Mumbai's creative community comes together to help fuel your entrepreneurship dream

The AIB Collective

This weekend, Bandra's Bal Gandharva Rang Mandir, a performing arts venue with plush interiors and great acoustics, readies to witness a different kind of festival - one where biggies from the world of films, start-ups, publishing, stand-up comedy and music come together to fuel the next wave of creative ventures in India. Titled The Coalition, the two-day fest debuts in Mumbai after a three-year run in Delhi.

Vijay Nair, CEO at Only Much Louder (OML), the organiser of the fest, says, "The festival was born out of sheer frustration of attending entrepreneurship conferences where the creative industry had almost no presence. Of course, that stemmed from the larger issue that the creative sector is not even recognised as an industry by policy makers."

Gul Panag

Packed with presentations and panel discussions, the fest features over 30 speakers, including music directors Amit Trivedi and Vishal Dadlani, actor-entrepreneur Gul Panag, filmmakers Anand Gandhi and Alankrita Shrivastava (director, Lipstick Under My Burkha), producer Guneet Monga, TV-theatre personality Roshan Abbas, members of the AIB collective as well as founders of start-ups related to crowdfunding, online recharge and publishing. The sessions will highlight topics related to the business of creativity.

Amit Trivedi

"We're also conducting a panel discussion called Family Matters with (comedian) Zakir Khan, Mallika Dua and Harsha Bhogle that will look at their experiences and their parents/ kids who have also been successful doing similar things," adds Nair. These will be interspersed with live performances, which include storytelling, stand-up comedy and a gig by singer-songwriter Ankur Tewari.