Interview with Murtaza Rangwala | Filmymantra
Filmymantra was established in the year 2014, with 15 million plus fan following on social media, Filmymantra left no stone unturned to be one of the top Bollywood portals in India.
With completing 5 years in the industry, filmymantra created a firm base in the b-town world, having a huge contribution in making celebrities get their place in the A-list zone such as Disha Patani, Priya Varrier and many more, also withholding big brand campaigns such as oppo etc Filmymantra has its roots dug deep in the Bollywood business.
As per India’s social networking survey, Filmymantra becomes one of the top Bollywood portals leaving behind some big names with 10 million-plus followers on Facebook, 1.3 plus million followers on Instagram with maximum viewers on the website Filmymantra becomes the top Bollywood portal of India having the largest number of followers in the country.
1. What gets you out of bed in the morning i.e what’s your source of motivation?
What literally gets me out of bed in the morning are my kids. They jump on me each morning and wake me up anyhow! Jokes apart, the one thing that keeps me motivated is the fire to do something different and achieve what’s impossible. Even after sleeping for a maximum of 4 hours I still manage to workout and head to office for a day full of challenges.
2. Why should people choose your product/services?
Digital marketing is a hot cake in today’s era. Everyone wants to grow socially and they all have a social fever. All celebrities are different and they all come to me with different challenges. For eg. from making Disha Patani the National crush of India to promoting Sakshi Malik as the bomb diggy girl, we have done it all. I have worked with international artists too and all of them have their own thought processes. Not everyone can blend into that and so we have different strategies for different celebrities.
3. What’s your competitive advantage and why can’t it be copied?
We are the first person to create a buzz revolving Harsh Beniwal and making him a social media star. As I mentioned, our strategies are tailor-made and even though concepts can be copied, I always evolve and go unique.
4. What risks are you facing?
Clientele stability is our biggest risk. Once their social media starts growing and they soon realize how things work, they quit. We are slowly working on a contract system so we can keep our interests protected along with theirs. Apart from that, the uncertainty of payments is also our biggest concern.
5. Have you considered any alliance/partnership?
I was indeed into a couple of partnerships but unfortunately, it didn’t work out for me as expected. My advice to all startups would be to steer clear of partnerships!
6. What are your cash flow projections? When will you break even? How much will you need in investments?
We’re working on something big and it will be a major milestone for us. It will be revealed soon.
7. What comes first for you money or emotions?
Emotions, because that’s what makes me human. It is because of an emotional connection that renowned celebs are my friends and we’re there for each other whenever needed. Emotions are mandatory to maintain a life-long commitment with your business.
8. What are your strengths and weaknesses?
My strengths are my dedication and hard work. I have literally worked for 36 hours without sleep during my lowest point in life. So I can proudly say that I am a workaholic and lack no passion in terms of work. Weakness is that I trust people blindly which always causes me losses. Looking at it positively, I consider it as a lesson.
9. Tell me about an accomplishment you are most proud of.
For that, we have to wait for 3 months as Filmymantra will complete 5 yrs in May. I had started it in 2014 along with few friends when I was in engineering. Studying combined with work has got me where I am today and no accomplishment is bigger than seeing a different self.
10. How do you handle the pressure?
My kids and wife are my biggest life support and stress busters. No matter how busy I am, I make sure that every morning I drop off my kids to school. Seeing my two naughty little ones and playing with them automatically helps me keep calm and motivated. Apart from that, every Sunday is a mandatory off, no matter who or what it is, my wife lets me take them off to completely rejuvenate for the challenges of the upcoming weeks. Frequent vacations with my family also help me overcome a lot of pressure associated with the business.
11. If you sold your company today, what would be the tone of the conversation? What would you want to gain? What would you want to avoid losing?
I have never thought of selling my company ever, it’s like selling my soul. Although, I have sold part of my company in the past and all I can say I would NEVER do it again. I think that explains it all.
12. What advice would you give to someone starting out?
Things will not happen overnight. Your start will be tough and full of hurdles but you gotta cross them, stand strong and after a couple of years, combined with hard work and passion, things will start happening overnight. Be loyal to your work and your work will soon be loyal to you.
13. What inspired you to start filmymantra?
This is a long story. I had not completed my engineering because I had a backlog and was doing a job back then. My wife (girlfriend then) was in the UK submitting her dissertation for her MBA. The fact that she was done with studies and It left me worried and anxious. We were together for almost 6-7 years then and planning to get married soon. I had to gather a lot of money and that wasn’t possible with the salary engineering would give (if ever I cleared the backlog). It would have taken me more years to earn and save money in order to get married. So I started Filmymantra with a dream to earn big and marry soon. Within the next six months, by the Grace of God, I got married. So I can say that Filmymantra kick-started with a dream and today it has become my passion and obsession.
