees oh I'd say the last 50 years over all the signs IVs they make the big money they make the big businesses all that and they say the next 50 years are gonna be about the creative industry where creative professionals and creativity is going to be like the highly monetize human trade so my question to you and this is something I've experienced as much as I love my whole organization I love each member this is a deep family culture you're leading creative people as its own game it's easy to lead business people creative people all work out of a place of emotion so the whole game genius I didn't know that this is something you've experienced as well so specifically when it comes to leading creative people setting up a big creative is this what is your advice I think just dealing with each person in the way that you believe will bring the best out of


way that you believe will bring the best out of them and not and have so having a horse's four causes approach in the way that you deal with them you would find some creative people who are extremely organized and extremely methodical and extremely and and want to be dealt with in that manner and like being treated as if they were working in a bank they could be the most creative people on earth but they enjoy deadlines they enjoy you know method their production runs like a well-oiled machine and then you deal with them in the manner that they like to be dealt with but you could have some more complete creative Mavericks and who've got who are just completely like to run with the flow a stream of consciousness thinkers will not put anything down on paper want everything to be unplanned so that it can be spontaneous and can be live in the moment and then you want to deal with them in that manner too but as a person who's running the ship and who's responsible for


person who's running the ship and who's responsible for actually commitments you need to then ensure that you are able to build a world around them which gives them the chance to be as creative in the way they want to be but still within a framework that makes sense for you so you can't let them run while and I'm saying all this from trial and error yeah yeah so don't assume that this is something I knew the day I was born it definitely is not it's actually something that's come out of many as you put it failures right that have made me learn that it's important to be able to deal with creative people not in a one-size-fits-all approach at all yeah that's actually something one of my biggest idols LeBron James also says that for each guy in his team he's a big NBA player he needs to learn them individually before actually getting the best out of them so no your team really for sure yeah my next question to you is great this is your family this is


to you is great this is your family this is your you know leadership advice sir honestly from the outside you're one of like the biggest people in the Indian film industry and I'm sure that comes with a lot of bootlickers like teasing you I'm sure a lot of people like suck up to you and all that two questions first question is how do you identify who's just being nice to me to get something out of me and the second question is that what actually you know what makes you decide things about a person in terms of okay I'll give this person an opportunity and I won't give that person opportunity you know I I don't enjoy yes-men at all so I I enjoy someone who is willing to put themselves out there and have a debate is willing to have a different point of view be that an employee be that a writer be that a director be that an associate on a business level I think we all have a pretty good you know [ __ ] radar built into


pretty good you know [ __ ] radar built into us which can tell if someone is agreeing to everything that you say accepting everything at face value just because then it's quite clear that they're in it for the ride rather than to actually be able to have constructive debate and argument and and move forward so as you again with agent experience you probably are able to detect people like that quite early and the only thing would be is you know don't brush them off in a way which will be hurtful just be you know respectful but in your mind know that you know these are probably not the people that you want to associate with professionally and what gives you the green light on a puzzle I think again exactly that where someone is debating the issue they aren't making it an ego issue they're making it about the issue right so like I'll just give you an example so a writer for example you can tell very easily if a writer is close to any feedback because then they just shut down you can


any feedback because then they just shut down you can also tell very easily the writers accepting every piece of feedback then you know that then suddenly might be a problem or otherwise you're so brilliant that and you should not presume that but sometimes when a writer is saying that's a great point and incorporating it but then arguing quite vociferous ly with you about a point that they are quite clear on why they have done and are able to convince you about that or are able to get convinced though those are the sort of people that you want to collaborate with because you know that it's all about the work it's not about ego it's not about full full acceptance of the person who's paying the bills yeah so it's not you know it's not either extreme which is great so those are the people that just the example of a writer but I'd say never e so therefore every person that you're dealing with if they're having a constructive negotiation or argument with you about an


