Sholay was probably the biggest blockbuster ever made it India. The movie ran for over 100 months and the songs and the story proved to be a hit with the masses. For the next few years, all Indian audiences could rave about was Jai and Veeru’s friendship and how good a villain Gabbar was.
The movie also contained a lot of management lessons that entrepreneurs and startup founders could learn by watching this Bollywood blockbuster especially from the most feared villain of Bollywood, Gabbar:
1. Risks are inevitable
A major chunk of an entrepreneur’s job profile reads taking risks. An entrepreneur needs to take risks in terms of income, time and career to succeed in his life. One shouldn’t be afraid to take risks or be afraid of the outcome just like Gabbar said “jo dar gaya samjho mar gaya”. He lived his life on a very steep edge but it is very essential for an entrepreneur to take calculated risks.
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2. Outsource work to better employees
An entrepreneur knows that he cannot sustain as a one member team. To actually succeed, one needs a dedicated team which is specialised in various areas. This concept is explained beautifully in Sholay as Thakur knows that he is old and won’t be able to catch Gabbar, so, he delegates the work to two younger and fitter people, Jai and Veeru to bring the villain to him.
3. Communicating with your staff is important
Gabbar shows us the power of communicating with the staff. He always asks and converses with his staff because putting any thought into action. He even asks one of his employees “Arre o Saambha… kitna inaam rakhi hai re sarkaar humpe”. In the same way, in real life, entrepreneurs communicate with their team and seek their opinion before taking a decision. This makes the employees feel more involved in the whole process.
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4. Incentives to push the taskforce further
Gabbar knew that incentives make a person go beyond her boundaries and she eventually learns to put in her 110%. So, he told Basanti “Jab tak tere pair chalenge, iski saans chalegi” which is why she put in extra effort to save them. Similarly, in real life if incentives are offered to employees, they aspire to do the job in a better and more effective way. This tactic works in every situation and a simple bonus could be an incentive for a person to work harder.
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5. Team work
Other than their epic friendship, one thing we can definitely learn from Jai and Veeru is how they worked together as a team all the time. They were coordinated and knew when to work and when to have fun. Their friendship shows the importance of team work and that is how a real entrepreneurial team should actually work to achieve their goal and targets successfully.
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6. Don’t underestimate your competitors
A lot of entrepreneurs make a basic mistake of underestimating their competitor the minute they start gaining success which is a very wrong thing to do. Even in the climax, Gabbar, looked at an old and arm-less Thakur and laughed “Tu kya ladega mujhse Thakur”. However, Thakur beat Gabbar to pulp just using his feet which reinforces the fact that we mustn’t underestimate our competition.
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If you are an aspiring entrepreneur and haven’t watched Sholay yet, stop everything and go and watch it right now!