MAM
Kommune’s Spoken Fest to host its fourth edition in Mumbai next month
Mumbai: Kommune’s festival, Spoken Fest, is back in its physical form with its fourth edition in Mumbai on 19, 20 November, 2022 at the Jio Garden, BKC. Spoken Fest, created by Roshan Abbas, will provide its audience with two days of strumming music; multiple stages; slam poetry; an arts forum; readings; musical comedy; masterclasses; and more.
Spoken Fest 2022 positions itself as being the perfect weekend experience if you’re looking for a place to help tap your creativity, explore the works of musicians, poets, and storytellers, and attend a few workshops with the masters of the art. Artists including Rudy Francisco, Kusha Kapila, Srishti Dixit, Kalki Koechlin, Kubbra Sait, Mithila Palkar, Faye D’Souza, Varun Grover, Radhika Apte, Imtiaz Ali, Jim Sarbh, Kabir Khan, Aamir Aziz, The Local Train Rock band, Megha Rao, Zakir Khan, Bhuvan Bam, and many more have been a part of Spoken Fest in the past. The year 2022, it added, promises to be bigger with more than 65+ performances, including art, music, poetry, food, and everything else that you may expect out of a well-curated festival, over two days. From gen-z to millennials, from grandparents and parents to children and teenagers, Spoken Fest attracts everyone! The fest will also comprise art zones, a curated bazaar, and experiential brand interactions.
Kommune co-founder Roshan Abbas said, “Spoken Fest is back with its physical format after a year. What makes Spoken Fest unique is that it is the only festival that asks you to tune in, not tune out. We’ve seen our audience emotionally and intellectually engage with the performances. Brands that target millennials and young adults today through experiences have worked with Kommune’s Spoken Fest in the past and enjoyed the power of building communities and content via the festival. Our quality of experience and content is unique and well curated. And all at a price point that is very affordable.”
A platform for budding and established poets and artists, Spoken Fest 2022 aims to be a cultural melee of music, dance, drama, words and linguistically inclusive performances in languages as varied as Urdu, Hindi, Marathi, and English. A confluence of people, personalities, and passions, the fest positions itself as being a safe space for cultures, embraces and even encourages diversity, and aims to inspire.
MAM
VML India lands two finalist spots at Cairns Hatchlings 2026
The Mumbai agency is back in Australia with two teams, a UN brief and 24 hours to impress
MUMBAI: VML India is heading to Australia again. The Mumbai-based creative agency has secured two finalist spots at the Cairns Hatchlings 2026 competition, one in the Audio category and one in Design, making it the only Indian agency to have reached the finals in both editions of the contest since its launch in 2025.
Four people will make the trip. Senior copywriter Shilpi Dey and senior art director Raj Thakkar will compete in Audio. Art directors Shabbir and Shruti Negi will go head-to-head with the world’s best in Design. The finals take place at the Cairns Convention Centre from 13th May, culminating in an awards ceremony on 15th May.
The work that got them there is worth examining. For the Audio category, Dey and Thakkar tackled a brief for LIVE LIKE MMAD with a campaign called Inner Voice, Interrupted. Using spatial audio techniques, the campaign recreates the overwhelming self-doubt that descends after a long workday, physically panning negative thoughts left and right before cutting the noise entirely to reveal a confident inner voice. Strategically targeted at commuters via Spotify during evening rush hours, the campaign reframes the hours after work as an opportunity for personal growth and charitable action.
For the Design category, Shabbir and Negi worked on a brief for Canteen’s Bandanna Day, a campaign highlighting how cancer pushes teenagers out of their own defining moments. Using a pixelated design language to create stark contrast between a blurred world of isolation and a focused world of connection, the campaign, titled The Flipside of Cancer, shows teenagers fading into the background of birthdays, skateparks and school proms. As a Canteen bandanna appears, the blur flips and the teenager snaps back into sharp focus.
Kalpesh Patankar, group chief creative officer of VML India, made no attempt to disguise his satisfaction. “We are immensely proud to see our teams consistently excel on the Cairns Hatchlings platform since its inception,” he said. “They have masterfully tackled challenging briefs across diverse categories, demonstrating both layered storytelling and a unique creative approach. This exceptional teamwork is truly inspiring.”
Dey and Thakkar, returning to the finals after last year’s run, were candid about the demands of the audio medium. “It’s one of the most demanding mediums, where we only have a few seconds to capture a listener’s world with sound alone, so absolute clarity is essential,” they said. “The true measure of creative work is its ability to create positive change, and our audio submission was made to help those who need it most while encouraging people to silence the inner voices that hold them back.”
Shabbir and Negi, competing in Design for the first time, described the experience as “a completely different beast.” “We see it as an opportunity to showcase our expertise, raise the bar, and challenge ourselves in new ways, while also learning from creative minds from across the globe,” they said.
In Australia, the four finalists will face a live 24-hour brief from the United Nations before presenting in a live pitch session. Twenty-four hours, one brief, one shot. VML India has been here before. It knows exactly what is at stake.