a constructive negotiation or argument with you about an issue instead of about things extraneous to that those are the people that you want to collaborate with horrid so rang de basanti was or 2005-2006 is when we released it Jan 2006 or 13 years and yeah you've worked with a lot of say Bollywood stars where they're stars there might be tantrums or you know there might be that little glam quotient I'm sure you had some experiences dealing with that you know where someone's whatever kind of stardom has gone to the head as the guy on the business how do you deal with like things like that Oh as the leader of the industry what's your experience dealing with that I think two things one is that if you can just remove yourself from the situation sometimes and look at it from the outside it helps it just gives you some perspective number one number two have some compassion for the person and then deal with them in that way you put yourself in their shoes put yourself


way you put yourself in their shoes put yourself in their shoes sometimes you might put yourself in their shoes and say why am i behaving so crazy but I think it's about understanding where they're coming from and trying to alleviate because you know if someone's behaving like that it actually comes from insecurity yeah when when you think about it deeply if there was security they would not feel the need to behave in that manner so to get to the heart of what that insecurity might be and if it's in your power to address it then address that rather than dealing with the symptoms of that insecurity which is this behavior caught it like um can you give an example of a story without taking names where you were just like okay this is how this industry is you know what just like opened up your eyes about okay I'll have to deal with things like there are many actually that there are many there have been times that one has been threatened there have been times when one has been not literally


there have been times when one has been not literally abused but you know shouted act but I think it just really depends on the people that you're interacting with and how much you want to what you think that you can do to be able to have a collaboration that makes sense a good way that I like to look at it also is that we tend to presume that relationships are friendlier or more casual or more informal because we're in this business if you are working in a manufacturing company or in a bank you would have colleagues with you you would be collegial with them at work and you would both collaborate and get work done our problem is that we spend 24/7 together we're interacting in informal settings we're having a drink and working where you not so everyone tends to believe that that means you must be friends I think don't apply the same principles that you would apply to a friendship a relationship with a colleague understand that you're in this in order to get


understand that you're in this in order to get something done right if along the way of friendship develops that's great but you are colleagues and your professional colleagues so try to deal with again just focus on the issue rather than focusing on the behavior god that's that's what I've always tried to do understood very like practical approach I feel this is like I think it's important as a producer to where to be pragmatic and to just try to figure out what your end goal is to achieve to make a great movie or to make a great piece of work to deliver it on budget on time in quality give it the best platform possible anything that impedes that process deal with without reading let emotions come into play at times it's important to let emotions come into play also but pick those times and let that come from a position of not there having any other logical response to the situation other than that so when someone's in your kind of driving seat I feel that you're a lot of power


seat I feel that you're a lot of power to create especially at those actresses as couriers you know you can that's how people perceive like the old-school Orthodox Bollywood producer so I'm without asking you details about that I want to ask you what are the traits you see and say a young upcoming actor actress and you're like okay this person can be a potential Dark Horse I'm sure that the path has its own challenges and all that but what's the basic mental makeup that you look for other than obviously being a good actor good dancer like on a human level what do you look for I think you know obviously things like hard work and commitment and you know dedication and all that professionalism yeah professionalism just just generally being someone that everyone wants to work with because of how they are but there is that x-factor that we can deny this is show business this is the film industry this is all about that indefinable quality that draws people to someone magnetism yeah and I think other than


to someone magnetism yeah and I think other than just pure talent it's important to be able to recognize that and not everyone has got the ability to do so I don't think any of us can claim to have a hundred percent track record when it comes to that ever but it's just taking a chance on someone who might not be the best looking person might not have the best dancing skills but might be someone that you're seeing some some quality in that just makes them endearing on-screen and the camera loves them and there's someone that just shines through whenever they're on screen um so it's indefinable it is indefinable other than this magnetism what have Shahrukh Khan Ranbir Singh Salman Khan you know these guys at the top like the A+ solicitors what have they done correct in their lives I think they've just they've taken chances the the films are they that have worked for them have been ones on which they've taken chances receive yeah they've taken risks they've


taken chances receive yeah they've taken risks they've been able to put that talent out there in a way that actually exposes them to failure and those are and those are the times that sometimes they've had their massive you know successes sometimes if they failed as well but they've they've backed their own conviction and backed their own talent to do things that probably others wouldn't do all right so so when anyone speaks to you of anyone with a very complex mind who's hired like you know a lot of experiences so I feel like one trainer comes along with having a complex mind is also being a perpetual no no like and I see that a lot in you that you're still at that stage where you wonder like am I the first time I met you at your office you ask me a lot about like social media because it was like a new world for you what is like you know the next 10 years like for you like what do you want to learn next do you plan it like that


