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Shantanu writes for Everything Experiential
The fashion industry of country has not seen a lot of successful male super models. However the first generations of male supermodels that created and defined the Indian modeling industry and paved the way for its success include the name of the ace model turned choreographer Marc Robinson. Marc was present in Delhi as the jury for Max Presents Elite Model Look 2015 and in a candid conversation with EE he spoke about the competition, tips and tricks for being a model. Q- What brings you to Delhi and what are you looking for? A-I am looking for young, dynamic, beautiful looking and strong structured people, a boy and a girl, who have an identity of their own and the hunger to go internationally and make a career of being a model. Opportunity in the world of fashion are huge and along with it come fame, fortune and money and I am here to offer these to the most deserving candidates. Q- What can we expect from Max Presents Elite Model Look 2015? A-Max as a brand has been totally dedicated in promoting fashion and they believe that we need an international supermodel from India as India has the potential to deliver on it. Through this competition we want to reach out to everyone who aspires to be a model as after selection we will be training them and making them the fashion stars for tomorrow. After the Delhi auditions today we head out to Chandigarh, Bangalore, Kolkata, Bombay and Hyderabad and I am very positive that we are certainly going to find our next supermodels through this competition. Q- So after the regional castings have been done, how is the competition going to roll out then? A-So once the auditions are done we will have a national finale in Delhi on 30th September where we will be having an international casting agent flying down from Elite. They have their own perceptions of a supermodel so what we want to do is present to them around 30 contestants in each category of boys and girls and then we sit together and pick 8 boys and 8 girls out of that for a 10 day boot camp in Delhi where they will be trained by ramp walk trainers and photographers from Paris. Out of those we pick 1 boy and 1 girl who will be the winners and then we will train them for a month further and then they go to China, Milan or Paris where the final competition across the world will be held. Q- If you were to give 3 tips to all the aspiring models of the country what would they be? A-Definitely, the first thing is complete your education as that is the key. I had completed my education, I was working and I only had a fling with modeling when I realized that I was getting more work here and I was not able to balance it with my 9 to 5 job routine. Secondly, realistic belief is the key. I come across a lot of people everyday who have wrong mirrors in their homes and want to come and become models, they need to understand that you have to be realistic in the industry and always have a plan. Also setting a time frame is also very important. Ambitions are good but it is always better to plan your career graph accordingly. Q-A person getting compliments for their looks may not necessarily be a model material. So where does one draw the line between the two and realize that they have the potential to be a model? A-If you feel that you can be a model then there are many agencies that you can go to and take their advice on do they want you? It is similar to any aspiring cricketer, who will have to go to a sports camp and then play for district, zonal and then national level. So if at a point a cricketer is stuck at Ranji Trophy level then they get a fair idea that they are perhaps not going to play for the country. So similarly in modeling if you have been to 10-12 agencies and they all have said no then its time you get a reality check. Q- Any upcoming projects that interests you? A-Currently, I have a lot of IPRs in my hands. After this competition I will be doing India fashion icon and I am currently busy with India Bridal Week so for now these things have kept me completely occupied.
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He joined his family business of carpets while he was in school and this is how his affair with the art forms of paintings, textiles and floral decor began. With an illustrious career spanning over 37 years, Deepak Badhwar today is a well known name in the world of floral and event decor. In an exclusive conversation with EE, Deepak Badhwar talks about creatively using floral decor into the main stream events business today. Q-How do you feel the traditional art forms are going to fit in the main events genre today which is so flamboyant? A-Today there are leading designers who have got into wedding and big events and over here the structure is the flashier the better. For a special wedding or an event or something where there is going to be let's say a very high profile conference where there is no food going to be served on the tables, one can spread long shawls over. Like they were done in the European master paintings of Renrock and all depicting shawls on top of tables as an accessory and that changes the whole look of the event from a drab conference to something very interesting. One can also have real handmade carpets spread on the floor. So if somebody acquires some event company and invests in them and then they can use it imaginatively in many events. Today fabrics are used to enhance the space at events, but in my opinion they can hang shawls, they can hang textiles, they can hang phulkari and the whole look changes. Similarly can you imagine classical miniature paintings in a conference hall? It is suddenly a very high class event. It completely elevates it to another level. Here there are CEOs sitting and then one of the walls has a classical miniature painting. What a beautiful amalgamation. Q-One of the trends currently in the events domain is that the organizers want everything but at a cheaper cost. Are these traditional art forms really affordable for them? A-Yes, they are affordable for what the worth is. However, the event company or the production house has to see how many events we can cover using the same product. Like if it is going to be reception and the person has invested in drapes and shawls then in a conference we can use them as table covers. These are of multiple uses of course miniature paintings will only come on the walls, you can't put them on the table or on the floor. But carpets you can put on the floor, you can hang them; you can in some cases if they are very fine ones even put them on the tables. Q-Let's talk about floral arrangements now. In your opinion how are floral arrangements enhancing the beauty of events today? A-Any room, any event, any space can be beautified with flowers. Whether it is the humble Marigold or it is imported Hydrangeas or Orchids. Today even in government functions you will notice that in front of the dais there are anthuriums and all sorts of fancy flowers being put in Oasis and covering it. Could you have imagined this happening 5 years ago? No, 5 years back