Prosenjit: first to sign up

Laxmi Ratan Shukla and Wriddhiman Saha have become household names in Bengal, thanks to their status as Shah Rukh’s Knights. Now, professional help is at hand to nurse these fledgling brands.

Grandiose, Calcutta’s first celebrity management company, has the sports world in mind, but has begun business with the more chaotic Tollywood, where most actors act as their own PAs.

“We found Tollywood to be an extremely unorganised industry during our market research. Most celebrities don’t have a proper portfolio or a website. Our purpose is to give them value-added services. We will help them build an image and create the aura of a star,” says Gautam Jain, who formed Grandiose a month ago along with Rajiv Mehra and Sharmila Sengupta. Jain has 15 years of event management behind him, Mehra is a TV producer and Sengupta is a marketing professional.

To begin with, Grandiose will oversee the endorsements, shows and promotional events of its clients, apart from keeping an eye on their investments and income tax returns. Later, the team will groom celebs and counsel them on what projects to pick. With big investors like Adlabs and Reliance entering the Bengali film industry, Grandiose’s first premium client Prosenjit feels it’s time for Tollywood to shrug off its sloppiness.

“Our actors still don’t have personal secretaries. There’s a need for someone to mediate with the public on their behalf. I am a busy actor and it is not possible for me to look after everything. I want Grandiose to manage my endorsements, shows, film promotions and the media,” says Prosenjit, having gone through the grind for 25 years.

After testing the showbiz waters, the Jodhpur Park-based company plans to sign up cricketers, singers and authors. The inspiration is Bollywood, for which the inspiration was Hollywood. “Craving Dreams handles Hrithik Roshan while Mahesh Bhupathi’s Globosport looks after Saif Ali Khan and Sania Mirza. So why can’t we have one in Calcutta?” says Jain.