Relationship Fundas - from the producer of DCH

Written on Wednesday, September 16, 2009 by Siddharth PV

Excerpts from Ritesh Sidhwani's (he's the guy who produced DCH) interview with Subroto Bagchi. This is a part of the Zen Garden series in Forbes India magazine:

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SB: “What is the greatest input to your asset creation process, Ritesh?”

RS: “It is relationships. We understand relationships beyond the cliché.”

SB: “Tell me about that. How does one build relationships the way you do?”

RS: “First of all, it is about conviction. Relationships and conviction go together. I cannot sell a film to an actor, a technician or to the audience unless I have personal conviction in it. Farhan and I do not make a film unless the story has really touched us; unless we ourselves have deep affinity for it. All relationships are about conviction. And no relationship can thrive without honesty. You have to be honest in every deal. The second tenet of relationship is about opting to work with like-minded people. You simply cannot work with everyone; you cannot make a film for everyone. All relationship is a selective process. The third tenet is about submerging the ‘I’ in the ‘we’. There is never ever a great film made by any one individual, it is always a group of people who collectively must give their best. Finally, you need to be slow. You need to give every relationship time. That includes your relationship with your customer. You simply cannot rush it.”

SB: “And what about the don’ts in building a relationship?” I ask Ritesh.

RS: “Do not follow the money. Never lie to yourself. Do not shut the critical feedback. Be a good listener when people are telling you things. If you listen well, you build great relationships.”

The man’s got to know, I tell myself. It is not just the best directors, actors, technicians and labs in the industry who swear by him and partner Farhan Akhtar. They have been buddies for 23 years; even as schoolboys they never ever came close to parting, as we all have at least once. And importantly enough, he has known his wife Dolly since he was 18 and she was all of sixteen-and-a-half!

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Relationship Fundas - from the producer of DCH

Excerpts from Ritesh Sidhwani's (he's the guy who produced DCH) interview with Subroto Bagchi. This is a part of the Zen Garden series in Forbes India magazine:

---

SB: “What is the greatest input to your asset creation process, Ritesh?”

RS: “It is relationships. We understand relationships beyond the cliché.”

SB: “Tell me about that. How does one build relationships the way you do?”

RS: “First of all, it is about conviction. Relationships and conviction go together. I cannot sell a film to an actor, a technician or to the audience unless I have personal conviction in it. Farhan and I do not make a film unless the story has really touched us; unless we ourselves have deep affinity for it. All relationships are about conviction. And no relationship can thrive without honesty. You have to be honest in every deal. The second tenet of relationship is about opting to work with like-minded people. You simply cannot work with everyone; you cannot make a film for everyone. All relationship is a selective process. The third tenet is about submerging the ‘I’ in the ‘we’. There is never ever a great film made by any one individual, it is always a group of people who collectively must give their best. Finally, you need to be slow. You need to give every relationship time. That includes your relationship with your customer. You simply cannot rush it.”

SB: “And what about the don’ts in building a relationship?” I ask Ritesh.

RS: “Do not follow the money. Never lie to yourself. Do not shut the critical feedback. Be a good listener when people are telling you things. If you listen well, you build great relationships.”

The man’s got to know, I tell myself. It is not just the best directors, actors, technicians and labs in the industry who swear by him and partner Farhan Akhtar. They have been buddies for 23 years; even as schoolboys they never ever came close to parting, as we all have at least once. And importantly enough, he has known his wife Dolly since he was 18 and she was all of sixteen-and-a-half!