want to learn next do you plan it like that for example right now I'm in a stage of my life where I want to learn personal finances really well because youtubers couriers a little bit volatile I don't know where my future's I just want to secure myself I someone alone personal finances inside out so could you give me like one subject which you're thinking of us okay you know this is what I need to lock in on over the next 10 15 years I think probably consumption patterns in this new media landscape that we have today the films that are working at the box office are so different from the ones that worked five years or seven years ago people's attitudes have changed because of the Anytime Anywhere push content that they have access to they consume the the shorter versions and the short of formats that today are working much more than the longer formats the fact that people are maybe in the future going to look at cinema as a very rarified special experience in terms of going to the theater rather than


experience in terms of going to the theater rather than it being something that when we grew up it was is the only game in town so just being able to be up to speed with that and then hopefully being a few steps ahead of it because as a creator of content whether it on any platform you need to be able to have some sort of insight into what people might want to watch three months or six months or a year down the line and just trying to be ahead of the curve there it's it's tough because you've got today be savvy about technology you've got to understand the way that people are interacting with content much more than you did in the past it's changing people's perceptions of content like this and people seem to talk or something a lot of the public is basically enjoying very different things than they were enjoying say 20 years back yeah I mean it's fascinating the fact that 18 seconds right yeah 18 to 20 seconds can be can actually tell a story yeah however one thread


be can actually tell a story yeah however one thread that story might be but you can tell stories and the fact that therefore people are open to that and their attention spans have dwindled so you've got to be able to catch people's attention with shorter formats of content and therefore if you are choosing to still do long-form it better be great it better be something so compelling that people are willing to put away their cellphones which today have become a lifeline and just stare at a screen for to us is the world of Bollywood looking at the world of social media and saying hmm what's up there man who are those guys well we already have a lot of the front of screen talent which uses social media very well no I'm not asking that you're asking about the to producers and the directors users directors actors are they looking at youtubers or tick talkers and saying that these guys can enter industry or them for sure absolutely absolutely even that producers are looking at it yeah


absolutely even that producers are looking at it yeah because I mean earlier a celebrity had to be known around the country for them to be a celebrity but today a producer could well be someone being mobbed and have no idea who they are they'd be mobbed at a mall and you're like you feel really out of touch because you're like that is a social media sensation you don't even know who they are and they clearly have great amount of appeal to a section of the audience so I think it's important for the most structured industries to look at the world of social media number one learned from it number two be able to get some of the talent into what they're doing okay is there fee or insecurity on like say react to actresses I see a creative business is an insecure business I think that's a given so security is an inherent part of what we do because what we do is so non-binary right it is there is so so much subjectivity there is so much of smoke


so much subjectivity there is so much of smoke and mirrors there's so much of will it or won't it that you can't help but be insecure I think it's about managing your own insecurity in a way that is productive rather then you know destructive yeah but when it comes to these words I'm sure there's insecurity I I think we need to look at it as an opportunity rather than be insecure at all it's just opened the door so much new talent around the country which had no platform to expose itself earlier so why should we be insecure about it let's use it yeah okay let's kind of dial it back a little bit get out of like the professional conversations again coming to you you know 45 I'm sure a lot of people actually look at you a lot of other producers will look at you as a blueprint some people consider you competition so do you also feel that kind of I won't say insecurity but a little bit of okay what's happening there like do you


bit of okay what's happening there like do you have a sense of competition at all you know the sense of competition is more about wow I wish that script had come to me or I wish I'd made that film it's much more a wanting to have been associated with great work and therefore therefore feeling a bit of a twinge about why didn't I think of that or why didn't my team think of that or why didn't we come up with that before they did that's the sort of competition I think that's that's that's pretty healthy you know it's it's good to feel that way because if you don't then obviously you're living in your own bubble and preaching to your own choir and being quite you know secure in yourself and being a little delusional about what's going on around you and I'm dead sure you've seen people go down because of that it does happen because very often you can insulate yourself so completely from what's going on thinking that you have all the answers that you


