THE MAGIC AND POWER OF GRIT AND COURAGE
HT TRAILBLAZER 2021 TUSHAR VASHISHT
What advice do you have for youngwho sters are trying to make their start -ups run about what it takes to create a successful start-up?
- Sanjay Kataria, 28, PhD student Build perseverance. Staying at it — through thick and thin — is probably the biggest factor in becoming successful. The first 1,000 days will be hard; expect to run out of money as well, once or twice. But if the customer fundamentally loves what you build, you will find success eventually. Stay with it.
What was the most daunting thing about being the first producer whose film went on floors amid the pandemic? And how did you overcome that risk, apprehension and inhibition?
- Gauri Sharma, 23, Entrepreneur
It felt great, and at the same time, I was nervous as I was taking over 100 people from India. And then to manage a crew of 200 over there was a huge responsibility. I felt like a parent and made sure to take care of them and test every seven days. The worry that what if someone tested positive was constant. We followed all protocols, tested before leaving, did the 14-day quarantine and tested before returning, too. We travelled with everyone to maintain a bubble and so, even if a person had to shoot on the 17th day, they were with us from day one.
There was a batch that came 45 days later, and they were quarantined before they joined us. Sure, there were financial
implications but we thought if we were taking the plunge, then this moment would go down in history. We should do all it takes and all of this would not be possible if Akshay sir (Kumar) had not given the go ahead and said, “Let’s do this”.
There were many apprehensions. I was scared as I am this kid on the block, trying to make films. Do I really have it in me to make films? Thoughts like ‘Can I really take a whole crew to a foreign land to shoot during Covid-19 pandemic?’ I remember when we tested before leaving, while waiting for the results, I was so nervous. I kept thinking that here people are not stepping out of the house and here I wanted to take a crew to shoot. Back then, we didn’t know much about Covid-19, we were still exploring things, everyday was new. We’d hear often that someone got Covid-19 and that person died. So it was nerve-racking. I have to give it to the team. Had it not been for them, we would not have been able to pull this off.