Success has a strange principle. When success is achieved in large measure and that too in a relatively short time, it actually becomes detrimental. The lasting success has to come in right quantities and in right time only.
Let us take three best examples to demonstrate this phenomenon.
Rajesh Khanna
Rajesh Khanna became a superstar in 1969. At that time the Bollywood was ruled by famous trio of Dev Anand, Raj Kapoor and Dilip Kumar. However, the equation was changed with arrival of Rajesh Khanna on the scene and he gave incredible 17 hit films in just three years. This feat is not achieved by any star in any language around the world till date. But this stupendous success came with a price. The people’s expectations were soaring with every hit movie and people wanted to see more and more of Rajesh Khanna. However, after seeing the stereotyped role of Rajesh Khanna for three years, people had enough of him. His films started doing average business. Amitabh Bachchan took the mantle from him by introducing the image of an angry young man in 1973 with ‘Zanjeer’.
Rajesh Khanna worked for rest of his life, almost 40 years, in supportive roles without the charisma. His solo movies literally struggled and failed at the box office from 1973 onwards. The aftermath of this sudden fall after meteoric rise must have been very painful for Rajesh Khanna. In contrast, Amitabh Bachchan has another record on his name. He gave one hit film per year for a continuous 16 years. That was a steady success which is glowing even after 40 years.
Kolaveri Di
The song Kolaveri Di is another example. It rose to fame almost in few hours after it went viral on the internet. It boasts of the maximum hits on YouTube in record short time. Suddenly everyone was singing Kolaveri Di. Many people searched for the song and heard it because of the hysteria it created among the people. All the TV serials immediately incorporated scenes involving the song in their episodes. Soon, there were imitations and remixes formed in several languages making it even more popular.
If one really analyzes the song, it does not have a great meaning. Rather, it does not have any meaning. It is a jumbled up mixture of some rhyming words. The shooting of the song was not great either. It is a dull recording studio with some unknown faces. Of course, the tune is catchy, but that was not the reason for its fame. The song got famous because of human inquisitiveness and ‘mob frenzy’ rather than any merits of the song. Since everyone is listening, I must also listen… this was the reason.
Today, we do not hear the song anymore. In any of its version...! Many people do not know the film, which this song belongs to. If and when the film will get released, people will surely get bored to see this song, as they have had ‘enough of it already in a short time’. Its too-fast-too-much success has killed its future.
Anna Hazare and Arvind Kejriwal
Both Anna Hazare and Arvind Kejriwal shot into fame on national scene simultaneously with the famous 13 day fast in August 2011. The agitation spearheaded by these gentlemen is still a wonder for various reasons. It is rarely that we see the middle class come out on roads across India in such large numbers for a common cause. People say that it had happened before in seventies during Jaiprakash Narayan’s agitation. It is very unlikely that even Anna Hazare himself can recreate the same magic again.
The point here is that they got too much success in short time. So, people’s expectation grew as well. And when they could not meet their expectations, there is already a sense of disillusionment among the people. After parting ways, Arvind Kejriwal had made some sensational exposes. However, the status today is that people are not taking him seriously anymore. The politicians, who were damn afraid of him, are now even ridiculing him. Anna Hazare has formed a new core committee, but its success is yet to be seen. Their past huge success has become a burden on them now.
Steady success
The examples of steady success are Amitabh Bachchan, Lata Mangeshkar and Sachin Tendulkar. They had their bits of failure too. But they rose stronger after every fall. That’s why it is said that it is easy to reach the top, but very difficult to retain the top spot.
And finally, in a larger perspective, success spoils a person in hundred ways while a failure teaches him hundred lessons…!
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