Leon Nelson ~ The Trendsetter and (Athirvu Confession)

To be the eldest son in the family with 4 younger siblings it was rather impossible for an Indian like me to pursue my desired career.

I wanted to act and I had a great passion for dancing but I was strongly discouraged and I was strongly condemned by my family. In fact, it wasn't even a topic to be discussed with them.

So, at a college show, I proved myself that I can dance by winning The Best Entertainer Award 1996. To be the Best Entertainer among more than 500 students, it was indeed the best achievement for me.

Then I had the burning desire to pursue in dancing. As a student who is still studying, I had to depend on others for transport. I will travel using the bus from Kajang to Klang just to practice.

One issue arose. Money.

I wasn't able to generate much of an income by dancing. I only got praises which became my burning oil to perform more.

Whenever I come home at 3-4 am my dad will ask me how much I have earned. I knew I didn't earn much money and that's when he made me realise that this praises will not get me a car and wealth.

I did my diploma in Cosmopoint and completed my degree in Computer Graphics and Designing at Lim Kok Wing. I started working as computer web designer at MOL.COM Sdn Bhd, 1800 Assist.com Sdn Bhd and eXpressAsia.com Sdn Bhd.

Soon enough I found that I can't work under people. We are not the slave. We are staff. I respect my boss but I can't treat him like as if he is my master. I also hated the politics at workplace.

I quit and started seeking every single opportunity to earn. I got involved in all kind of MLM business, insurance and a lot more.

Though I couldn't generate much income from this business the motivational speakers during the talk inspired me to do better and perform better in my life. I used those tips in my life.

I started my own fitness centre. It is the first exclusive gym in Kajang back then in 2005. I had few other business as well. Life was at it's best. I still can recall the time I spent money blindly.

As I generate a lot of money, I stopped focusing on the productivity of the business. I spent less time to grow the business. I was too keen on living my luxury life. The business started to die.

As the business started to die I learned that we need to have a lot of experiences and knowledge to handle a business. From 2006-2008 I was facing a huge loss.

Due to no recent update on experience in designing for 3 straight years and I was left out on a lot of matters involving computer web designer. So I couldn't get a job using my degree certs.

It can be considered as my major downfall in my entire lifetime.

I have a family to take care off. I started driving a taxi for 5 years and started to appreciate every single money that I earned.

Every minute as the taxi meter shows that the money is increasing, that's when I learned the value of money. The friends who were close to me when I was doing good was nowhere close to me.

Then I got a part-time job as site security supervisor where I patrol around a specific area. Then I learned about security business. Since I had a hands-on experience my partner and I started our own company.

That's when my life truly peaked. Then I understood that we have to give a shot though we know nothing about something. We need to study, ask people and learn from it.

We shouldn't blindly try something. I also realised that only my family who didn't give up on me when I fell down drastically in my life.

Downtime will teach us a lot of things. It will show us the true colour of some people.

In 2014 I made a comeback in the entertainment industry. This time around it was because of an ugly incident.

Saresh D7 used my penthouse to shoot for Ethirpaarathe Alai I was more than happy to be involved at first and as I asked for the progress of the music video we found out that he got cheated.

The man who shot the entire music video irresponsibly said that the footages got deleted. I know Saresh D7 as someone who is very down to earth and he is very talented, I knew that I must do something.

It was unfair for his effort and money to go into total waste. I got involved in that project voluntarily. The project was restarted and got completed. It was a whole new experience.

I peeked into the entertainment industry and I realised that the politics that is going on in it are so much more worst compared to last time.

There were lots of fake talents and just because they use the influence they claim themselves to be an artist.

They do not give an opportunity to new talent. I expected an opportunity when I was young and was all fired with energy and passion to give my best shot but nobody cared.

But I also saw genuine people and people with true talents.

Now I created myself an opportunity where I ventured into singing. Boy Radge composed and Saresh with Oviya wrote the lyrics. I sang the song and it didn't turn out as well as we hoped it to be.

I had to take 40 over Sangeetham class (vocal class) to enhance my skills in singing. The song turned out to be really nice. Then I did a music video for it where Kuben Mahadevan directed it.

He really taught me a lot about acting. As that song kicked off with a music video it really won many people's heart. From then. I started to do cameo roles in short films, music videos and movies as acting are my passion anyhow.

Right after that, I started involving myself in the entertainment industry where I sponsor to support young talents to do their music video and album.

I also helped out for a lot of charity work and also for people in the hospital and Tamil schools. I have my instinct on where I should put my money on. I am making sure that my money is being used for a right reason.

I personally believe I am full of blessings as I help people a lot. Especially those who got into road accidents. I don't wait till the ambulance reaches the spot.

I will get them in my car and bring them to the hospital not bothering about their blood spilling on my car seat as their life is much more important to me rather than my car seat.

Therefore, if somebody has a mindblowing talent or someone come up with a great idea I will go and get involved in their project as I admire real talent. Talent doesn't come just like that.

I personally believe that just because we have money we can't do everything. We need true talent when it comes to singing and acting based on my experience from my past.

We have to work really hard for it. Talent is a blessing.

For instance, I find Mica Awards to be a healthy competition. It will create a benchmark and our people will start to perform better than what has already been done in the past.

I personally wanted to be part of it and so my partner and I became one of their official sponsors.

I feel in this industry, most people are trying to grab opportunities. Very fewer people want to help others and see them come up in their life.

Then I worked on Athirvu, a short film. Athirvu is a failed project because it was done without a proper plan. Now I am trying to give it a life.

Hopefully, it will be released soon despite all the issues we are facing now.