Artist curation

Every artist we have curated.

GIFLIF has curated over 100 artists pan-India — musicians and bands, writers and poets, and voices from film and theatre — for corporates, schools, colleges, institutions and its own two festivals. The roster below is who has actually been on those stages.

If you are a company, a campus or an institution trying to work out who should play, who should speak, and in what order — this page is the answer to that question, and the evidence behind it.

64 artists

Lucky Ali

Lucky Ali

Music
Bloodywood

Bloodywood

Music
Indian Ocean

Indian Ocean

Music
Thaikkudam Bridge

Thaikkudam Bridge

Music
Parvaaz

Parvaaz

Music
Rabbi Shergill

Rabbi Shergill

Music
Kabir Cafe

Kabir Cafe

Music
Raghu Dixit

Raghu Dixit

Music
Alif

Alif

Music
Ballimaaraan

Ballimaaraan

Music
Agnee

Agnee

Music
Swarathma

Swarathma

Music
Bombay Bandook

Bombay Bandook

Music
Anand Bhaskar Collective

Anand Bhaskar Collective

Music
The Western Ghats

The Western Ghats

Music
Fiddle Craft

Fiddle Craft

Music
Kavish Seth

Kavish Seth

Music
Britto KC

Britto KC

Music
Chaar Hazaari

Chaar Hazaari

Music

Sutej Singh

Music

Mohit Chauhan

Music
Kanishk Seth

Kanishk Seth

Music
Blind Sherpa

Blind Sherpa

Music
Narang Ensemble

Narang Ensemble

Music
Nitesh Rajesh

Nitesh Rajesh

Music
Ruskin Bond

Ruskin Bond

Literature
Javed Akhtar

Javed Akhtar

Literature
Gulzar

Gulzar

Literature
Rahat Indori

Rahat Indori

Literature
Waseem Barelvi

Waseem Barelvi

Literature
Gopaldas Neeraj

Gopaldas Neeraj

Literature
Devdutt Pattanaik

Devdutt Pattanaik

Literature
Kiran Nagarkar

Kiran Nagarkar

Literature
Divya Prakash Dubey

Divya Prakash Dubey

Literature
Laxmi Narayan Tripathi

Laxmi Narayan Tripathi

Literature
Gaurav Solanki

Gaurav Solanki

Literature
Ashok Chakradhar

Ashok Chakradhar

Literature

Ravindra Singh

Literature
Adoor Gopalakrishnan

Adoor Gopalakrishnan

Film & theatre
Rajat Kapoor

Rajat Kapoor

Film & theatre
Hansal Mehta

Hansal Mehta

Film & theatre
Taapsee Pannu

Taapsee Pannu

Film & theatre
Piyush Mishra

Piyush Mishra

Film & theatre
Vinay Pathak

Vinay Pathak

Film & theatre
Saurabh Shukla

Saurabh Shukla

Film & theatre
Sumantra Ghosal

Sumantra Ghosal

Film & theatre
Shabana Azmi

Shabana Azmi

Film & theatre
Prakash Jha

Prakash Jha

Film & theatre
Sudhir Mishra

Sudhir Mishra

Film & theatre
Subhash Ghai

Subhash Ghai

Film & theatre
Vivek Agnihotri

Vivek Agnihotri

Film & theatre
Jayprad Desai

Jayprad Desai

Film & theatre
Vineet Kumar Singh

Vineet Kumar Singh

Film & theatre
Saurabh Dwivedi

Saurabh Dwivedi

Film & theatre
Samar Mehdi

Samar Mehdi

Film & theatre
Sarah Mehdi

Sarah Mehdi

Film & theatre
Anubhav Sinha

Anubhav Sinha

Film & theatre

Naveen Kasturia

Film & theatre
Rahul Ram

Rahul Ram

Film & theatre
Gurdas Maan

Gurdas Maan

Client production
Papon

Papon

Client production
Seedhe Maut

Seedhe Maut

Client production

Raghubir Yadav

Client production

Manoj Joshi

Client production

What artist curation actually involves

Booking an artist is a transaction. Curating a line-up is a judgement — about who belongs on the same stage, in what order, in front of which audience, at what point in the night.

  • Line-up design. Who plays, in what order, and what the evening adds up to.
  • Negotiation and contracting. Fees, exclusivity windows, radius clauses, cancellation.
  • Riders. Technical and hospitality — read properly, and costed before you sign, not after.
  • Travel, logistics and hospitality. Flights, ground, stay, green room, and the hundred small things that decide whether an artist comes back next year.
  • Pan-India reach. The relationships are national. The production may be regional; the curation is not.

We have been doing it for our own festivals since 2015, which means we have made these calls with our own money on the line — and that is a different kind of judgement from spending someone else's.

Curation for corporates, schools and colleges

Most people who reach this page are not booking a single act. They are trying to programme a whole thing — a college festival, an annual day, a convocation, a corporate offsite — and the real question is who belongs on that stage, in front of that particular audience.

Colleges & universities

A full campus festival

We curated the entire festival for VIT Bhopal — end to end. Mohit Chauhan headlined, with Kabir Cafe and the Anand Bhaskar Collective on the same line-up. The curation was ours.

Schools

Annual days and cultural weeks

A school audience is not a festival audience, and the acts that work are not the same ones. Getting that wrong is expensive and very visible on the day.

Corporates

Offsites, annual meets, family days

Corporate rooms are the hardest to programme: a mixed audience, a fixed run-time, and no tolerance for an act that misreads it. We have produced at that level for State Bank of India.

Institutions we have curated or produced for include VIT Bhopal, Mansarovar Global University, Vishwarang, Madhya Pradesh Tourism and State Bank of India.

The client productions in the roster above were client shows, not editions of our own festivals — produced by GIFLIF under the client's name. We keep the distinction deliberately, because conflating the two is the easiest way to end up with a portfolio that quietly overstates itself.

Questions we get asked

Do you book artists without producing the event?

Yes. Curation and booking can be taken on its own — line-up design, negotiation, contracting, riders and artist logistics — while somebody else produces the show. It is also how a lot of our work starts, before it grows into full production.

Is curation limited to Madhya Pradesh and Delhi NCR?

No. Those two are our core production regions, where we hold the vendor and venue network directly. Artist curation is pan-India — the relationships are national and do not depend on where the show happens.

Can you get a specific artist?

Usually we can find out quickly. What matters more is whether that artist is right for your audience, your room and your budget — and we will tell you when the answer is no, which is more often than most people expect.

Do you curate for colleges, schools and corporates?

Yes, and it is a large part of the work. We curated the entire festival for VIT Bhopal — Mohit Chauhan headlined, alongside Kabir Cafe and the Anand Bhaskar Collective. A campus audience, a school audience and a corporate room each need a different line-up, and the commonest mistake is booking a name that is famous rather than one that fits the room.

Do you work with emerging artists as well as headliners?

Both, and the mix is most of the craft. Indiestaan exists partly to put independent artists in front of audiences in cities the touring circuit skips — Swarathma, Parvaaz, Alif and Kavish Seth sit on the same roster as Lucky Ali and Bloodywood.

Need a line-up, not just a name

Tell us the audience, the room and the budget range, and we will come back with a line-up rather than a price list.