9 Entrepreneurial Lessons From The Movie Baahubali

“Every once in a while a revolutionary product comes along that changes everything”, started Steve Jobs in his keynote when he launched the first iPhone in 2007. That’s what exactly happened with the Indian Cinema when the costliest Indian movie, Baahubali, got released. It has changed the way people look at Indian Cinema and has shown the world that India too can make movies that are comparable to Hollywood flicks in terms of conceptualisation, art designing, visual effects, detailing and budget.

I have thoroughly enjoyed the movie and here are 9 entrepreneurial lessons that I have learnt from Baahubali.

#1 An entrepreneur is born to solve problems
The movie starts with Sivagami, the female ruler of Kingdom of Mahishmati, (played by Ramya Krishnan) trying to save Baahubali’s from getting killed. As she tries to run away from that place she falls in the river and gets carried away with it. She somehow holds branch of a tree and prays to god that you can take my soul but this child has to live. The child had to live because he was born for a purpose – to kill Bhallala Deva and to regain the Kingdom from the hands of a bad ruler.

If you’re an entrepreneur, there are people waiting for you to solve their problems and you have to live for them, if not for yourself. You have to work passionately for them, if not for money. There are 7 billion people on this earth and you are different from all of them. You are born to serve a purpose.

#2 If your intentions are true, you will always have people to support you
The protagonist of Baahubali (played by Prabhas) tries for more than 20 years to reach the peak of the mountain, the source of waterfall. But all his efforts to reach there go in vain. Many times, he even falls from a great height but he still never leaves the hope to reach the zenith. And then just the imagination of the lady behind the mask, Avanthika (played by Tamanna Bhatia), gives him the power to reach his destiny.

Even if you don’t have resources, people will still join you in your journey solely based on your intentions.

#3 There’s always more than one way of doing things
When Shivudu, the son of Baahubali, (played by Prabhas) doesn’t listen to his foster mother (played by Rohini) and goes against her will of climbing the rocks, she blindly trusts a hermit, who asks her to go to a lake 116 times to bring water and pour it over ‘shivling’. When Shivudu comes to know about this, he removes the shivling from its root and puts it below the waterfall so that it can have incessant supply of water so that his mother doesn’t have to take the trouble of bringing water again and again.

Not everything that you do is perfect. There is always scope for improvement, no matter how small. There is always more than one way of doing things. As an entrepreneur your job is to figure out the best possible way and to keep improving from there.

#4 People will join you for your passion
Shivudu falls truly, madly, deeply in love with Avanthika. And when he sees that Avanthika and her entire tribe are working passionately for the past 25 years to rescue Devasena (played by Anushka Shetty), he is touched by their unending passion. He takes up the task of rescuing Devasena as if it’s his own task (without knowing that Devasena is his real mother).

The only difference between a true entrepreneur and followers is perseverance and passion. No matter how much money you have or how great your team is, people will look up to you only if they see that you’re passionate about the thing that you do and how you want to change the world.

#5 Your performance will matter more than your qualification
Sivagami’s decision to train her own child and her brother-in-law’s child didn’t go well with her husband Bijjaladeva (played by Nassar). After the death of Bijjaladeva’s brother, Sivagami took charge of the kingdom as Bijjaladeva was incapable to do so. The question that put the entire kingdom into thinking was, “who would be the next King?”. Bijjaladeva insisted that his son be the King but Sivagami took a different stance and announced that she would train both the kids and based on their performances she would decide the King. Finally, Bahubali was announced as the King after the war with Kalakeya (played by Prabhakar).

As an entrepreneur, you might reach a certain stage due to your qualifications or influence but to sustain and then to succeed, you need to perform. If you don’t perform, you’ll perish.

#6 Lack of resources forces you to innovate
Sivagami gave very few resources to Bahubali while Bhallala Deva was inundated with resources in terms of arms, ammunition and manpower. Bahubali had no option but to think of ingenious strategies so as to prove himself worthy of being entrusted the Kingdom of Mahismati. And he innovated by killing the opponents in a huge number in one shot by using oiled cloth and fire.

There are more chances of success when you have all the resources in the world but a true entrepreneur carves a niche even when there are little or no resources by using ‘innovation’ as the only resource.

#7 It’s always people first and then the entrepreneur himself
In terms of skills, both Bahubali and Bhallala Deva were at par with each other. So when Kalakeya suddenly wages a war, Sivagami announces that whoever brings the head of Kalakeya would be declared as the King. Eventually Bhallala Deva kills Kalakeya but Sivagami gives the throne to Bahubali because the former focuses only on the throne and doesn’t even hesitate to kill innocent people while the latter protects innocent people at the risk of losing his own soldiers. Sivagami’s announcement says it all, “Killing 100 people makes him a soldier, while saving one person makes him a god”.

People working at your workspace aren’t merely your employees, they are your ‘partners’ in your journey to success. And as an entrepreneur your first duty is to protect your own people and think of their wellbeing than thinking about yourself.

#8 Honesty is the best policy
An arms dealer from Afghanistan, Aslaam Khan (played by Sudeepa) comes to sell arms to Kattappa. After keen observation, he rejects the arms saying that they wouldn’t be able to withstand the sharpness of his arms. Aslaam Khan gets infuriated and challenges Kattappa. Kattappa defeats him and Aslaam Khan invites him to have lunch with him. To this, Kattappa humbly refuses saying that he is merely a servant and cannot eat with a person of his stature. Aslaam Khan is shocked and promises his help anytime, should Kattappa need.

Honesty always pays off. Be honest in your intentions, in your work and in your conduct and you’ll see it coming back to you.

#9 Never, ever lose hope
Devasena waits for 25 years in the hope that her son will come and rescue her, without even knowing if he was alive. She was confident that her son will come and in the hope she kept on adding wooden sticks so that someday she can burn Bhallala Deva and make him repent for his misdeeds.

There are very few people who’d believe in your dreams and you are one of them. The number is already low; don’t let yourself stop believing in it. Don’t lose hope, ever.

“I skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it has been”, ended Steve Jobs in his keynote when he launched the first iPhone in 2007. S.S. Rajamouli spent 3 years in planning and shooting the film and in the end he made that broke all the existing records. He indeed skated to where the puck is going to be, not where it had been.

Originally posted on Linkedin Pulse

Twitter: @iamchowdhary