Features Inside Inking Achievements: Sectoral Printing sector’s future is printed in golden ink. Pg 39

Golden Fabric of Indian Economy: Warp & weft of the update economy’s progress. Pg 42

Real to Reel: The grand canvas of Indian is the stuff ir that makes dreams. Real-life couples now play out their fantasies in reality and on celluloid for eternity. o by Jawad m o by Jawad t pho n focus i t esy kno rt os cou t pho Industry Big Fat Indian Wedding Indian weddings in their new avatar are more luxurious and extravagant, spawning a whole new industry. by Ravi Sagar

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othing seems to dampen infringing on time, “there was a need the fervour of the Indian for a wedding planning portal that wedding industry. Its could not only help the soon-to-be-mar- glitz and glitter contin- ried to find the right vendors for their ues to dazzle, riding out wedding but also keep them updated Nthe recession and the tough economic with top wedding trends in India,” says ride with all its pomp and show. In fact, Kalra, who set out to meet these needs. from all accounts, Indian weddings are Kalra, who pioneered the concept of only getting bigger and fatter. wedding portals in India, explains the In March 2013, Taj Group of Hotels reasons for the success of ‘wedsites’, of Indian Hotels Co. Ltd unveiled its “Apart from streamlining the otherwise survey of the Indian wedding industry chaotic process of planning a wedding, titled The Taj Wedding Barometer. The wedsites act as a one-stop solution for company’s purpose in undertaking the “Wedsites act as a weddings, right from finding vendors survey was to tap the business potential one-stop solution to getting expert advice in the form of of the industry. In a media interaction, articles.” the Taj spokesperson was quoted as for weddings, The right mix of trend, advice and saying that the company, which was right from finding technique for making the D-day perfect exploring various avenues of growth, has been the reason for the phenome- had never looked at weddings, a reces- vendors to getting nal success of Kalra’s wedsites. “In just sion-proof sector, as a product. But Taj expert advice two years of inception, BollywoodShaa- was now focussing on weddings as dis.com has now grown to one million an opportunity, and a rather huge and in the form of unique users per month. We have growing one as the survey estimates articles.” more than 3,000 wedding vendors the value of organised Indian weddings across India who are registered with us — Apoorv Kalra, ` at 100,000 crore (US$ 16.34 billion), Founder, BollywoodShaadis.com and and are generating good business from growing 20 per cent year on year. WeGettingMarried.com us on monthly basis. BollywoodShaa- dis.com is now India’s biggest wedding Old Wine in New Bottle planning site as per Alexa and com- T hough the extravaganza of Indian In India, the wedding day is thought S core,” Kalra informs. weddings has a historical perspec- to be the most important day of a per- His other portal, WeGettingMarried. tive, the renaissance that it has been son’s life and no expenses are spared com, is an extension of Bollywood- undergoing in the past few years has to make it as lavish and extraordinary S haadis.com.Kalra explains its purpose, given rise to a new industry occupied as possible. Parents start saving for the “Through this website couples can cre- mainly by a young and new category of day right from the time of their child’s ate their own personal wedding website. service providers and professionals that birth. However, with lifestyle changes In today’s busy life, people seldom have fulfill rather evolved demands. Take for example, Apoorv Kalra, Founder, BollywoodShaadis.com and WeGetting- Married.com. It was while pursuing a management course in the USA that Kalra noticed the lacunae in the wed- ding market. “I saw how difficult it was to find the right wedding vendors to pull off an Indian wedding. There were match-making/matrimonial websites like Shaadi.com, Jeevansaathi.com, etc., that helped people find the right Big Fat Indian Wedding partner, but what next? How to start the wedding planning? Most people are clueless. This was the opportunity and to fill this gap, BollywoodShaadis.com was born.” In Focus: The traditional ceremonies are now larger than life with cameras rolling in the background.

