RENDEZVOUS WITH
Jashoda
Madhavji
This time around, we wanted to bring to you an
interesting Interview with a celebrity publicist
and event organizer Jashoda Madhavji, who
talks about how it is to be on the other side
handling artists, managing large scale events,
her journey and future projects.
Tell us about your journey in the music industry
PR was an accidental venture for me, I never planned it. In
fact I have a degree in economics, politics and literature and
a separate one in theatre from Trinity College of Dramatics.
It has been over 14 years now as I started working real young,
when I was 18 years old or so. Whilst I was studying in high
school I was simultaneously spending my free time interning
with my grandfather Ranjit Laxmidas Madhavji who is
a world icon in portrait photography at his studio called
Hamilton Studios. This is where I learnt the essentials of being
a successful entrepreneur and learnt the ropes of running
your own enterprise for close to 3 years. It feels fantastic to be
the CEO of my own life and understand the true meaning of
accountability, efficiency and excellence. I quite enjoy being
the behind the scenes go-to person who’s available 24x7 for
any kind of counsel and somewhere PR allows me to do that.
I love building a brand out of nothing and somewhere I love
to challenge myself to think beyond the ordinary. Someone
once told me I would never be a successful entrepreneur and I
took it upon myself to change their perception. God has been
kind! Music was always something I was attracted to as a
child and it was my calling so to speak. Justin Bieber, Bryan
Adams, Akon, Pitbull, LMFAO, Armin van Buuren, Tiesto,
David Guetta, Avicii, Hardwell, Afrojack, Diplo, Fatboy Slim,
Martin Garrix, Swedish House Mafia, Sunburn, Supersonic,
Enchanted Valley Carnival, Tomorrowland, Windsong Music
Festival, Future Music Festival, Niladri Kumar, Amaan &
Ayaan Ali Bangash, AR Rahman Anoushka Shankar, DJ
Bravo, Nikhil Chinapa, Mad Decent Block Party, Sensation
India, Ultra Music are some of the top of the line clientele.
Tell us about your fondest and most difficult
experience in the live scene so far.
I think my fondest memory would be the Akon India Tour.
Contrary to his public image, Akon is a very unassuming
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non controversial kind of a person. The one thing I truly
loved about Akon was the fact that he respected the press
and the fans. He had no fear diving into a crowd of 30k plus
people and in fact in one the cities the barricading fell apart
and fans stormed into the backstage area and he was so not
bewildered about it all. But since I was on the only girl on the
entourage he made sure he lent his protection to me and got
me into the car safely. Even at our after parties, Akon was
very comfortable being surrounded by his fans and gave every
single person a photo opportunity. The one moment I’m really
proud of is that no one was allowed into his room and he asked
his security to guide me to his room to meet with his wife since
I had got her a souvenir.
The most challenging experience would maybe be the Justin
Bieber Purpose Tour since the artist had a global mandate of
no press and sustaining the tour in the news for over 3 months
was a task but we were successful because of third party
associations and endorsements. Selective media was allowed
in the front pit area creating a sense of discomfort with the
rest of the press fraternity and a major backlash in post event
coverage. A mandate of no press at public places the artist was
visiting had to be maintained at all times so diverting press
became another issue two days prior to the concert. The initial
announcement was also jeopardized because of the news
was leaked in advance hence a whole new strategy had to be
devised when the tour had to be officially announced timing
the artist’s post on social media with the media break.
What are the challenges you face as a celebrity PR?
Well celebrities come with their own baggage but it’s an art
to be a celebrity agent. On the flipside, a lot of publicists and
managers in India feel they are the celebrity themselves
which sometimes creates a negative brand value for
the celebrity because of the high handedness. In India,
celebrities are very comfortable treating their publicists and