Portfolio Night India names two emerging creative talent winners

MUMBAI: In advertising, a good portfolio can do more than turn heads, it can turn a creative dream into a career. The fifth edition of Portfolio Night in India has put two emerging talents in the spotlight, with Aadya Adukia winning the Mumbai in-person edition and Aaradhya Gandhre taking the honours in the pan-India virtual edition.

Organised by The One Club for Creativity in partnership with Omnicom Advertising India, the event brought aspiring creatives face-to-face with some of the industry’s senior leaders for portfolio reviews and candid, one-on-one feedback.

The two winners will now progress to Portfolio Night All-Stars, a week-long virtual programme where winners from different markets will work in teams on a creative brief for a major global brand. The team that wins the final challenge will travel to New York for a week of events and networking hosted by The One Club.

Five editions into its Indian run, Portfolio Night has become a platform for emerging talent to put its ideas to the test before the people shaping the country’s creative industry. Beyond the competition, the format gives young professionals a chance to hear what works, what needs work and how their ideas might fare beyond the portfolio page.

The value of the exchange was not lost on the industry leaders reviewing the work. Josy Paul, chairman and group chief creative officer of BBDO Group India, said the portfolios stood out for being brave and personal, adding that a lasting creative career depended on a love for ideas, craft and collaboration.

Rahul Mathew, chief creative officer of McCann India, said the mentoring ran both ways. While experienced leaders came to offer feedback, he noted that young creatives’ willingness to explore what had not yet been ruled impossible gave veterans a fresh perspective.

Russell Barrett, chief creative experience officer at TBWA\Lintas, described Portfolio Night as an opportunity for emerging creatives to have honest conversations with industry leaders, without gatekeeping or shortcuts. He added that several portfolios this year were exceptional and inspiring.

The review panel brought together leaders from advertising, design, consulting and digital creativity. Participants had the opportunity to meet Abhijit Avasthi of Sideways Consulting; Adarsh Atal of Tilt Brand Solutions; Anupama Ramaswamy of Havas India; Anusheela Saha of McCann India; Ashish Chakravarty of Garage Worldwide; Chandni Samaria of Saatchi & Saatchi India; Hemant Shringy of Wondrlab India; and Hetal Ajmera of Sharpener Design Studio.

The panel also included Josy Paul, Kainaz Karmakar of Ogilvy, Kapil Batra of TBWA\Lintas, Krishna Mani of BBDO Group India, Mayuresh Dubhashi of Saatchi & Saatchi India, Neville Shah of Kinnect, Nitin Pradhan of Leo India, Parikshit Bhattaccharya of BBH India and Propagate India, Pooja Manek of Talented, Pragati Rana of TGTHR and Pravin V. Sutar of Leo India.

Other participating leaders were Radhika Dhuru of Open Strategy & Design, Rahul Mathew of McCann India, Rohit Dubey of Ogilvy, Russell Barrett of TBWA\Lintas, Sandipan Bhattacharyya of Monks India, Sachin Kamble of Leo India, Sarvesh Raikar of TBWA\Lintas, Shyam Nair of 22feet, Sindhu Sharma of Enormous Brands, Sonal Chhajerh of Leo India, Souvik Datta of BBDO Group India, Shriram Iyer of ZeroFifty Mediaworks, Vasudha Misra of TBWA\Lintas and Vishnu Srivatsav of 22feet. Several panellists participated virtually.

For Adukia and Gandhre, the next brief will be a global one. Their portfolios have opened the door to a wider creative arena, where the challenge will be to turn individual ideas into work that can hold its own in a team.