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time to personally visit and invite rela- very long time, especially in the wed- tives for the wedding. Since majority of ding planning domain.” His confidence the people are connected through the is based on a deep analysis of human net, what better way to invite guests but psychology. “It is quite interesting by a custom-made wedding website?” when you look at it this way.Though Couples can include photos, event people search information on the inter- details, etc., and send the website net, they rely on human recommenda- address as an e-invitation to their tions only, preferably expert advice. guests. This personalised, time-saving Luckily, we have social media websites and eco-friendly concept of sharing the that make it possible to integrate wedding story has been a great hit. “We human interaction with technological already have more than 7,000 mem- prowess.” His website does exactly this bers who have created their personal with his panel of expert advisors meet- wedding website through WeGetting- ing the needs of the who log “I saw the Married.com,” informs Kalra. on to “seek answers to many of their opportunity in Kalra estimates the Indian wedding urgent questions”. industry to be a staggering `2,38,298 With his finger on the pulse of the the wedding crore (US$ 38 billion), the size of “the wedding market, Kalra has planned industry that economy of a small country and grow- out his future vision. “By the end of the was undergoing ing at the explosive rate of 20 to 25 per year, we will be launching Bollywood- cent a year”, and says, “Informational S haadis.com in USA. Soon after that, a slight change resource portals are here to stay for a we will begin working on the UK ver- with young people looking for T he Old Order Changeth something fresh.” —Jawad Mir, he average budget for a middle class raphers who can charge `1,000 to 10 lakh Founder, Film-Style Weddings TIndian wedding is estimated to be (US$ 15.94 to 15946.42) an hour as a pack- `21.32 lakh (US$ 34,000). The last few age for all wedding dance performances! years have seen many trends mush- Professional Catering services over rooming in terms of wedding spends Halwais: An average middle class wed- sion. Within about three years, we hope done by the middle class: ding up to a few years ago had a local to cover every country with a large pop- Hiring of a : Though halwai churning out the dishes for the ulation of Indians, such as Thailand, this industry existed five-six years ago, wedding menu. This too has disap- Singapore, Indonesia, Australia, South this trend was limited to the upper peared with the streaming in of profes- Africa and Canada. While expanding middle class but now even middle class sional caterers. The usual Indian cuisine overseas, we plan to continue to add couples are open to hiring wedding is now replaced by at least three types of more and more cities and states in professionals to plan their wedding cuisines (and 25 dishes) at a middle class India to our website.” instead of letting friends and family pitch wedding. in. Couples are now knowledgeable Choice of wedding trousseau: People The Bigger the Better about the fact that wedding planners are now aware of brand trends and what a T he Taj Group with its 100-year histo- streamline the entire preparations and let celebrity is wearing, and they want to wear ry of opulence and aesthetics is known the couple, their family and guests enjoy it on their wedding too. Earlier, an outlet in as a dream wedding destination for the wedding. Rajouri Garden, Chandni Chowk or Karol the elite. It has hosted over 3,000 wed- Hiring a professional choreogra- Bagh used to be a one-stop shop for bud- dings that had an average 350 guests. pher: Not very long ago, the sangeet was get wedding lehengas. But now a typical Today’s weddings are bigger with 500 an occasion when the ladies of the family, trousseau spend, even for the middle class, being the average number of guests. At usually on the girl’s side, came together to is a minimum of `2 lakh (US$ 3189.28), the lower end it is 251, but the guest list sing and dance to fortune-bearing songs. going up to `15–20 lakh (US$ 23919.63 to could go up to 1,000, according to its This too has changed in the last few years, 31892.84) amongst the upper middle class, survey. as Bollywood movies have had a great influ- hence raising the bar for expenditure. If the guest list is getting longer, the ence on people. Couples now hire choreog- Source: Bollywoodshaadis.com menu is not far behind. Guests are being served between 5–15 cuisines,

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Designer : Trousseaus are now made to order by the best names in the industry. Happy Feet: Professional choreography adds a Bollywood touch to the Sangeet Ceremony.

