The ‘Entrepreneurship’ movies of Tamil Cinema!
Being an entrepreneur requires a lot of motivation, specifically for two reasons, (i) the path they encounter is full of challenges, (ii) sometimes there is no path, they have to construct the road before they take up the journey.
That being said, there are many interesting books and movies that every entrepreneur can draw inspiration from.
The moment we search on ‘Google’ about ‘top entrepreneurship movies’ — there are a list of suggestions.
Most of the movies on the list are Hollywood, and there are a few movies from Bollywood too! Unfortunately, there are no K-town Tamil movies featured on the list.
It’s definitely important to get a global perspective through the English movies. But, understanding the local context is one of the basic lessons for any entrepreneur — when you want to draw inspiration, why miss the local language movies? :D
Here’s the list of some of the well known popular Tamil movies, which had ingredients of entrepreneurship lessons within them.
1. Annamalai (1992)
Other languages — Kondapalli Raja (Telugu) & Gokarna (Kannada)
“Intha naal un diary la note panni vachuko.”
This movie is way ahead of the times, before we witness the ‘startup culture’ in 2000s. Starring the Super Star Rajnikanth — the movie is a beautiful portrayal of friendship, relationship, courage and perseverance of a milk seller-turned-into a multi-million businessman.
The crucial moment of the movie is right before the interval block — when Ashok (Annamalai’s close friend), adhering to the opinion of his father, dismantles the house of Annamalai without his knowledge. As a consequence, Annamalai challenges him, and what follows is one of the best sequences of Tamil Cinema.
Initially, Annamalai lacks investments to start his business — there is an interesting sequence in which he struggles to get the loan from the bank. However, he perseveres through the challenge and raises the money to get started. Once he started, he aces everything he does!
Lesson: Initial struggles are obvious in any business, perseverance is what it takes to accomplish the goals.
Where to find the movie?- YouTube.
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2. Suryavamsam (1997)
Other languages — Suryavamsam (Telugu), Surya Vamsha (Kannada) & Sooryavansham (Hindi)
“Payasam Saapdunga friend.”
Starring Sarathkumar², Radhika and Devayani, this movie is one of the ‘cult’ entrepreneurship movies of the ‘90s. The journey of Chinraasu (a) Sakthivel, from being an uneducated young man into one of the leading business figures and philanthropist is awe-inspiring is well conveyed through a brilliant screenplay.
As a couple who are separated from the rest of the family and relatives, Sarathkumar-Devayani mutually helps each other and grows in their own professional life. The song ‘Natchathira Jannalil’ is a most popular one in Tamil Cinema, capturing both their journeys to success.
Lesson: Taking risks and leveraging the available assets that you have, is always the key aspect of business.
Where to find the movie? Sun NXT
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3. Padaiyappa (1999)
Other languages: Narasimha (Telugu)
“Kashtapadama ethuvum kidaikkathu. Kashtapadama kidaikkurathu ennaikkume nilaikkathu.”
Another Superstar Rajinikanth starrer on the list — the movie that took the Tamil Cinema by storm! After the loss of his father and being cheated by the paternal uncles, Padaiyappa (Padaiyappa) takes the burden of the entire family on his shoulders and grows all the way up the ladder.
The interesting sequence is when he realises the value of the unexplored land in the hilly region (which was allocated his father), full of granite. He refuses to sell the land, and takes the ownership of the business, which brings back the fortunes to his family again.
One of the lesser known facts, about Padaiyappa’s success is that — he splits all his wealth and provides it to every people in his village (who works for him) making them as the owners, and including them as the stakeholder in the business. [Source: Nasser’s dialogue in his monologue with Neelambhari.]
Lesson: Struggles are temporary for all. With permanent hard work, we will find our own way to success!
Where to find the movie? Amazon Prime.
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4. Boss (a) Baskaran (2009)
Other langages: Parijatha (Kannada) & Raja Rani Raji (Bengali)
“Vidaa muyarchi. Viswaroopa Vetri.”
With the star cast of Aarya, Santhanam and Nayanthara, the movie captures the journey of Baskaran (Aarya) and Nallathambi (Santhanam) together growing into successful businessmen running a tutorial centre for Grade X students in the K-town (Kumbakonam :P).
Classified as ‘unemployed’ and ‘irresponsible’ — Bhaskaran moves out of his house without any hope. He then watches the ‘Annamalai’ movie (the ‘number one’ movie mentioned in our list) to get himself motivated and kick starts a business with his friend. How he achieves the success despite all the odds, as an educator — is the rest of story.
The ‘big break’ for Baskaran happens when he identifies his ‘business idea’ in an ordinary moment, while he casually hangs out at the saloon owned by his friend, and notices a group of young boys seeing the Grade X results. He builds the idea from scratch and successfully implements it!
Lesson: Business ideas are everywhere. Keep an eye out and pay attention to the need of the people!
Where to find the movie? Amazon Prime
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5. Velai Illa Pattadhari (2014)
Other languages: Raghuvaran B. Tech. (Telugu) & Brihaspathy (Kannada)
“Naan singathuku vaal ah irukuratha vida, poonaikku thalaiya ve irundhukkiren.”
The movie that captures the day-to-day life of the unemployed engineering graduates and their struggles. Dhanush plays the role of Raghuvaran, an unemployed civil engineer who only aspires to do the job that he was passionate about. He waits patiently, till he finds one — uses the opportunity well, not only helping himself but also involves the community of other unemployed engineers.
Raghuvaran faces a struggles from the other construction companies who oppose his work by throwing different challenges at him. He overtakes them gracefully and finds a way to complete the task which he started.
Lesson: Sometimes you have to ‘wait’ — till you find the right opportunity. But once you decide, there is ‘just no going back’!
Where to find the movie? MXPlayer
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Special mention on the list:
Tamizh padam (2010)
Other languages: Sudigadu (Telugu)
Though being a parody film, the reason for including the movie on the list is only because of this song.
While watching in 2010, the songs seems to be exaggerated, ten years later — we are seeing some of the things come alive!
Lesson: An entrepreneur is the one who never stagnates, but predicts the future and prepares for it!
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Did I miss any other ‘Entrepreneurial’ Tamil movies? — Please write them on the comments.
Feel free to use the clap option (you can provide up to 50 claps, just saying :P).
Thanks for reading! Stay motivated! :)