on thinking that you have all the answers that you become a little bit you know sort of redundant in your thinking and therefore then when you're trying to do something for the audience of today it becomes so irrelevant as a person right now as a man what are your challenges I think breaking myself out of my of the medium in which I've been born and brought up to be able to embrace the technological changes that are happening today and be able to engage via to probably be able to engage with it much more I'm I'm not on social media I'm definitely engaged with it in terms of I know what's going on on it but I'm not an active participant and I don't plan to be but without I I have to find a happy medium between the two between not being a participant but still not being unexposed to the way that the younger generation is thinking the experiences that they're having the world in which they're living because otherwise one won't be able to create you know


because otherwise one won't be able to create you know work that will resonate with them I have two solutions for you either you go down the Kareena Kapoor route and be a Loki or you just come down among entertainment an idea so okay cool I've kind of you know dug up everything there is to dig from your professional would want to ask you about relationships and again more of a brotherly conversation so like you seem to have been like a huge hustler in your 20s early 30s I'm sure you still are but did you have time for something like relationships then because you also I know that romantic movies I or go to so you are a romantic someway in your heart and so on I and you know in this whole game of YouTube running two YouTube channels running company think you know new businesses if you like um maybe I won't say losing out on that but there is a part of me that has to sacrifice there because if you want to do big things sacrifices a


if you want to do big things sacrifices a part of it so what was your romantic life like in your 20s in early thirties life well I mean without getting into any details I it was one way I guess you live and learn right there are times when you give more importance to your professional life than to your personal life and therefore your personal life suffers there are times when I mean but the but it could be that you're giving as much importance that it suffers anyway so it it really depends from person to person I'd say if you can find a balance that would be great but the less time you go out looking for something the most likely to happen organically I think it's always best when it happens organically I'm a little bit more instable that yeah yeah rather than seeking it out very actively because that's likely to be a little more short-term then things that happen organically early on in your teenage early twenties have you ever had your heart broken oh yeah in college


you ever had your heart broken oh yeah in college in school actually but those were really I mean you know we all go through that in school yeah you you like someone they don't like you back your heart breaks and you think it's the worst thing on earth you think it's the sky will fall down on you and life is over but I think it's great that at every point in life that we go through our experiences as real to us as they would be today in fact even more so because we haven't seen enough of life to know that life will go on so the those heartbreaks are probably even I mean much more intense than those that happen to you later so so you're a businessman who's got a romantic side and wherever there's this kind of cocktail I also feel that your partner Vidya Balan is an emotional anchor for you especially for your work so could you elaborate a little bit on that I think it's great that we have each other because we know the business and


we have each other because we know the business and we know the world that we come from I can't imagine what it might have been to be with someone who didn't understand the daily ups and downs of what one goes through and therefore there's a shorthand between us where things don't even need to be said where we understand and if we know the sort of day someone's had then you get you you you get it you don't need to try to empathize with it you actually do and I think that's that's great I mean we've been very lucky I think in that respect to be able to be with someone who's from the same industry and is going through the same things at the same time yeah so in that sense why I think for sure korek if you don't want to talk about it feel free to just shut up on me but being a romantic at heart could you just give us like a quick you know story of like what happened like what's your love story know so


what happened like what's your love story know so well Vidya and I actually met on the you know made on the sidelines of no one kill Jessica you know we were doing a film together and you know one thing led to another I'm I'm quite private that way so I shall not reveal more than more than that but no but it was it was it happened like I said really organically and very you know very naturally we got to know each other and I just you know one thing led to another so it was it was great I think you know it's something that we probably both needed at that time and yeah so far so good okay like what specifically as a guy again what told you that okay this is the one it's hard to say whether there was at one moment when one got to know it just happened gradually over a period of time but like I said I I think there was so much commonality in our own upbringing probably and both of us having come into the industry


