It’s always a blessing to identify your interests and the career path you are more inclined to follow. Such is the case of Rahul Kamboj, an alumnus of FLAME. When you know what you want from the very beginning, the road ahead becomes easier to plan with the right steps. Rahul always gravitated towards live events, sports, broadcast shows and films and he found himself working towards the same. He started by specializing in advertising as a bachelor’s degree. From thereon, he pursued his master’s degree with FLAME, majoring in Film and Television Management.
While everything was learnt on paper and during classroom lectures at FLAME, Rahul admits that practical experience tips the scales. Theory shows you the rules of the industry and formulas that worked in the past and probably still does, but challenging the ecosystem was a necessary trait to self-develop. You can't learn and supposedly adopt better ways to manage the media industry unless you start from scratch. Rahul was part of the first batch at FLAME. So, the challenges he faced further refined him, including real-time conversations and practical experience with the industry pandits.
Over the next decade & a half, Rahul gained some immeasurable experience and continues to learn as he worked with prestigious organizations and highly influential people. His reputation soon preceded him as he curated and executed projects that were big-ticket in nature.
That said, he dealt with industry stalwarts both on and off camera, which was an art of learning in terms of gaining experience. This experience was critical in firming up the base that he had already built up via his working experience.
Rahul worked as an Associate Creative Director at Cineyug, where he designed the creative content of the show, supervised choreography, designed the flow of the show, took part in script narrations and more.
He was part of the core team in executing several events, including Colors Screen Awards, Golden Petal Awards, India’s 1st People’s Choice Awards, Jhalak Dikhlaja Opening Ceremony and other live TV events, etc.
Rahul journeyed from one milestone to another, from being the Creative Director at Bling Entertainment curating The Bose & Broacha Show, Heroes for our Children - Dia Mirza, India at 6, Sand Stroke and more.
Rahul was extensively involved with Zee Network as the Executive Producer/Manager-Programming for Non-Fiction. His role eventually channeled towards him taking charge as the Head of Creative Production and Marketing.
He became the Executive Producer and Manager for countless shows and events like Dance India Dance (DID) Season 2 Grand Finale, SAREGAMAPA Lil Champs and many more.
Rahul’s biggest change was the transition from the genre of nonfiction, creating iconic dance shows on Indian television for more than a decade. From here, to head the Creative Production and Marketing for a Sports Business was an entirely different ball game altogether. In this industry, Rahul handled an additional folio of Marketing for sports like Wrestling and Football while onboarding Volleyball, Handball and Regional Kabaddi in the pre-pandemic era for the network to own the IP & run with it. Therefore, additional hats were worn.
Whilst talking about his achievements in the years gone by, Rahul candidly confesses to having several feathers in his hat. "Having worked on India’s first best dancing show ever in Dance India Dance, revamping the iconic Saregamapa show after 14 years, curating & executing mega-scale live events of the likes of Filmfare Awards, to having worked with the industry A-listers, it’s been an exhilarating experience."
Rahul was honored to be given a chance to manage the Mumbai Kabaddi Team for the Star Sports Pro Kabaddi League and progress to becoming Champions in the 2nd Season. He further adds, "Having produced two successful long format content pieces in the form of a mainstream Bollywood Film & a Netflix Series have definitely been a few of the many highlights of my career."
Rahul believes that keeping oneself abreast of the current and trending developments in the industry can help create an adaptive mindset. A lot more, apart from TV, has taken center-stage for people to view engaging or entertaining content. Because the DNA of the industry is dynamic, so should one’s approach be, if you choose advertising as a career path.
That said, Rahul advises the three strong Ps when entering the media industry as a professional – Perseverance, Persistence and Patience. These traits, combined with a degree, practical knowledge and experience, can make you inevitably unbeatable in your career, competition-wise.
As we wish Rahul continued success in his endeavors, he leaves an important message for aspiring media entertainment and advertising professionals in the form of steps.
- Step 1: Determine where you want to work in the media industry. One can easily steer away from what s/he wishes to achieve vs what s/he ends up getting into
- Step 2: Is to hone the skills required to get there
- Step 3: Choose the path that will take you there
- Step 4: Having a fantastic mentor who can guide you to where you belong
- Step 5: Maintain a self-check at all times, assessing and developing your skills on a daily basis