My family was extremely progressive. My parents had a love marriage, but they separated when I was two years old. I moved to Delhi with my mom, who got involved with the family business.
Coming from an Italian family, my parents had supermarkets and they said I had to take over as any son should take over the family business - I copped a lot of flak when I said 'no.'
All my kids have worked in the family business. I've been successful at that. My family knows how to work. We all started working very young.
My dad's a photographer. So I suppose he named me Ansel just in case I would take over the family business. I guess I failed him.
What I have found is that, in a family business structure, sometimes what is needed is a sense of discipline rather than creativity. You have to take everyone's ideas and make it work. When you are dealing with money, there is a limitation on how creative you can be.
When I took over the family business, it had already been a publicly traded company for 20 years. During one of the first annual meetings I attended, one shareholder stood up and advised me and everyone in attendance that I should resign.
I had the option of building a career in the U.S. Many of my friends who went at the time did not come back, but for me, building the family business and being with family was worth it. I became a general manager within four months, as I used my education to improve productivity and output.
When I was 18, and when I entered my family business, I soon realised that it wasn't as easy as I thought. I had to deal with people of my father's generation. Building trust was key to doing business.
Nothing was planned in my career. I just went with the flow and took everything that came to me. Selling potato chips was obvious, as it was a family business. When friends suggested I should try theatre, I gave it a shot. Then I did a lot of advertisements, and then movies happened.
I've lived the American dream. I was born and raised on the farm, first in my family to graduate from college. I spent 13 years working in our family business.