probably and both of us having come into the industry from the outside and having had to work our way into it that we could understand each other quite quite well and we knew that we were privileged to be in the position that we were in because not there are many people who aspire to have come into this business and we had the chance to actually be there and to be as you know deeply involved as we are and we both really valued that and it was not and the the I I think the work ethic is similar the amount of you know sort of commitment we both have to work and therefore the understanding about why the other you know maybe is so involved and so intensely or driven into something at a certain point of time to the exclusion of everything else can also be understood yeah so considering the fact that you have such a complex head which I'm coming to again I'm sure you thought of this what is like the makeup of a good relationship like what creates a good relationship


of a good relationship like what creates a good relationship because what I have been reading a lot lately and is a mistake I've made in the recent past this is that a lot of young people go from zero to hundred like very fast and relationships is it true that you take it gradually one step at a time I'm sure that that's an aspect of it but what are the other aspects of it for you I'd say probably in on a long-term basis it's a friendship it's been great friends because you should be able to really get along with the person because you're gonna have to spend a lot of time together for many many years to come and I think if you don't enjoy each other's company and continue to and laugh and be silly and be inane and be also deep and you know soppy and all those things with each other and be able to keep sharing as as time goes by some people share less some people share more but just accepting that about each other maybe hoping


but just accepting that about each other maybe hoping to try to draw the other person if they don't share that much into sharing more then that makes for a great relationship so if you ask for one thing I'd say it's a deep friendship is it over name is it true that love fades and partnerships last I'd actually say no I'd say love builds blah because I I think what what fades is probably the intensity of when you first get together right because then it's all about getting to know each other it's it's unwire it's yeah and it's it's you know the two if you don't know each other that well so it's all about discovering each other but over time I think there's a deep love that that builds and I think like I've seen it with my parents they've they've had a pretty volatile marriage but they had a love marriage and they met when my dad was 22 my mom was 18 and they've been together now for more than 50 years and I've being the


now for more than 50 years and I've being the eldest son I've seen the ups and downs in their relationship but I've seen that what's kept them together is friendship and that friendship has led to their love building more and more over the years they know each other inside out they know each other's strengths and weaknesses completely and they're just great friends they can still laugh you know together do you feel that relationships require work or is it like an organic process that it shouldn't feel like work I think as soon as it starts feeling like work then something's wrong somewhere and you can sure work on it then but I think it requires it requires attention like don't don't take it for granted oh and here I'm sounding like a Love Guru or something I've had more you know more error then then then success in this department but but I say it's probably about just not taking for granted and we're we're all guilty of it from time to time but as soon as you realize


from time to time but as soon as you realize that and then you realize what you would be without it is when you'll you'll stop and you'll you know you won't take it for granted so so what's a day in your life like right now as like the top Hindi film producer what's happening oh it's it's exciting its amino busier than others but it could veer from a team meeting brainstorming on all the projects that we have in development on to a script narration on to probably a meeting with some partners that we are working on something with like sort of business associates on to probably an actor meeting may be a director meeting sitting with writers and brainstorming on a script it's it's really quite varied in that sense and you know when when there's a film release obviously it's that much more intense when you're working on pre-production it's maybe a little bit less so it depends from time to time most stress around film releases oh yeah oh for sure because you know


film releases oh yeah oh for sure because you know everyone's nervous everyone's on tenterhooks you want to know the audience is going to think you're hoping you've given the film the right platform but I think over over time one has learned to to know that that's how it's going to be have you ever experienced meditation oh I I haven't okay I I haven't I I have to admit I I haven't my mother's deeply into into into it but no I haven't actually I know you have yeah deeply yeah make content about it so I'm kind of forced to like dive into the world the way you dive in right do you still go back to your parents with questions or with doubts about Perry or things like that I share a lot with them but I probably don't go into doubts about career etc because that's something that you know when you have a spouse you've got brothers to share that with who maybe understand the world a little bit more I don't feel it's


world a little bit more I don't feel it's fair my age to burden my parents with those issues they'd love to be burdened with them because they enjoy that that being shared with them I I try not to if I can help it because I think at this stage it's important for them to enjoy life and just you know have this time to themselves how does life like change in your forties you know it depends on what stage of life you're at I mean for us you know we we don't have kids at this point so we really focused on our work right now we try to you know spend spend time together whenever we can go off on breaks and you know holidays spend time with friends spend time with family I think it's what it would be I can't think of how different it would be in my forty's versus my 30s I honestly don't see that much of a difference either in my 20s I was probably still trying to find what it is that I actually


