“Now that the contract is signed, and you’ve purchased the house from me, let me tell you, you don’t know how to do business”, the seller tells Amitabh Bachchan.
“If you had asked me to reduce the price by 1 lakh, I would have gladly done so.”
Now, if someone told me this in real life, I would instinctively tell myself “Oh no! I have overpaid! Should I have bargained?”
Which is why I love Amitabh Bachchan’s response: “Sir, you are the one who doesn’t know how to do business. If you had asked me for 10 lakhs more, I would have gladly paid it.”
Maa Ko Tohfa
This famous dialogue is from the 1975 movie Deewar (this movie helped Amitabh Bachchan gain the identity of “angry young man”.)
When Amitabh Bachchan assuredly tells the businessman that he would have paid any amount of money, the businessman’s look of certainty vanishes. “Why, what’s so special about this building?”, he asks.
“20 years ago, my mother helped lay the foundation for this building. Today, I’m purchasing this as a gift to her.”
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/B36ssIZsv0M
Value Differs From One Person to Another
We all value things differently.
Tony Robbins told me about the time when his rich friend paid 87 million dollars for a Mark Rothko painting.
87 million dollars.
I wouldn’t dream of paying 8.7 dollars for that painting.
The scene from Deewar made me think: Maybe the way the world thinks about money is all wrong? Perhaps the way we should look about purchases is not “Is that cheap or expensive?”. Rather, the question should be “Does the purchase add value to me? And is the money I’m paying representative of the value it will add to me?”
The house had sentimental value for Amitabh Bachchan which could not be quantified with money. He was willing to pay as much as it took to procure the house.
End of story.
It is Not a Rip-Off if it Provides Value
Whenever people encounter something expensive, they’re quick to label it as a rip-off.
Indeed, social conditioning has reinforced this concept.
It is not a rip-off if it provides value.
As Amitabh Bachchan demonstrated in Deewar. Even if the businessman charged 10 lakhs more, Amitabh Bachchan wouldn’t have considered it a rip-off. Because he saw value.
Now, a lot of overcharging is a rip-off – because sellers get greedy and want something for nothing.
Which is a shame, since the opportunity to provide real value, the opportunity to go the extra mile, the opportunity to solve pain points exist everywhere.
Takeaways
- It is not a rip-off if it provides value.
- Value differs from one person to another.
- If we want something badly, we should be willing to pay as much as it takes. If we don’t want something badly, it may be wise to reconsider the purchase.
- Clarity is a prerequisite for confidence. When the businessman rubbed it in Amitabh Bachchan’s face, Bachchan’s clarity helped him be unfazed and provide a confident response. And it is a movie and he must have rehearsed his dialogues 🙂
Image Credit: Trimurti Films
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