INCA unites torchbearers of the after-hours community - Aman Anand, Kickstart Entertainment

Young Aditya Thakre said in his keynote address, “What is legal in the day, how can it become illegal at night?” Aman Anand, one of the key promoters of India Nightlife Convention and Awards talks about his line of sight for the sprawling fraternity and the many reasons to celebrate it.

Aman Anand, the founder of Kickstart Entertainment, gained significant experience working with Fountainhead, Percept and Wizcraft, before he launched his own event firm. He has seen Sunburn right from its birth and IIFA awards, and set out in the search of grandeur and perfection through his endeavors. It was my yearning for more, that led me to greater goals, that is, to launch my own entertainment house; my driving force is goodwill, and good relationships. Goodwill gets generated by good work and genuineness,” he says.

Kickstart kicks-off

Kickstart entertainment was launched in 2014. It literally started with ‘Kick’, Salman Khan’s film. Its first project was to design a concert with content oriented around the film, and amidst the glittering extravaganza of the filmstars- Salman Khan, Jacqueline Fernandes, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, and several other guest artists,the start-up acquired its name. Since then, Kickstart has come a long way , with the Star Plus Awards, activation for the Deepika Padukone Foundation, the Shahid Kapoor- Mira Rajput wedding, the Madhu-Masaba Gupta wedding, and Salman Live concert to name a few.

The spawn is introduced: INCA

"The vision to own an intellectual property was the propellant behind the launch of INCA. There are different fields and categories of industry which still don’t have a body. Nightlife fraternity does not have an organized body, but it has serious contributions to the economy in terms of taxes and revenue,” said Anand.

“There was great support from Mr. Riyaaz Amlani, the President of National Restaurant association of India, and with his knowledge, guidance and organization, we married our efforts and brought together India Nightlife Convention and Awards”, he adds.

Given the first time for an intellectual property, INCA gathered an impressive board of sponsors. Anand states, "The idea was so singular it caused brands like Danke, Johnie Walker and Dineout to take interest right at the inception. Nightlife involves diverse vendors, starting from beer glasses, sound systems, lights, tables, drinks, music and much more. Uniting such a sprawling spectrum promised to be a novel initiative."

Kickstart also plans to keep it alive across the year, with smaller engagements in different cities, to connect the communities in each city, leading to a scale-up in the coming years.

Plans Ahead

"Kickstart is a boutique company, with focus on quality, not quantity", says Anand. The COO, Nimish Sanghvi, handles operational aspects, allowing Kickstart to deliver incoming projects, and also invest in outgoing endeavours, that is IPs. Kickstart plans to launch the Bar Festival, a B2C platform, and also has thoughts on a children specific in the coming months.

Seen at INCA were emcees Ketan Dossa, Kubra Sait, and stand-up comedian Nitin Mirani who lend a zing to the evening. Harmann International designed the sound.