still trying to find what it is that I actually wanted to do and there was a lack of work-life balance or there was there was I'd say in my 30s there was probably a little bit in my early 30s as probably a little bit of because you were trying I was still learning I was still trying I was still you know a bit in a new world trying to figure it out therefore you know working myself to the bone I'd say trying to understand what it was all about because every day was a new experience you have all kinds of characters thrown at you and you've got a sink or swim yeah so it was exciting but it was also all all-consuming how do you maintain that work-life balance now at this stage um it's it's become easier to do so because I think when one is an entrepreneur one can plan things in a way where you block that time out then you require it doesn't always work out but your time is probably your own more to that extent but it doesn't


probably your own more to that extent but it doesn't I mean it's it's a constant seesaw it keeps going one way or the other the other way to look at it is do you need to separate work and you know personal life completely or is there a way to seamlessly integrate them in a way that you have a workday if you've got something personal going on through the day you go out and do it and come back and then if you've got something work-related when you've got your personal time you work you work around it if you try to segregate them two distinctly you'll always fall short of the standards you're trying to set for yourself because I think in today's environment it's unrealistic to imagine that you can shut yourself off after 6 p.m. and switch on again at 10 a.m. especially in this city in this city and and in the business that we're in I mean we are dealing with creative people we're dealing with people who don't necessarily operate on the you


with people who don't necessarily operate on the you know Sun sunrise and sunset situation you're dealing with deadlines you're dealing with things like that so it's it's just about working around it rather than trying to set yourself to an impossible standard so you know because you have an analytical mind because you're a perpetual lono a part of that is kind of analyzing yourself also so my question to you is what do you hate about yourself because there is always that one element hates a strong word but what do you like you know pretty not comfortable probably the Amada you you in my way I grew up a really I grew up a really fat kid I was 90 kgs in the 7th standered so I I literally was you know I was a everyone called me more - and is that an issue it's still an issue in terms of the amount i fluctuate so i am on a constant diet okay and anyone who knows me knows this about me it's a perpetual diet


knows this about me it's a perpetual diet I'm trying I'm a I'm a sucker for the new diet fad of the of the week or the month or the year and I I have the ability to lose and put on weight both very easily and therefore the amount that I'm able to fluctuate is quite intense but I do think it would be great for me to be able to be like a lot of people around me a steady weight for decades on end that would be something I'd aspired if he was also a Punjabi genetics I connected it probably is I think food is a food is you know I live to eat need to live so I know that about you know for me things with you and I've seen that you enjoy your food just yes so I mean that's what also kind of gave me a little bit of comfort to talk to me by Jess I so one question I okay one thing that helped me personally on this whole weight and loving food battle is intermittent


this whole weight and loving food battle is intermittent fasting firstly like just starving your body for 16 oz it's difficult for the first week but it gets so beautiful and it kind of becomes an addiction you can't live with it off to a point so if you've not tried it that's one thing I would like highly recommend I have tried it I have to have it but I will get back to doing it in as intensive way as you're saying yeah it's it's just about starving your body that yeah and it's also very beneficial for your career the second thing that really helped me is choosing an activity that I'm genuinely enjoying so recently taking up football gives me a lot of room to like kind of work off a lot of calories yeah so another thing you take up football you take up the activity you enjoy I also enjoy a train because I'm a fashion blogger so it makes me look better than clothes yep so those are two activities but I think


yep so those are two activities but I think the long-term key is just choosing an activity that's true absolutely yeah and so my final question to you of this podcast okay two questions firstly a little bit of a selfish question I think you kind of know the work I do you know what's happening in this office what's your personal advice to me like I think number one continue doing what you're doing because you're doing a great job I think you've got such a great team I had the chance to just meet them in the last you know hour so they seemed really really pumped with what they're doing they've seemed very energized very motivated which is great and that's a reflection of of your leadership and just a and I think we've had this conversation before as well focus on the things that you actually want to get done maybe in the next two years three years five years because the the temptation to do many things is is quite a bit today especially for your generation because look at the