Princess Weds: Weddings now hark back to the royal nuptials of India.

with south Indian and Chinese topping the fare, says the survey. As India has the largest youth popula- n focus i

tion (a nation of 1.2 billion people with t a median age of 24 years), predictably, the industry is set to profit esy kno

the most as more and more tie the knot. rt According to estimates, in the next 10-12 os cou

years, around 40 crore Indians will be t

tying the knot. The per capita income pho of the country is set to grow three times in the next 20 years and the over 400 ner minutely orchestrates each detail, For Pereira, who belongs to a family million and expanding middle class from the mehendi (henna) ceremony, that has been in the hospitality and with rising disposable incomes, is fur- the bride and groom’s finely matched wedding business for more than three ther adding to the lustre of the industry. attire, to the flower decoration, to the decades, hospitality management was As parents try to resurrect a wedding food and decor. a natural career choice. Her entry into day fit for the Indian royalty of yore, Candice Pereira, Co-founder and Cre- the relatively new wedding planning with no expenses spared, the Indian ative Head, Marry Me – TheWedding territory began after she moved back to movie industry, with its big fat wedding Planners, says, “We do everything from India upon graduating. “I, along with sequences, is adding to the trend. Wed- start to finish.” This includes, “From my partner, Jarret D’Abreo, realised the dings are thus becoming week-long the venue bookings, stationery, design need for wedding planning in here. I affairs with all the elements of dance and decor, photography, videography, have always enjoyed entertaining, plan- and drama thrown in. F&B, gifting, trousseau shopping and ning, organising and decorating. And Understandably, everybody is ready- packaging, entertainment planning, I especially loved weddings, having ing for a bigger bite of this wedding pie. and so on...right to plan- experienced them from a young age as ning,” Pereira lists out the services. my parents were in the business. Jarret Getting Organised Since different clients need differing D’Abreo has a background in corporate T ill recently, a wedding was a strictly levels of involvement, Pereira’s outfit and events industries and that helped a family affair, managed by a family elder first provides consultation to under- great deal too,” explains Pereira. with the younger members working stand their level of involvement “as are by nature lav- under his guidance. But now, the pro- every wedding is very different to the ish affairs, says Pereira explaining the fessional manager or the wedding plan- other”, she adds. vast canvas of Indian weddings. “We

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plan all kinds of weddings from a one- This has also meant rising awareness day wedding to a week-long celebra- and need for wedding planners in one’s tion. The maximum number of events D ecoding Indian once in a lifetime event. we have planned for one wedding has Weddings Asked if the wedding planner concept been nine which were back to back! has evolved in India, Pereira exclaims, We have also planned very private wed- eddings are indeed a fascinating “Definitely!” She elaborates that when dings for just the family (sometimes Waffair in India and are called ‘Big she entered the industry most people even just the couple!) to weddings with Fat Indian Wedding’ for reasons. On weren’t too familiar with the idea. 4,000 guests. Since most Indian wed- an average 10 million weddings take “There were event planners who man- dings have many different events, there place every year. The Indian wedding aged certain areas like entertainment is usually a need for different themes industry is estimated to be a staggering and decor for very large scale weddings. to keep each event different to the other `2,38,298 crore (US$ 38 billion)—the However, other than that, most wed- and interesting. Destination weddings economy of a small country—and dings were managed by the families or especially are gaining popularity with growing at the explosive rate of 20 to maybe the office team.” According to beach weddings and palace weddings 25 per cent a year. The average budget her, things have changed so much that for a middle class Indian wedding is now almost every wedding feels the estimated to be `20.76 lakh (US$ need to have a wedding planner, espe- “Since all families 34,000). Each year, around 2,000 cially if it is a destination wedding. have their own high-end weddings take place in India. Pereira calls it a necessity, and adds, These are multi-day extravaganzas that “A planner will not only handle the rich histories, their defy the western imagination, complete stress of the wedding, but also ensure own dynamics with pyrotechnics, performances by good access to reputed vendors, great gyrating Bollywood actors and inter- rates with vendors, a good sense of aes- and foibles, each national music stars, and thousands of thetics and managing and coordinating wedding film invited guests. The upper-middle and the entire wedding.This leaves the fam- rich classes are estimated to spend ily to sit back and enjoy their own wed- stands apart from upward of `6.27 crore (US$ 1 million). ding, which has not traditionally been the last.” The bride’s jewellery at an average the case.” high-end wedding in India will have —Koval Bhatia, Founder, A Little Anarky Films pieces which are `6.27 lakh to 25 lakh The 3D Dreammakers (US$ 10,000 to 40,000) each, with an With so much effort and money going overall budget of about `1.25 crore into making the Indian wedding a (US$ 200,000) for jewellery alone. At dream come true, another profession topping the list.” the weddings of ultra high net worth has been flourishing quietly on the Kalra agrees, “The trend of destina- individuals (HNIs), jewellery pieces of sidelines and taking the shape of an tion weddings is picking up really fast.” `3.14 to 6.27 crore (US$ 500,000 or industry—wedding filming. Koval Bha- Talking about the locales of choice he US$ 1 million) would not be surprising. tia was just 23, with a Masters in Mass adds, “The most preferred Indian des- Today's weddings are not just about Communication from Jamia University, tinations for weddings are Goa, Jaipur, designer clothing and food, they involve when she floated A Little Anarky Films. Udaipur, Jodhpur and Kerala. Among additional costs in terms of elaborate Amour Wedding Films, an exclusive foreign locations, Thailand, Dubai and sets/themes, marquees, innovative wedding films division of A Little Hawaii are mostly chosen by Indian bride/groom entry, heavily embellished Anarky, captures the dreams of couples couples.” cards, etc. A simple on celluloid for eternity. In India “Weddings are huge!” thing such as bridal mehendi applica- Throwing light on the evolution of Pereira says and the reason for wed- tion is now an industry worth `5,000 the wedding filming industry, Bhatia dings becoming extravagant affairs, crore (US$ 797.32 million). There are says,“This trend started two–three according to Pereira, is the fact that “a dedicated malls like the Wedding Souk years ago, as more and more people wedding is possibly the biggest and in Delhi, spread over one acre with gravitated towards the concept of shar- most important party or event you will over 100 shops, and companies like ing experiences and being an active throw in your life. In India especially, GE Money India providing “auspicious” part in what they share. The stories we as a culture, love entertaining! Wed- personal loan, exclusively for weddings. one shares, the experiences one goes dings are definitely getting more elabo- Source: Bollywoodshaadis.com through have acquired newer dimen- rate with more attention paid to details.” sions, and weddings are perhaps the

