Viraf's wizardry Kavasji Kanga.

The world’s longest dance party which created a Guinness record and was webcast non-stop for 55 hours was organized by Wizcraft International Entertainment Private Limited. The opening and closing ceremonies for the Afro-Asian Games in Hyderabad in end 2003 were also managed and executed by Wizcraft. There are several other national events managed and executed by Wizcraft such as Vijay — celebrating the victory of Kargil War, release of the Raj Kapoor stamp, visit of Japanese Prime Minister Yoshino Mori to India, etc. No one "conducts events on the wide canvas as Wizcraft does,” asserts Viraf Sarkari, founder director of Wizcraft.

Sarkari is closely involved in produc­ing and directing mega extravaganzas and concerts in India. Wizcraft endeavors to take care of minute details right from selecting the right venue, being clear of the clients’ objectives, profiling the event, having the right target audience, production, sound, lights, video, sets and decor, licences, taking care of entertainment acts and artistes, and providing post-event reports to clients. Wizcraft "is the only company which has invested in high-end infrastructure to provide state-of-the-art sound, lighting and lasers, video, decor and webcasting facilities at par with the best in the world...” conveys Sarkari.

Wizcraft’s first "big gig” was Conga, the All-India Music Contest. Pop and rock bands from all over India had participated. Thereafter, there was no looking back. Wizcraft started brand building in India, successfully managing large-scale government events and projects. Some of them are celebrations of India’s 50 years of Independence at Rajpath, New Delhi. It was a multi-stage entertainment extravaganza, witnessed by a live audience of 5,00,000 with India’s living presidents and prime ministers in attendence. The event was telecast live on Doordarshan. Another event was India’s 2000 Millennium celebrations at Chowpatty beach, Bombay. There were over a thousand performing artistes and 400 events. The seven-hour-long live show was telecast across 125 countries and had a ground audience of 3,00,000 people.

When Wizcraft was incorporated in 1988 with Sarkari as one of the founder-directors, the event management industry was an unorganized structure. Small party organizers were the order of the day.

He and his team realized that Wizcraft had the first mover advantage — "to be the first to move into corporate event management as a service.” Sarkari has since then been instrumental in shifting focus. The company has made significant contributions towards event management attaining industry status. Explains Sarkari: "With the entry of Wizcraft event management has acquired new dimensions, being honed to meet varied client and audience specifications and requirements. Our aim has been to create a medium which is flexible, offering multiple options — targeting a specific consumer group, offering the opportunity for mass exposure across multiple media channels. We believe that events and entertainment are powerful communication tools — adaptable, flexible, dynamic.”

With international liaison offices in the UK and UAE and associates across the world, Wizcraft boasts of a team of over 150 highly talented and dedicated personnel. Some of the international events managed and executed by Wiz­craft are 30 years of Mauritian Independence. Wizcraft was invited and appointed by the Government of Mauritius to manage and execute the celebrations at Port Louis, which were nothing short of a cultural extravaganza complemented by world-class production technology. Son-et-lumiere, lasers and pyrotechnic were synchronized to a dramatic music track. The ground audience comprised 5,00,000 people and the event was covered live on Mauritius Broadcasting Corporation. Another international event conceptualized, managed, executed, shot and packaged for Sony Entertainment Television by Wizcraft was Showman of the Millennium — A Tribute to Raj Kapoor at Wembley Arena, London, UK. The three-hour event dedicated to the late thespian featured Bollywood personalities of the likes of Shah Rukh Khan, Juhi Chawla, Twinkle Khanna, Mahima Chaudhary, etc. The organization of the International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) Awards, too, has been Wizcraft’s baby since the year 2000. In 2003 the company managed and executed the IIFA Awards at the Dome at Northgate, Johannesburg, South Africa, with the world premiere of the film Armaan. Wizcraft also managed to introduce the IIFA Charity Celebrity Cricket Match in aid of members of the Indian film industry who have lost their earning members.

Sarkari has worked with most of the stars: "Amitabh Bachchan is the best and the most professional. Also, I remember meeting Michael Jackson for the first time in Los Angeles at his rehearsal venue, an air force hangar. We presented him with an Indian outfit and statuettes of Lord Ganesha and Natraj. He was so excited and thrilled!”

Wizcraft also has premium corporate clients such as Reliance Industries, Microsoft, Samsung, Coca Cola, Standard Chartered Bank, ICICI, Ernst and Young, Nestlé, etc. Some of the prominent corporate events managed by Wizcraft include launches of Microsoft Office 2000 India (in multiple cities), Benson and Hedges, India, Bacardi India, BPL Mobile, MTV India, etc. Its television clients include Sony Entertainment Television, Star Television Network, Zee Television Network, Channel [V], Discovery Channel, National Geographic, etc. In the live television events segment, the company had organized the Michael Jackson concert in India, the first television concerts of Lata Mangeshkar and Asha Bhosle, Filmfare Awards, UB40 concert, Lou Bega concert, Sprite Diana King India tour, etc. Sarkari executes all events as per the client’s budgeting and charges "approximately 20 percent on the actual costs.”