maximum they would put Marigolds. Today there are all sorts of flowers from all over the world and one can play with them. Q- So how has the art of floral decor transformed today? A-Well traditionally in any Hindu religious function in India, rangolis have always been made either with colours or with flowers. And if you delve into Indian traditions, the path entrance has always been lined by floral decorations. In weddings, often the dulha dulhan have walked on rose petals. In Kashmir it is mandatory for the bridegroom to come walking on rose petals. So it has been a part of Indian tradition. We have just taken it to another level by marrying European traditions with Indian traditions. In Europe, see any of the masters, any of the old paintings, there were always large floral arrangements even in the Victorian times they were used either on the side tables or on the centre tables or decorating niches. Now with an event, we can use flowers to enhance them as flowers are available from all over the world now depending on the budget. Also today we have this wonder material called Oasis where we don't need to put the flower into water exactly, just stick it into the Oasis and you can make frames, you can make spheres, everything is done. Q-What are the three unconventional ways that event organisers can use flowers at events? A- Well for starters, Instead of having a central table setting, one can have small sprays, or some medium orchids or corsages set on each plate before the service begins. That will be absolutely unique because when the guests take their seats for a sit down dinner instead of just having napkins on the plate, there is a beautiful Orchid Corsage. Secondly there are many edible flowers which can be used in salads. One can decorate salads with edible flowers and through this the salad takes on a new meaning. Just imagine being served a salad with a beautiful orange flower on it with the best part of it being that you can actually eat it. The third use of flowers can be lining the complete pathway in a traditional wedding fashion of having flowers strewn so that the guests have to walk between the flowers. One need not trample along the path, but just imagine all along the sides there is a low arrangement of six inches of exotic flowers just taking your whole path giving it a new meaning. That would be divine. Q- Where do you see the art of floral arrangements and other traditional art forms going five years down the line? A-I think that there is going to be a massive revival. There is going to be a fantastic awareness as these art forms are slowly dying. And finally for flowers as the world gets smaller, more and more flowers will be accessible to us from different locations as it is people have started using berries, leaves, plants besides flowers.
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Have you ever faced a situation when you cooked a mouth watering scrumptious meal for yourself, but as you sat down to satisfy your hunger pangs you were joined by a couple of unexpected guests? As a result you had to share your gastronomic experience with them to the point where neither you nor your guests were satisfied. Sad isn’t it? I had a similar experience as I went to attend the Zenfestival organized by the leading motherboard and consumer notebook brand ASUS. ASUS had promised a larger than life festival experience to its guests as through the event they aimed at launching their six new technological devices in the country. And with their last Zenphone 2 launch at Kingdom of Dreams being a humongous success, expectations were high from EO2 events who are a regular executing partner for ASUS. I was truly excited to see how will the event agency elevate themselves up a notch from their previous execution and with the venue of the Zenfestival being the JLN stadium in Delhi, I simply could not wait. However, with so much hype in and around the event its execution turned out to be rather an abysmal affair. The entry to the venue of the Zenfestival was marked by crowd lining up outside in large numbers to get in, which is an unlikely sight to see considering it was a non-ticketed event. The demo zone however was stunningly designed and entry points to the stadium were neatly marked out and with installations, tattoo artists and volunteers present throughout the venue to help the attendees it was more than clear that EO2 had spent a lot of time designing the intricate aspects of the event. Another highlight of the event was the stunning aerial performance that used a combination of LED, Drums, Lights and Music to create a long lasting impact. The anchor Cyrus Sahukar too, was on top of his game here with his quick witty comebacks and managed to tickle the funny bones of the audiences. However, even the dazzling Sonakshi Sinha could not save the event from drowning as the excessively long presentations from the ASUS team left the attendees wondering whether it was festival or a board meeting? Another low for the event was the college crowd in large numbers that showed up at the last minute. Clearly the event would have been a near to perfect execution from team EO2 but the repetitive hooting and unnecessary remarks from the crowd were enough to make one cringe in despair. The nail on the coffin was the refreshment area that looked worse than the Rajeev Chowk metro station during office hours. Everyone had plates in their hands and very little idea of where to go? An insider from the ASUS team reveals that the idea to invite college students was a last minute addition from ASUS and hence the overall execution of the event fell apart like a house of cards even after meticulous planning. The Zenfestival from ASUS was not a bad event at all however with their past events having set their own standards so high, this particular one failed to cross the bar even after trying way too hard. EO2 however aimed at creating something truly out of the box with the Zenfestival but the majority of their efforts went in vain with their intention to nail a perfect execution being so close yet so far.
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Choosing a venue is probably one of the most basic but important steps when organizing an event.The ambience of a place really defines what the mood of the audience is going to be. Be it a sunny beach destination or a heritage site, the venue plays a huge role in defining the vibe. No wonder MICE is such an increasingly popular sector within events. We find out what these prominent experiential agencies focus on when deciding upon a venue...
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Sound.com as we all know has been India’s leading sound reinforcement company by providing sound to some of the most lavish concerts and events within the country. Since its inception in 1998, sound.com has maintained its status of not only being a sound provider but a solution based platform at the same time. In conversation with the man behind the great venture, Warren D’souza, here at EE we look at the importance of sound in our larger than life events.
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