Quotes from Ronnie Screwvala

Disney is looking at growing in emerging markets - and for them India is an important market. They also recognize how important it is to partner with a local Indian company.

Multiplexes need to be partners in increasing footfalls, but they have been too focused - maybe rightly so - in expanding their footprint of screens, because we are such an under-screened country.

Parsee culture is definitely one of strong business acumen, high ethics, and an element of philanthropy.

India is not going to come up with the best and most modern car, but if you want the most economic car in the world, we're pioneering that with the Nano, which the Tata Group did in India, for example. And I would call that innovation of the highest degree.

How Hungama became the top children's channel in India is interesting because we were up against, not just Disney, but also Time Warner's Cartoon Network. It was an illustration of the fact that for any company that wants to grow in emerging markets, localizing content is the key.

Our vision is to break the projects into stories that must be told, stories that we would like to tell and stories that people go to movies for. If we can find great scripts that fit these three categories, we will go out and make a movie.

I play chess with the computer when I feel dull in my mind and after two games - 'out or win', I feel sharp again.

India's ambitions as a country and, in turn, the ambitions of our youth and working professionals are soaring. A new wave of learning is upon us.

One becomes an entrepreneur to break the glass ceiling and that's when you grow the market. Of course, in that process you have to be prepared to get hurt. You will get hurt. But I'm a doer and I like taking risks.

I'm off the diet, but not the treadmill. I speak as someone who's attempted to lose weight and get fit thrice before in my life.

Theatre has been a sort of hobby. I regret that I am not active, but given my job that is difficult. But those were learning days. The learning curve was the level of confidence, maturity, and reflexes that theatre teaches you is fantastic. You are alone in front of an audience for two hours and that gives you a different kind of confidence.

In the digital era, everyone is a student. Degrees given by formal education are not a value currency anymore. Technical skills and an individual's ability to apply the outcomes are important, irrespective of age.

When we started our foundation, I was less than 30 years old. We pledged that 10 per cent of our profits, whatever the amount, would be used for a social cause, and that we would be actively involved in that cause.

I have never had a situation where an investee company would have a good value by having a banker. Investment bankers are there to please future clients. You are a temporary client; they are therefore not to get you the best valuation.

Most of us don't look at investment in a win-win situation. You have to give in a little bit; you have to take a little bit. Most feel everything has to be rinsed out for closing of the transaction.

You can look at any industry and sector and then figure out how high is your glass ceiling. Do you want to diversify or do you want to penetrate the ceiling? Because the ones who break the glass ceiling are going to be big-time winners, but it will be a longer-term view on things and requires a lot more courage, a lot more guts.

When one was looking at getting out of media, I took a fair amount of time to figure out what I want to do for the next 20 years... the one thing I am very passionate about is entrepreneurship in this country.

I would be fooling myself if I thought I would succeed as an entrepreneur. Maybe my base as a theatre artiste gave me the confidence as that's when you start feeling you can do something on your own.

All glory is fleeting. And, If you do not love what you do, don't do it.

My thought process was: We had decided to become a B2C company and build the UTV brand and we couldn't be that as a TV producer or ad film-maker or doing in-flight programmes.

But I'm a first-generation entrepreneur. I realised very soon that I was a do-er, outside of being maybe a value adder, mentor or someone who just gives inputs.

The consumer has paid a ticket price to watch a movie and he/she is being subjected to a massive 15 minutes or more of advertising thereby driving him/her away from coming to the theatre. This has to stop.

Somebody is coming to bring their global vision to India. If they are coming on their own, they shouldn't tie up. If they are coming because you know the ground level and there are international best practices to be shared, then it is the best way.

The online education space, especially in higher education, is ripe for disruption.