bit today especially for your generation because look at the amount of opportunities out there but I think if you pick your battles and then keep changing those priorities from time to time but have a set of very focus fixed priority is not more than three probably three big things that you want to achieve that that might be the best way to go trust me the last time we had this conversation at your office I've incorporated that into my life and I gave up on a few battles that I was fighting and it's actually benefited me a lot the second question is just for the listeners though we was watching this could you give like three pieces of life advice just encapsulate everything through your relationships all that whatever what's your like three biggest learnings of life I've never really thought about it that way so I might struggle to put them into three but I'll just say the few things that I try to do don't always succeed but try one is I like I said earlier I think the harder you


like I said earlier I think the harder you work the luckier you get so it's very easy to keep ascribing your situation or your circumstances on external factors and to say why is this happening to me how lucky they are look what happened for them it's it's very easy because it takes the weight of you it gives you a free pass to be able to figure that life's not fair but I think life's not fair or unfair life couldn't care less one way or the other you've really got to make your own you know destiny and I think sometimes you'll have setbacks you will you will have setbacks there's no two ways about it but just keep at it right just keep at it and things will break through if you try a hundred things one thing will happen and that one thing will propel you into a range of opportunities that you couldn't have imagined earlier the second thing is really follow what you enjoy make a career out of what you enjoy because you're


a career out of what you enjoy because you're going to be ending most of your waking hours doing that it might as well be something that you really are passionate about and then work won't feel like work it just won't and I think the third one is don't don't don't take yourself too seriously as you're going down this path just give yourself time be kind to yourself give yourself the time to be able to let your hair down enjoy life spend time with people that you care about don't let relationships go go by that you know you valued but just because of the passage of time you didn't give enough attention to and they suffered could be friends could be family could be someone that you love those are three pieces of advice I think I try to follow and like I said I don't always succeed at it but I try I know I told you that this is the last question but I have one more thing purely because of your love for cinema your love for content


because of your love for cinema your love for content is there like a story that you've read in your childhood or come across somewhere in your life you know maybe methodological maybe historical something that's just sad with you and you're like okay that's my dream project that's what I want for me personally it's an animated version of the Mahabharat at somebody want to do that because story it it's just like it's always in my mind like since I'm a kid it's had a huge impact on me growing up so what's that story for me it's a mom I can't say it's an animated version but it's just doing the Mahabharat as it should be because that's made a massive impact on me growing up I feel every possible human emotion relationship situation philosophy is captured in the Mahabharata in some shape or form and it's just such a difficult task to put that on to a theatrical or a series format in a way that someone can get their head around you know


way that someone can get their head around you know because it's just such a monumental effort but that would be I think the pinnacle of what someone could achieve if one had to tell Indian stories to the world and I think it will happen it multip at least twice or thrice in my own lifetime in a big way for sure I think it's one of those toys that's had an impact on a lot of world leaders or people who are hustling in life so I'm glad to know that Mara's inspired you as well anyway Siddhartha Roy Kapoor sir thank you thank you can't tell you I mean obviously was an honor but it was very stimulating for me to pick your brains like this I had a great time thanks a lot I'm glad you on the show sir so until next time guys on the run ratio from to the other Oracle food and beer biceps we'll see you later


spod cast is about the lockdown the cove 819 quarantine situations that the whole world is going through together the goal of my life the goal of starting this podcast and running these YouTube channels is to ensure that I can share all my learnings and all my experiences with you guys that's why eight reasons the lockdown has changed my mentality forever there's a lot of my lockdown learnings which are encapsulated in this podcast in this video and I want you to listen to the whole thing because I do believe that the world is gonna be a different place post the lockdown so you might get some business ideas through this podcast the other reason I want you to watch it is because there will be a worldwide mentality switch that will come into play post the lockdown because if the news is to be believed the next two years are gonna be locked down ish even if you get out you'll probably have to put on a mask you'll probably have to change the way you travel most people


