Prathamesh Krisang, Founder of Yellow Thoughts and now Krisang Motion Pictures is an inspiration to young entrepreneurs across India including myself.
In just his early twenties, he has already been in the business of making advertisements and short movies since the past two years. I spoke online to this young entrepreneur that comes from ‘UK’ – not the UK you are familiar with but the small town Uruli Kanchan near Pune on his life as an entrepreneur. Here’s what he had to say.
1. Tell me about yourself and how you became an entrepreneur?
Two things have always been my passion since childhood – business and animation/ visual effects. I learnt a great deal about doing running a business from my parents and their shop and always wanted to study VFX and animation in college. However, I realized that the courses offered here were extremely poor and hence pursued business administration.
Regardless of the course I was pursuing, being in show business has always been my childhood dream. Therefore, throughout college, I spent a lot of time teaching myself filmmaking techniques. I practically learnt almost everything I know about filmmaking over the internet.
While I was in my last year, I luckily got to edit a video for a client. It was a good opportunity which along with Rs 6000/- opened a lot of doors. 6000 rupees may not seem like much but two years ago it was a good enough amount to inspire a day-dreaming management student to take that huge leap into entrepreneurship. A much better option than an MBA. I started out with all my energy and it’s now been two years since I started. Looking back it is surprising to see how far fate and pursuing entrepreneurship has taken me.
2. Why did you choose to be an entrepreneur – especially at such a young age. Don’t generally creative professionals such as yourself choose to work for a big agency where they may get exposure to bigger brands?
Being an entrepreneur has come naturally to me. I learnt a lot from my parents’ shop, which always tended to be a trendsetter rather than just a regular shop in the town. As a child, my dad taught me to never compromise on quality and to never cross a deadline. On the other hand, my mom, an extraordinary marketer taught me that if you are able to create value you will never have to sell a product to your customers.
I did get the advice to work with big agencies a few times but I have always been impatient to make films. Moreover, through my work I have built strong relationships with my customers so working for an agency is not an option for me. In any case, if we consider real life experiences, people give 10-12 years of their lives until they finally start doing some real work with big brands. I guess, that is a good amount of time to build a brand for yourself.
Besides, being an entrepreneur just feels right. My intuition has never failed me yet.
3. Can you share more details about your NSDC Project?
We were hired to make training films by an initiative funded by NSDC & CREDAI – Pune Metro known as KUSHAL. KUSHAL trains construction workers in six different trades like plumbing, bar-bending, masonry, tiling, shuttering & painting. Our job was to make these technical training modules easy to understand for the construction workers. Till date, we have created these training modules as a pro-bono project.
Aside from growing our client portfolio, we took on this project because these films are not just regular films but rather a resource that is developing a skilled workforce and generating employment. The project has become a huge success and is appreciated by many industry critics.
You can check out one of those films here
4. What are some of the genres in which KriSang Motion Pictures is developing films?
Something that I have always been fascinated about is the world of magic and mystery. Therefore, we are currently exploring with films in the fantasy fiction genre. However, such films need a lot of technical and filmmaking skills as well as a huge investment. We will therefore start producing short films in a similar genre first.
Other than that, music, fashion & fun videos are areas we are also developing our strengths in. These are the greatest areas for creative experiments and companies who are looking for positive brand building experiences are always looking to create and market such films.
5. Top hurdles you have had to face in setting up and also now in growing your venture.
Every day is a new hurdle. In fact, we have spent a good portion of out time over the last two years learning and making mistakes.
For example, we started out at a time when people were least willing to spend money with a client profile that most wouldn’t consider showing. And to add to the trouble, we were 20-year old kids with no networks or contacts. So why would anyone entrust their money to such kids in these times.
Hence, I did a lot of work for free. So much so that if I had charged for it, I would be quite rich by now. However, that free work really helped me build up my network for which I am grateful. The good thing about films is that anyone can distinguish between good work and bad work. The bad thing is, they don’t mind bad work to save a few bucks, even in the case of good companies with big budgets.
They say 80% of companies shut down within first 2 years of their setup. We made it. I salute those who even try to venture out, no matter if it succeeds or not. It needs real guts.
I think that as an entrepreneur the biggest hurdle of all is to continuously keep the hopes up and fight back. Even till the very last moment when everything has fallen apart, it is so important to fight back. Miraculously, something always does work out, seemingly from nowhere and the biggest problems are solved.
You can check out his work here and here. Prathamesh is also the creator of the Rodinhood Files. Give it a watch now if you haven’t already!
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Perzen Patel is an idea-shipper and an aspiring entrepreneur. An experienced events and communications professional, Perzen is currently Communications Manager at Ennovent. Her passion in life includes hosting events, writing about entrepreneurship and innovation as well as travelling and meeting new people. Perzen believes that great moments are born out of great opportunities – which is why she is constantly following her gut to try new things like a 100km Trailwalk or a jump into thin air from 12000ft.
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Editor’s note: This is interview is part of our series of ‘Meet the Rodinhooders’ – where any Rodinhooder can interview another one! if you’d like to interview another Rodinhooder, or would like to be interviewed, simply send an email to asha@rodinhood.com
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Check out another interview by Perzen here.
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