City-based entrepreneur Captain G.R. Gopinath, whose memoir Simply Fly, the Surya-starrer Tamil film Soorarai Pottru is based on, said he was happy that his story of challenges and entrepreneurship had reached the masses, while also being critically acclaimed. The film won big at the 68th National Film Awards, including the Best Film of 2021.
“When I was talking to students at schools and business schools of my journey of travails to entrepreneurship - from facing hurdles at my village, army life, returning to my village to do farming, running a motorcycle dealership, an Udupi hotel and then to helicopter and airlines business, people used to ask me to write. I wrote keeping in mind our rural folk; to tell them that if you have a dream and are persistent, capital will come to you. This is the story of most entrepreneurs like N.R. Narayana Murthy or Steve Jobs. The film has told this story well and has taken it to the masses. It feels great that the film is also critically acclaimed and recognised at the national awards,” Capt. Gopinath said.
He said aspiring entrepreneurs should start small with whatever they had and if they persisted and reinvented by responding to the challenges, they would succeed. “One must not have a pessimistic attitude, for instance, think that only those with political connections can pull something off. Everyone will have a set of advantages and disadvantages and failure is just a stepping stone,” he said.
Capt. Gopinath was all praise for the film Soorarai Pottru, for how it portrayed the story of his wife Bhargavi. “The way she supported me, but also did not lose her identity and emerged as an entrepreneur in her own right running the Bun World Iyengar Bakery, which recently completed 25 years, has come out very well in the film,” he said.
