Vedanta Group Chairman Anil Agarwal recently met iconic filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola in London, marking a personal milestone decades in the making. The two spoke about India, storytelling, Sanskrit, and the timeless influence of cinema. What caught everyone by surprise? Francis Ford Coppola wants to learn Sanskrit — a rare cultural connection between two masters of their craft.

In a social post that has since gone viral, Mr. Agarwal reflected on how The Godfather shaped his early years. “I was around 20 when The Godfather released. A boy from Bihar, new to Bombay, I didn’t know English then. A friend got hold of the film, and 9–10 of us crowded into a small room to watch it on VHS,” he wrote. “We didn’t understand every word, but we felt every scene.”

That first encounter turned into a lifelong influence. “’I’ll make him an offer he can’t refuse’ — a line I once didn’t understand, now one I live by,” he added.

Decades later, from that crowded Bombay room to Riverside Studios in London, Mr. Agarwal’s journey with The Godfather came full circle — culminating in a one-on-one conversation with the man behind the film.

He recalled a line that stayed with him through the years, “Great men are not born great, they grow great.” A line, he says, that mirrors his own journey.

“Koi bhi ek din mein bada nahi banta. Mehnat, niyat aur waqt — yeh teen cheezein sahi ho, toh kuch bhi mumkin hai.”

The meeting was a celebration of cinema’s ability to inspire across generations and geographies. Mr. Coppola’s work not only reached a small-town boy in India, but accompanied him on his journey — from the bylanes of Bihar to the global stage.

When The Godfather became his guru — Anil Agarwal met the man whose art unknowingly shaped his journey.