Assembled on a soundstage in Andheri is a motley crew of young talent, shooting for Belvedere Vodka’s upcoming artistic collaboration, Studio B. Bollywood actor Arjun Kapoor (the ringleader) admits, “I’m not much of a drinker myself. I’m social because my profession needs me to be, but I don’t indulge in alcohol beyond a point.”
The trio of influencers he’s working with encompasses a wide range of fields — including food, fashion and art — and together, they’re a microcosm of today’s restless creatives. Fashion designer Kunal Rawal, chef Prateek Sadhu and artist Shilo Shiv Suleman are the three chosen names and they will, over a month, work on a collaboration for Studio B.
Following the numbers
At the country’s inaugural edition of Studio B last year, actor Sidharth Malhotra teamed up with actor-product designer Lekha Washington and designer Nikhil Thampi. In an interview with The Hindu back then, Neha Mansukhani, senior marketing manager at Moet Hennessy India, admitted that Belvedere wanted to tap into its target demographic through Malhotra’s large social media following (over 6 million at the time on Instagram).
This year will be no different. In addition to Kapoor, the three influencers have sizeable fan bases on social media platforms, which they use to promote their work and connect with collaborators. Suleman’s Fearless Collective , for instance, has seen the artist and her team travel across the world, painting murals in dilapidated neighbourhoods, joining hands with other artists. It’s not surprising, then, that big brands like Belvedere are opting to work with them to amplify their reach.
- How then does each one unwind, after a long day or on a weekend with friends? While Rawal and Kapoor both individually mention Juhu’s Soho House as a place they end up at, for Sadhu it’s about finding a quiet bar. At the moment, his pick is Lower Parel’s Thirsty City 127. Suleman on the other hand believes in “ meditating and incubating my inner and interior self,” eschewing nights out for some quality ‘me-time’.
The creators also believe that social media has given them the chance to move from the background and into the limelight. Sadhu, executive chef at Masque Mumbai and a former employee of the world-renowned Danish restaurant, Noma, admits that till about five years ago, his father was sceptical about his profession. “Do you really want to do this?” he would ask his son. Today, with over 11,000 followers on Instagram and frequent posts about his foraging quests and R&D trials at Masque, Sadhu has established himself as one of India’s leading chefs.
Time to shine
“The evolution of society in the last 10 years has been drastic and dramatic thanks to technology,” says Kapoor. “It has allowed kids to dream, it has allowed people to pursue their passions.” This change, he explains, has come from, “a freedom of thought. A freedom of wanting to express yourself rather than following the norms of just pursuing what people feel is right”.
His words are echoed when speaking with Rawal, the fashion designer who has become a favourite outfitter for some of Bollywood’s leading men. He believes that young people today think without boundaries and across disciplines, citing the example of how he “loves taking materials that are not usually seen in embroidery and adding that ‘surprise’ factor”.
Doing the work
While last year’s creators worked on independent projects (Washington, for instance, showcased a starry ball called a ‘Drop of the Universe’), this year sees the artistes working together for a month. “I’m really interested in seeing what happens when people who are really masters of something, come together,” says Suleman, when asked about what the creative process might look like. What will the final product be? The creators, who only met each for the first time this week, will come out with a video and an installation.
And they are hopeful about what each brings to the table.
Rawal believes that because “design has a lot to do with trial and error”, the ability to collaborate provides the chance to observe and learn from other people’s work. The results will speak for themselves in a month.