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most intense such experience for a lot of people. It makes sense, therefore, to capture them as beautiful, shareable stories rather than flat archives.” From a single-woman outfit where she would script, shoot and edit her own videos, today A Little Anarky Films has grown into a 15-member team with a plush space in Hauz Khas Village and a beautiful 2,500 sq ft studio. It has some of the most enviable clients on its list including Harley Davidson, Ford and Discovery Networks. “Parallel to this, Amour was a low- key affair to begin with and we would mostly shoot friends or acquaintances,” says Bhatia. The growth of their off- shoot branch has been such that today they are usually booked around 8–12 months in advance. Candid Eye: The camera captures true emotions even as it spins a fairytale around the celebration. Gone are the days when made all films look a bor- For Mir, the journey that started with general Indians started to see what the ing replica of one another. “Weddings the wedding of a couple, Sapna and trends are like in in our country are usually all about Shawn, that he says pushed them, as the west. Hence, came the awareness the family. Since all families have their well as the trend in the south Asian that wedding pictures don't need to own rich histories, their own dynamics wedding industry, has been great. Mir look the same as they looked a genera- and foibles, each wedding film stands made a concept film for the couple tion ago.” apart from the last,” says Bhatia. And called Main Aur Mrs Verma. Mir also feels that it was essentially to give each film its distinct flavour, Wedding photography has today the revolution of DSLR cameras that Bhatia and crew “try and get acquainted metamorphosed into a highly skilled presented better quality as well as dis- with the people we shoot, get a sense niche profession and occupies around 5 creet approach to capturing wedding of who they are and design our films to per cent of the `1,88,130 crore (US$ 30 films that started the trend. represent their uniqueness.” billion) wedding market, says Anand A common thread running among Canada-based wedding filmmaker Rathi of Knot in Focus, a top-notch these wedding industry players is that Jawad Mir, primarily a filmmaker, wedding filming company. “For bigger most have jumped into the fray as a started a company called Sky Blue weddings the percentage expenditure is matter of choice. Kalra, Bhatia, Mir and Productions in 2001 offering a variety in the range of 7–8 per cent of the total Rathi and his partner Abhinav Sah all of services including corporate films, budget. These are big numbers that are chose to enter the industry at an oppor- music videos, commercials and wed- encouraging for skilled artists to take tune moment. Anand studied engi- ding films. He entered the niche wed- this up as a career option,” adds Rathi. neering and MBA because he knew he ding filming sector in 2006. “I saw the The other reasons for the trend catching could master them but he says, “I stud- opportunity in the wedding industry fire according to him are affordability ied photography, because for the first that was undergoing a slight change of digital photography instruments and (and only) time in my life, I had fallen with young people looking for some- education about “candid” photography. hook line and sinker for something I thing fresh, and thus Film-Style Wed- “Thanks to social media and internet in was never intended for.” For Abhinav, a dings came into being,” he recounts his tale. Wedding photography has Mir started with filming around two dozen weddings a year, but scaled metamorphosed into a highly skilled down the numbers over the years for niche profession and occupies strategic and quality reasons. “Now we film a little over dozen weddings every around 5 per cent of the `1,88,130 year around the world.” crore market..

