MAM
Fali Vakeel is Lowe Lintas India vice chairman
MUMBAI: Lowe Lintas India has elevated its chief operating officer, Fali Vakeel, to vice chairman.
Vakeel will continue to be based in Mumbai and his new role comes into effect immediately.
Lowe Lintas CEO Joseph George said, “Fali was an obvious and easy choice. His personality, experience and fierce bias for the agency‘s well being will now play an even more pivotal role in helping us chart the future of this agency.”
Prior to joining Lowe Lintas, Vakeel worked in London at JWT and McCann for over eight years and has now been with the organisation for over two decades. He has worked out of the agency‘s Mumbai as well as Bangalore offices.
Chairman and chief creative officer R Balakrishnan (Balki) adds, “Fali introduced me to Lowe Lintas and he is one of the prime reasons why I am here. At Lowe Lintas, the combination of wisdom, irreverence and commitment means Fali.”
Brands
Aman Gupta launches new venture OffBeat Studios
Boat co-founder steps into fresh entrepreneurial chapter after shifting to non-executive role.
MUMBAI: Aman Gupta just flipped the beat because when you’ve already made waves with Boat, the next move is to start a whole new rhythm.
boAt co-founder Aman Gupta has unveiled his new entrepreneurial venture, OffBeat Studios, marking his first independent project since stepping away from day-to-day operations at the audio and wearables brand. In a post on X on 3 March 2026, Gupta wrote: “With every birthday, some grow older, I grow bolder. I am still hungry, still impatient and still driven. Aman 2.0 begins soon. Introducing my new venture. @Offbeatstudios1.”
Details about OffBeat Studios remain scarce. Gupta has shared only a stylised “OFF/BEAT” logo and no specifics on the business model, sector focus, funding, team or launch timeline. It is unclear whether the venture will operate independently or hold any strategic link to Boat.
Gupta played a pivotal role in building boAt’s brand and marketing identity since its inception and gained wider visibility as a judge on Shark Tank India. His shift to a non-executive board position followed a leadership transition at Boat last year, Gaurav Nayyar was appointed CEO, while co-founder Sameer Mehta took on the role of executive director focused on strategy, reflecting a move toward professionalised management.
The announcement arrives as Boat’s parent company, Imagine Marketing, gears up for its initial public offering. The Warburg Pincus-backed firm received SEBI approval after confidentially filing in April 2025 and is reportedly targeting a valuation of around Rs 13,000 crore. This marks Boat’s second IPO attempt, the first, filed in January 2022 for Rs 2,000 crore (Rs 900 crore fresh issue + Rs 1,100 crore offer for sale), was withdrawn amid market volatility.
Boat has not commented on whether Gupta’s new venture will impact the upcoming public issue. For a founder who helped turn Boat into a youth-favourite audio brand, OffBeat Studios signals not a slowdown, but a bold new track proving that when one rhythm fades, another is already waiting to drop.