Sarkari in New York with Anosh, Sabreena and Sona

With such impressive records, it’s not at all surprising that Wizcraft won the Gold Abby and the Silver Abby in the category of event management for the India 2000 Millennium Celebrations and the Microsoft Office 2000 — India Launch respectively at the 33rd All-India Awards hosted by the Advertising Club Bombay. India 2000 Millennium Celebrations was also awarded the trophy for "The Most Outstanding Millennium Celebrations” by the I Love Mum­bai Committee.

Things have changed considerably in the event management industry. Comments Sarkari: "In the span of a decade, the event management industry (in India) has grown from a minuscule Rs 20 million per annum to a healthy one-and-a-half billion! On an annualized basis, the industry has returned an average 100 percent growth during each of the last five years. Going forward, growth is expected to stabilize at around 50 percent, to reach Rs 11 billion by 2005, the live entertainment segment maintaining a significant increase at 30 percent per annum. While currently, the event management industry numbers work out to just two percent of the national Rs 76 billion advertising expenditure, five-year projections indicate a healthy rise to seven percent tending towards global ratios.”

Sarkari’s foray in the entertainment sector started at Hotel Airport Plaza which he joined as management trainee after completing his studies from the Institute of Hotel Management, Bombay. He was given the night shift in the Plaza’s night club, Take Off. He soon became the night manager of the Hotel and got friendly with Andre Timmins and Lenny Martin, disc jockeys at the Plaza and Take Off, respectively.

Sarkari reminisces: "At the Plaza we thought of starting our own night club in Bombay. It was a dream. With no money in our pockets, Andre, Lenny and I explored the possibility with numerous hotels. One of them clicked — Hotel Horizon, where we somehow managed to put up the first privately owned night club, Xana­du.” The night club’s super success rocked Bombay. Sabbas Joseph, a freelance journalist working for The Daily and the Afternoon Despatch and Courier interviewed Sarkari, Timmins and Martin on the opening of the club. As part of Xanadu’s promotions, Sarkari and his team, which now included Joseph, planned an all-India dance championship. It was at that time that they came up with the idea of starting an event organizing company. The team members believed in themselves and did not renew their contract with Hotel Horizon. "We believed in being the wizzes of the craft (meaning events) and that’s how we came up with the name, Wizcraft,” laughs Sarkari.

Sarkari knows that honesty, hard work and prayers always yield positive results. He is frank and straightforward, simple and real. These basic values taught by his parents have a bearing in his career today. Sarkari was born on August 13, 1963 to Keki and Coomi Sarkari. Keki retired from Godrej after working for nearly 35 years and Coomi is a housewife. An alumnus of the Sir Cowasjee Jehangir High School, Sarkari says he was never an exceptionally brilliant student, in fact quite average in his studies. His hobbies are traveling, music (he loves Deejaying at Bombay’s night clubs), biking (he has a "rocking motorcycle, a Yamaha, 1,300 cc x 4 cylinders cruiser”) and, most of all, partying. But having late mornings and late nights everyday has taken its toll. Sarkari is not able to spend much time with his "most understanding and supportive” wife Sona, a Punjabi-Sikh, whom he met and fell in love with since the Xanadu days, and "adorable” children Sabreena (13) and Anosh (11). Laments Sarkari: "That is the biggest problem of my life! My day begins with a feeling that I want to sleep more, but have to get out of bed, and ends with partying somewhere or at home watching television or a movie with my family.” Sabreena and Anosh are students of Utpal Sanghvi School, Juhu, in standards VIII and VI, respectively.

Strongly believing in good thoughts, good words and good deeds, he finds religion and politics two "very dangerous” topics to comment on. Nevertheless, he carries on: "We are a dying community and inter-caste marriages should be encouraged. I’m married to a non-Parsi girl myself and my kids are following Zoroastrianism. We’ve also had their navjotes performed. I also invite priests for jashans at my house. In fact my wife insists that I take the kids to the agiary. She also takes all the initiative for having jashans at our house, etc. I was taken aback when I read all the news stories on all these issues, and was very, very upset and disgusted with our high priests’ high-handedness and (their) comments. I personally feel that such crazy rules are not made by the Almighty, but by people who want to garner publicity and power. I also feel that, God forbid, if I pass away, I’d like my wife to definitely be there at my last rituals. If this cannot be done, I’ll want to be cremated. Anyways, before that, I intend to donate all my organs.”

"I believe in the power of dreams,” says Sarkari. His dreams and enthusiasm to try out new things have transformed him from a quiet, simple, average student to a confident, positive thinker, meticulous planner, creatively crazy and a big party animal with a love for socializing. He visualizes the future of Wizcraft as truly global: "Apart from focusing on creating events that serve a purpose for the client, the channel, the viewer and the country, Wizcraft has already commenced developing television software from events with branded properties like IIFA Awards, Super Model India, etc and is in the process of developing more brands. Wizcraft’s foray into television also includes developing mainstream television software like serials, game shows, chat shows, etc. The company commenced this exercise with Razzmatazz, a dance show and XYZ, a detective thriller both telecast on Zee Television Network.

"Wizcraft’s future plans also include establishing high end event infrastructure within the country which is at par with world standards, and the development and promotion of new talent both nationally and internationally,” declares Sarkari adding, "The focus is to develop the front end of entertainment, media and communication, integrating resources both horizontally and vertically.”