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Kolkata, Bengaluru, etc. Internationally, we have shot in Thailand, Dubai, NYC, etc.,” Rathi elaborates. Mir, who covers high-end weddings, travels the globe including Nigeria, United Kingdom, France, the US as well as India for wedding filming. He finds capturing the true element of each wedding a “very challenging task. A new location, other than your typical banquet hall, also helps us tell a story differently from a visual standpoint. But if we are in a situation, where there is a typical banquet hall involved, we try to make a film theme. It could be based on an emotional speech by the bride's father or a creative Joota Chuppai Rasm, (shoe hiding of groom’s)” he adds. Director's Cut: Script reflects life story and the director does his bit to make it larger than life. Mir’s company introduced what he calls concept wedding films that are techie, “Photography happened when I just making an entry into India. “They first picked up a camera in 2005 while “For bigger are separate and independent of wed- working for Disney in Bangalore. It weddings the ding films, fictional or non fictional, grew from a thought to a full blown featuring the couple, with their story hobby. And slowly, I started shooting percentage or certain elements of their interests. commissioned work for friends from expenditure is These are used to introduce the couple the industry. “When one fine day a at the reception,” he elaborates. friend asked him to shoot her wedding in the range of For Mir, equipment is a secondary in 2009, it “was the start of my love 7–8 per cent of element in the entire filming process with shooting emotions,” he adds. that involves a lot of planning on the Today, the Knot in Focus team com- the total budget. production side. “We utilise steadicams, prises an office team which includes These are big helicams, black magic cinema cameras editors and website managers and and RED Epic for our wedding films,” shooting crew of photographers, cin- numbers that are he adds. ematographers, production line, assis- encouraging for Talking about the technicalities tants and on-location editors. skilled artists.” involved Bhatia adds, “A wedding film Rathi says they shoot not just “picture typically needs three-four cameras, a perfect but poster perfect” films. To be — Anand Rathi, crew of six-eight people and a lot of exclusive and non-repetitive is a con- Co-Founder, Knot in Focus other equipment like sound recorders, scious exercise for them. “We hone our lights, cranes, tracks and the works. skills every day, ”Rathi adds. To keep Some of our clients even ask us to do up their uniqueness when not shoot- that we get and the story that eventually aerial filming now.” ing weddings, the duo is reading up on comes out,” says Rathi. He adds, “For Bhatia who charges around `1.5–2 newer techniques, brainstorming on a full day of coverage with all the bells lakh per day and takes assignments all shoot ideas with the team and shoot- and whistles (albums, pre wedding over the country says, “We are aiming ing non-wedding stuff, for it provides a shoot, film, trailer, candid pictures, etc.) for international wedding films now.” fresh perspective. our charges are in the range of `3 lakh The larger-than-life Indian wedding Rathi’s wedding films are like Bol- to 6 lakh (US$ 4783.93–9567.85).” spans the globe with non-resident Indi- lywood films with trailer, poster and Knot in Focus works all over India ans making it an occasion to celebrate even customised songs. The execution and at popular international wedding their roots with their families and is also like a film. The films are of vari- locations for Indian weddings. “Within friends. It is certainly a big fat global able length from 20 minutes to two India we have shot extensively in Indian wedding industry with players hours. “It all depends on the content Jodhpur, Udaipur, Jaipur, Goa, Delhi, enjoying the band, baja and baraati.

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