probably have to change the way you travel most people may not travel it's one of many thousand unforeseen changes that this worldwide pandemic has brought to us that's why please learn from each other I'll tell you I should learn from me because this was the most intense phase of my career believe it or not social media numbers went up the two companies that I run be Oh biceps and monk entertainment are both in the social media space beer biceps has numbers short up big time we grew fast on Instagram than we've ever grown in our lives we grew fast on LinkedIn Twitter dia biceps is now growing as fast as it's ever grown we had a dull couple of years or so where I wasn't giving Bo biceps not much attention because I was fueling my energy into monk entertainment but Bo Bice's picked up big-time the Hindi channel is obviously on autopilot it's always growing my point is this is World Cup time for me if I was a cricketer this would be


me if I was a cricketer this would be a World Cup time it's that crucial for me to keep creating content and you know you guys see the videos you guys see the content you have no idea how difficult it was to actually create content during this phase I had to train my cousin in using high-end cameras like this high-end podcasting equipment like this sometimes my mom short for me I just tried to ensure that you guys have the best possible content coming away spoke to my content creator friends did remote vodkas just to ensure that a Content engine was running RT to provide value to you I'm gonna be honest partly to ensure that my eleven salaries at BO biceps get paid properly that would depend on my hustle how many hours I was ready to put in how many videos I was putting out that would keep a youtube revenue coming in that would ensure that I wouldn't have to dive into my savings to be able to pair the salaries I have of my


be able to pair the salaries I have of my editors at Bo Bice's before the lockdown we actually delivered some of our editing stations to the editors houses because we knew that this is the path we're going to go on but anyway coming to the learnings learning number one remote work is the future of the world remote work is very possible most industries are going to become remote that means you'll be able to sit at home or anywhere in the world and still go to office through your laptop that's all you'll need a laptop a good internet connection you'll be able to keep at it most industries will work like this obviously for factories doctors it's a little different but most modern industries the content world IP most of the work is gonna become remote this is a huge learning because it's crucial for you at this stage irrespective of your profession learn the aspects of remote work with remote work the one key factor for me has been task lists again that's been a core


me has been task lists again that's been a core concept of my entire professional life that any day of mine begins with a task list it begins with me listing out what I'm supposed to finish off on that day the other aspect of remote work that I've figured is strong leadership I've identified the strongest leaders in my own teams at BIA by some Zen monk entertainment elevated them in terms of position elevated them in terms of responsibilities because it's a little crazy to talk to n people together twenty people together you have to make these mini teams within your organization and elevate certain people to captaincy roles each person controls four or five other people and that's how the work is done for example Raja says heading the whole edit team he's in charge of all the edits that go on in my business team my creative head Charmy she is heading the whole process of what goes on on are those social media handles at manga entertainment Viraj has four or five teams under him


entertainment Viraj has four or five teams under him jhalak has four or five teams under her we've created mini teams where every captain is in charge of four or five other people and that's how the work is getting churned when it comes to remote work don't be strict about timings everyone has a unique system when it comes to working from home therefore if someone wants to work late in the night that's okay especially in a creative industry like us one of my editors Akshay Tiwari actually begins his work at 11 p.m. works throughout the night sleeps at 8 a.m. that's his best system that's when his mind works the best that's perfectly fine as long as work gets done and every single editor every single business professional in BO biceps is listing out everything that they've done on paper so that the leadership core can actually see if everyone's working at a good pace at home and in saying all this everyone is working at a 80 to 90 percent efficiency it's not a hundred percent


to 90 percent efficiency it's not a hundred percent when you're working in an office obviously the efficiency is slightly higher and we're switching over to this kind of mindset but as the founder of these companies I'm gonna speak for Viraj shade here as well the co-founder of monk entertainment the big benefit for us is that we were toying with getting a new office space we are thinking of expanding the company now I don't think that's a challenge anymore because when the lockdown gets lifted we'll go to office and we'll call the people who are only required to be there in the office on that day we've also figured which of our soldiers is fantastic with their remote work systems who can work amazingly from home they can continue working from home that's the plan going forward remote work has become a huge possibility it's gonna reduce traffic problems in cities the other huge thing that it's going to do is that is gonna give opportunity especially to people from the interiors of India