Desai certainly had the grasp of the audience’s pulse, current and future, more than the critics.
“When the audience comes to see a Manmohan Desai film, they have set expectations. They want to see my standards tropes — lost and found formula, bracing action sequences, lilting music and a dash of humour — all over again. Of course, I present these elements in different styles and packages in different films. A filmmaker should never cheat his audience,” he said in an interview.
The movie ‘Soorarai pottru’ came out with one of the best teasers in the recent times. It captures the raw energy for a first generation entrepreneur (Suriya), who refuses to take, no for an answer. This made me curious to read ‘Simply Fly: A Deccan Odyssey’, by Captain Gopinath, who inspired director Sudha Kongara and writers, to weave a film around some of the incidents from his life. And, the book makes for a terrific read and offers several takeaways in management and leadership.
Just like Joseph Campbell’s journey of mythological hero, Captain Gopinath one fine day leaves his village, joins the army, explores new worlds, comes back with the foils, becomes an entrepreneur and finally embarks on his most important of his dreams. While he chases his dreams and makes them into reality, the world and people around him change for the better.
What is heartening about the book, is the account of an entrepreneur who overcomes the obstacles when he is convinced that he is damn right about it, and how the world (atleast a part of it) conspires to clear the clouds for his flight of dreams.
Mike Robbins, an executive coach who has worked with companies like Google, Microsoft, Wells Fargo, and the NBA, says everyone wants to copy what’s happening in Silicon Valley. “There’s a lot of interest when I’m [consulting] with companies that are more traditional,” says Robbins. “They’re asking, ‘What’s Google doing? What’s happening in Silicon Valley?’ They see all the success.”
Everything from casual dress codes to free office meals and the rise of remote work has been driven by Silicon Valley. But Silicon Valley’s biggest export, Robbins says, is the collapsing barrier between work and life. His latest book, Bring Your Whole Self to Work, advocates for workplaces where people feel safe to take risks and practice vulnerability with their coworkers. (Kombucha on tap is not required.) But there’s a dark side. As the boundaries between work and life become more porous, everyone works all the time.