Gautam Chhabria in a candid inflight chat with Anushka Sharma

Gautam Chhabria in a candid inflight chat with Anushka Sharma

We have brought to you some interesting snippets of conversations between Bollywood stars (Amitabh Bachchan and R. Madhavan ) and their fans who had won inflight time in the flywithvip.com contest. But, this time around, we will share with you an interesting tte--tte with flywithvip.com CEO, Gautam Chhabria and Anushka Sharma during their plane journey.

The conversation started with Gautam explaining to Anushka the concept of Fly With VIP. Though he had been warned by Anushka's manager, Ritika Nagpal, to not indulge in too much of salesmanship, Gautam couldn't resist himself. Once a salesperson, always a salesperson.

Anushka listened attentively to Gautam and asked, "I understand the concept behind the program, but what I fail to understand is why are you doing it? What is in it for you?"

Gautam replied, "I would be happy if a dozen great non-profit foundations made some money using our platform. As for me, i would be quite happy even if it hits breakeven. Also Fly with VIP being an internet venture, hopefully lofty valuations would take care of the rest."

Looking at Anushka's blank expression, Gautam paused and asked her, "Are you aware of the lofty valuations that internet ventures command?"

When she shook her head, he explained to her how BookMyShow.com commanded a valuation in excess of 1000 cr., though its profits were puny at the moment.

After talking about valuations and profits, the conversation hit another topic.

Anushka revealed that she was a deeply spiritual person. Gautam didn't find it surprising given that she was born in Ayodhya, the holy land of the Hindus.

Anushka stated very calmly, "But we are not supposed to make a show of our religion." Later, she mentioned all of a sudden that she didn't believe in Sri Sri and his preachings.

She elaborated, "You expect a calming effect when you meet him, but he seems so caught up in worldly things that he does not exude that peace and calming effect at all."

Anushka had a very intriguing line of thought. She mentioned, "I feel celebrities on the whole are over rated. You should never meet your favourite celebrity, because you will end up being disappointed. That's what happened to me when I ended up meeting some celebrities I looked up to."

Upon being asked what else he did, Gautam mentioned the Gyrocopter project and how it would be very useful for the Indian Navy. Anushka was interested in the subject given that her brothers works in the Navy.

"Patrol boats have a range of just 50 miles, whereas the Gyrocopter has a range of 900 miles. Even the flying costs are low at just Rs. 2000 an hour, and one can buy it for just 45 lacs. Also, being a 4-seater it could be used as an air ambulance and be parked on both sides of a highway. It even boasts of a safety mechanism which even during an engine failure, will land you safely."

She commented that the parking charges at the airport would be quite heavy which might spoil the whole profit equation. Gautam was impressed by her genuine interest in the subject and assured her that he would explore the possibilities of it being parked at one's terrace.

Anushka Sharma with Gautam Chhabria.

The conversation was getting more and more varied and interesting.

Anushka asked Gautam what he did before the Fly with VIP campaign and the Gyrocopter project.

"You won't believe me if I said I have dabbled in 10 different businesses, which unfortunately for one reason or the other didn't work out. In 1995 much before current industry leader Suzlon set up shop, I imported second hand windmills from Holland, but had to sell them to scrap yards because new rules were implemented banning the import of second hand wind turbines, at the behest of a zealous local manufacturer NEPC Micon, keen on guarding his local monopoly. In another venture i lost USD 5.5 million in the currency crisis in Russia in 1998,"

He mocked, "You know it's quite torturous to do business in India."

"But this project is successful, right?"

"It's too early to say yet," Gautam admitted.

Anushka tried to convince Gautam, " . I am fine with meeting a chaiwala or a rickshawwala. As long as the celebrity is aware about the happening of the event, he/she will put on a good mask for the winner, so the winner is not disappointed." Quite a noble thought, what say?

Gautam praised her saying that since a very young age, she got an opportunity to work with the biggest actors in the industry and that no other actor had had such an opportunity or such a booming career graph.

Anushka looked visibly happy with the statement. She replied, "The credit goes all to me. It is because I selected the right projects at the right time. I am very choosy when it comes to selecting projects."

Gautam asked her, "Do you ever pinch yourself just to check if you are living in a real world or if all of it is just a dream."

Anushka shook her head laughingly. "I started working when I was 15 years. And since that time, I had known I was going to be an actress. So no, I don't pinch myself."

Just when the conversation was gaining tempo, her manager came up signaling that the time was up. But, Anushka was enjoying the conversation and asked to be left alone for another 10 minutes.

She confessed that she found the promotion work the worst part of the movie making business for a creative person like her.

"I have done up to 21 press conferences a day. It becomes robotic after some time; same people, questions, and the futility of it all, because it hardly leads to any result."

Soon the 10 minutes were up, and like a genie, the manager appeared again. It was time Anushka got some rest as she had a busy day ahead.

Gautam took the cue to leave, happy and satisfied at a very engaging conversation with Anushka Sharma.

https://blog.flywithvip.com/?p=274