From rejection.... to lofty heights....


Meryl Streep, the legendary American actress was 'rejected' in her first ever audition for the film King Kong. The director of the movie rejected her as 'she was too ugly' in his assessment. She did not take it lying down. She weathered all the storm and went on to become the most successful Hollywood actors of her time, bagging the Academy awards and Golden Globe awards several time. The 'rejection' should spur us on and not deflate us. Many people get totally devastated by a single rejection. Push me down 'n' times and I will get up 'n+1' times. That should be the attitude and we should work towards that relentlessly. Getting up from the fall and reaching 'lofty heights' is the best form of revenge we take to make the 'pushers' cringe and regret....

We in India have solid examples: the inimitable Amitabh Bachchan, the ever-green Hema Malini. Rejected initially for his tall frame (not suitable for Bollywood movies those days) and a baritone (which turned out to be his asset later on), he started off in a small way in multi-starrers. His initial stint in movies saw him giving several flops. A movie by the name Zanjeer turned the tide and he never looked back. He is regarded as one of the greatest and most influential actors in the history of Indian Cinema.

And Hema Malini considered as the 'ever-green dream girl' of Bollywood was first rejected for a role in a Tamil movie by a famous director Sridhar. She did not get disheartened. She tried her luck in Bollywood and became an instant hit with the masses and became the 'dream girl' of the millions.

Steven Spielberg, director of blockbuster movies like "E.T" was initially rejected twice by the University of Southern California's School of Cinematic Arts. The irony is that the University built a building in his honor, later.

Thomas Alva Edison, considered to be 'too stupid to learn anything' by his teachers, went on to hold more than 1,000 patents. Walt Disney, the legend who created characters like 'Tom & Jerry', 'Micky Mouse' and several other characters, was once told by a newspaper editor that he 'lacked imagination and had no good ideas'. Can we imagine a better creative person? Stephen King, the famous author's first novel 'Carrie' was rejected 30 times by the publishers. What a resilience he had, to resubmit the novel for the 31st time when it got published! 'You ought to go back to driving a truck' were the words told to Elvis Presley, after his first performance. His endurance and 'never-say-die' spirit catapulted him to stardom. The greatest basket ball player Michael Jordan was expelled from his high school basket ball team by the school coach.

We can reel off several such examples. Never take your initial rejection to your heart. Believe in yourself. Put in the required diligent and hard work. Rest will be history.

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