Spirit W | Managing unforeseen challenges: Ferriswheel's Shubhra Bhardwaj
A pioneer in the field of arts, Shubhra Bhardwaj is an entrepreneur, poet and artistic Director and Founder of Ferriswheel Entertainment Pvt. Ltd. Her in-depth understanding and experience of the diverse international and domestic performing arts markets and entertainment industries has established Ferriswheel as a dynamic, dependable and competent brand in a brief span of time. She has a comprehensive and impressive body of work that lists creative services in more than fifty countries ranging from mid-sized festivals to large scale public events which is her forte.
She has been at the helm of numerous stage productions and festivals such as Ticket To Bollywood, Mood Indigo Worldfest and Glimpses Of India. She also actively endorses global cultural exchange programs for children and youth through Ferriswheel’s ensemble of amateur dancers who have participated in numerous festivals globally. She is a published poet, has produced several music albums and received the Women's Achiever Award for her contribution to Literature 2010.
The nature of her father’s work and his influence was instrumental in developing her interest in poetry, culture and adventure. Throughout her formative years she was actively involved in several student exchange programmes all over the world and has also pursued a short course in Textile Printing and Dyeing from NIFT.
In an exclusive interaction with Adgully, Shubhra Bhardwaj, Founder and artistic Director of Ferriswheel Entertainment shared about her career, her professional endeavours and the positive trends shaping up in the entertainment industry today.
Shubhra Bhardwaj began her career as the co-founder and artistic director of Rangpuhar, a creative enterprise specializing mainly in showcasing the rich classical and folkdance heritage of India, and their promotion at various national and international festivals, events and productions.
She is committed to creating value-based revenue models which have end to end benefit from client to performer. She strongly believes in the marriage of art and cutting edge technology to power the aesthetic and creative aspects of show business.
With her illustrious experience spanning over two decades she shared with us the three things about this space that made her choose this as her profession. “It has been an exciting journey all along. Every day is a new day with unforeseen challenges and exciting work. It is an apt opportunity for me to expand my creative energies, get to widen my horizon by travelling across the globe and knowledge enrichment which comes from interacting with people from various walks of life,” said Bhardwaj.
Speaking about the inception of Ferriswheel Entertainment Pvt. Ltd. and its journey till date she explained that is a specialized agency that designs and executes large-scale public events using unique creative and technological innovation. It is a one-stop destination for turnkey projects, entertainment solutions and content for event companies, production houses, television channels, amusement parks and all entertainment related agencies.
Most event management agencies in the market thrive on their coordination and vendor database. “Ferriswheel in its essence, is a content- driven agency that not only has a great team that puts an event together flawlessly, it also has a strong content and artist base. We have a massive databank of performers. Owing to this, we are able to create original content and creative ideas that drive the company and the shows it executes. The company’s extensive exposure to the international market also aids us to make use of the latest state of the art technology for our events,” says Bhardwaj.
“It's been a fabulous journey with a team of intelligent, talented and hardworking team. Ferriswheel was the result of a few years of wanting to create a cutting edge, niche and extremely professional agency,” she added.
They operate on a few principles which dictate everything that they do. The agency believes in quality, client satisfaction, respect for an individual, his growth and freedom which is practiced across board from artists to client. She proudly declares, “Honesty and Integrity are a given in the company which has enabled us to be better time and again.”
Her key strengths have been her leadership qualities. In this regard she avers, “I like to lead from the front rather than be a boss at the top hidden somewhere and this is applicable to very extreme situations too. Also conflict resolving strategy and sound people judgment has held me well in bringing Ferriswheel to its existing status.”
The ‘4th World Cup Kabaddi Punjab’ is the latest feather in their cap. Ferriswheel won the open national tender for this event. They successfully delivered two 90 minutes live stadium events. Both the opening & the closing ceremony of this tournament were completely designed & produced by Ferriswheel.
They have also hosted a crowd of over forty thousand people in Bathinda while the numbers went up to 45,000 in Ludhiana at the closing ceremony. Special care was taken to keep the audience engaged. The pre-show included two popular comedians per event performing & interacting with the crowd for about an hour. Audience props like ribbons and handkerchief’s were handed over to people as well so as to ensure direct participation. Add to this a mass cast of about a thousand for the opening while the same escalated to a huge one thousand two hundred for the closing.
The technical aspect of the show needs a special mention here. From projection to lazer to LED stage floor to massive niagaras and cold pyro, all that is the best and the latest was used here. While both the shows were lit brilliantly, they made sure that each event had a completely different look avoiding overlaps of any kind. The added attractions of the events were the specially constructed large sized props such as projection ball, balloon box & LED dhols to name a few. Both the shows were instant hits with the people and the state and received a huge amount of positive press and appreciation.
Shubhra Bharadwaj has managed several large events such as the Commonwealth Games at Delhi in 2010, the First South Asian Winter Games at Dehradun, Auli in 2011 and the Kerala Handover Ceremony at the National Games Ranchi 2011.
Some of the IP’s that have done well under their banner include their international performing arts festival. “We have had two editions of this phenomenal festival and it has been received very well by the audience and has been supported by the government in its growth too,” she said. The other major IP that stands out in the market is Ticket to Bollywood - dance musical which has travelled the length and breadth of the planet to superb reviews and packed houses and has just been sold to Europe for 5 years informed Bhardwaj.
Sharing her views on the future of IP’s she says, “The future of the industry is in its IP’s. The entertainment market is getting structured, organized and mature. There is a tremendous amount of growth in niche festivals and unusual entertainment offerings in the market. As the audience mature, so does the market and it’s a simple equation of demand meets supply.”
According to her there is huge positive trend being witnessed in the industry in India. The entertainment industry itself is getting extremely growth oriented and gearing itself to a new structure. There are new revenue models emerging and more job opportunities are being created.
Ferriswheel’s strength lies in its comprehensive experience in the production and execution of the various aspects of live stadium events and games including baton relays, city celebrations, mass cast and holding area management, ground formations, entertainment content, media desk and media coverage for archiving and telecast. They have successfully produced eight games and become a dynamic and reliable brand in a short span of time.
When asked in terms of competition, how Ferriswheel stands ahead of the curve she replied, “We are indeed doing really well and our growth graph is the proof. I am a creative person who is also an entrepreneur. We are not just another agency which has to go scouting for content. We create our own content and own a lot of content. So essentially being content driven and being creative keeps the agency ahead as we are not looking at the components as segregated spaces but as a composite whole.”
During the course of her career some women leaders who have been a source of inspiration for Bhardwaj are Indira Nooyi of Pepsico, Shikha Sharma of Axis bank, and Indian banker and business executive, Naina Lal Kidwai, from whom she believes, there are few lessons worth learning.
Sharing her frank opinion on the belief that men have an edge over women in the space that she is presently in she says, “Gender difference is something I don't understand. The best man or women wins. In today’s world most of our clients need good delivery, it does not really matter if a man or a woman is at the helm. What matters is how well the events have been delivered.”
Shubhra Bhardwaj is confident that Ferriswheel Entertainment will soon be amongst the top agencies in the country, picking up a bigger chunk of the market share. On this note she concluded, “We are already very strong in certain segments like large scale sport ceremonies. Having done eight games and picking up tender after tender has ensured client and market faith in team Ferriswheel to deliver large scale public events to perfection.”
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