Raavanan

Saw the movie yesterday (had an early getaway from office citing my birthday as reason) in Tamil.

I can see why people dont like the hindi version. I did not like the tamil version either. A big dissappointment from Mani.

What rocked
1) Exotic locales. I loved the shot where there is a huge statue of Vishnu in the middle of a river and Aishu is praying to give her strength...
2) Beautiful cameramanship
3) Aishu - old but still gold
4) Music was good

What sucked
1) There is a lot of buildup for the Raavanan character - but there is no back up in it
2) The completely goofed up attempt to link this to Ramayana
3) All the monkey noises, dandanaa dan nonsense and characters behaving like a gorilla half the time
4) Mani always has a wierd sense of the setting - which I personally hate. Some may like it. It is either a dark room with just a zero watt bulb (anjali, iruvar, mouna ragam) or it rains a lot throughout the movie (raavanan, nayagan) .
5) There were no gripping dialogues
6) There was not a single moment where I sat at the edge of my seat

Casting I liked
1) Aish
2) Prithviraj
3) Priyaaaaaaaaaaa

Casting I hated
1) Karthik
2) Prabhu - he gave the cameramen the real challenge of keeping him within the frame
3) Vaiyyapuri - why is he an Ali?

Anyways - dont waste your money. Watch it in Sun TV after 2 months

Why dont you start a company of your own?

Have you ever been asked this question? Have you ever wondered yourself about this question?

To be frank, I have.

And the answer I get is the same as "Why dont I become a zoologist?" or "Why dont I become a cricketer?"

I am not entirely convinced that that is what I want to be doing.

I am not saying that I wont start a company of my own - all I am saying is that I dont know if I will, I dont know when and I dont know how. The things that are needed for me to be an entrepreneur (whatever they may be) havent yet taken place in my life.

I am yet to get an idea that excites me. I am yet to get the inspiration to act on an idea. I am yet to get enough guts to start doing something on my own. And last but not the least - I am still not convinced why "entrepreneurship" is the right option for me. Heck, I am an MBA and I dont even know how that degree is going to help me yet.

But all of this apart,

What I dont understand is, why do people give entrepreneurship such a high regard?

I hear sentences like
1) Entrepreneurs control their life and they have a complete rein over what they want to do (they can come to office when they want to, go when the want to, do what they want etc)
2) Entrepreneurs are wealthy
3) Entrepreneurs can hire anyone
4) Entrepreneurs are famous

Well, I do agree that Entrepreneurship is an exciting career option and many at some point of time in their career have always wanted to have a company of their own. It has been like this little dream in almost everybodys heart to own their own company and provide job opportunities. But that doesnt mean that Entrepreneurship is the end all of life. If you are not an entrepreneur then so be it. There are so many professions out there - and each come with their own set of advantages and disadvantages. There is no one career option that can be "best". The "best" career option is the one where you are enjoying your work. Thats it.

If by chance - your career and your passion match - then you can consider yourself lucky. If per chance - you happen to enjoy painting - but are a software developer - then you can always paint in your spare time - but be a developer for your living.

Entrepreneurship has its own advantages, namely

1) The feeling of self satisfaction
2) Best possible way of getting paid what you are actually worth
3) Its a service - you provide job opportunity to so many
4) Fame. A lot of people look up to you

But it comes with its baggage
1) Risk Factors. Competition, changing technology, changing needs etc. Any of these can put an end to the business.
2) Ability to spend time for personal life
3) Stress
4) Success Factors are low in many cases

The above mentioned are hard aspects. But there is one very critical baggage which this career option brings - which is

With success in entrepreneurship comes the difficulty in managing success. There is nothing that people like to see - more than to see someone high up - fall down. You always want Australia to lose a cricket match. You always prefer a Tata to a Reliance group. You always prefer an AR Rahman to any other musician. You prefer Tendulkar to Ponting. You prefer a Narayanamurthy to Azim Premji. You prefer a Kalam to any other politician.

Why?

The way these companies, teams, individuals manage success.

With success in entrepreneurship - comes the great responsibility of managing it right.

People always love to hear a scandal more than anything and it is human nature. A simple mistake on part of an entrepreneur is enough to put at risk the personal and professional relations.

Some qualities which look bad on a CEO or Entrepreneur are
1) Arrogance
2) Negligence
3) Disrespect for others
4) Show of wealth/power/fame

I am not saying that they would impact the CEO personally. It is just that others love to see such persons fail - and it is always not a good feeling to have for a CEO.

People always love a Warren Buffet to a Richard Branson.

Both are successful. But I enjoy to see Buffet successful while I think "man - God has been kind to this Branson"

What I think does not matter to Branson. But I would personally want to be a Buffet and not a Branson.