Afsar Zaidi launches 'Exceed' to consolidate ent. talent management

‘EXCEED’, a multi-platform entertainment management company, led by a dynamic team of industry experts in the field of integrated entertainment platforms, officially launched in November. The company began as a consolidated talent agency managing and promoting the profile of some of Bollywood’s A-list personalities before diversifying into various other verticals, like Live event management, sports hospitality, licensing and merchandising, the digital space, business ventures with artists, entertainment projects and marketing and consulting initiatives.

With diverse interests in every aspect of the entertainment value chain, from talent management, to entertainment marketing and consulting, film casting and content production, Exceed has a proven pedigree of industry insight and experience to manage, monetise and market multiple forms of entertainment properties, be it a celebrity, the owner of a media conglomerate, an international event or film project. Exceed also intends to venture into the modelling, fashion and lifestyle spectrums, with plans already underway.

A true testament to their capabilities, the diversified and experienced Exceed team has successfully managed the profiles for Bollywood superstars such as Hrithik Roshan, Saif Ali Khan, Bipasha Basu, Shilpa Shetty, amongst others, for a period across nine years. The Exceed team is acutely aware of the ever-changing trends in the global entertainment industry and so offers a comprehensive and fully integrated service to artists and brands. Through offering an end-to-end integrated solution to activate "brand entertainment", Exceed assures to surpass its deliverance to each of its national and international clients. Exceed has also established a firm presence in the live events industry, spanning film, music, fashion and sport, in addition to pioneering sports hospitality services, which started with the Indian Premier League (‘IPL’). One major area of development has been the launch of merchandising and licensing deals.

The multi-disciplinary team comprise of industry-savvy and cutting-edge minds geared to creating, developing and implementing innovative and attention-grabbing brand campaigns. The team features domain experts as Afsar Zaidi, Founder and Managing Director of Exceed, Uday Singh Gauri, CEO and Kamal Punwani, CFO and Corporate Development Head.

Explaining the impetus behind the establishment of Exceed, Afsar Zaidi said: “The Exceed brand proposition is a reflection of the importance and growing trend within the industry for greater need of consolidation in the film, celebrity and entertainment sector, as national and international clients are increasingly looking for an integrated solution to their campaigns, that often start with a celebrity but extend far beyond this.

Having represented the cream of the entertainment business such as Hrithik Roshan, Saif Ali Khan, Bipasha Basu, Shilpa Shetty, and having ventured into the merchandising and licensing space, such as for hero projects like Krrish 3 or the IPL, we had already begun to capitalise on the multiple opportunities available to extend brand experiences to the consumer. With this in mind, the live events and content production space would also represent a key factor of the business.

Uday Singh Gauri, CEO of EXCEED said: “With the launch of Exceed, our ambition is to boost our brand equity further and strengthen our fundamentals. The entertainment industry is here to grow. It needs a channel to effectively manage its brand identity in its true essence, which is what we are here to offer.”

Gauging the needs of the industry, the team at Exceed have conceptualised a company which will cater to the bespoke requirements of their clients. Zaidi adds: “The industry on the whole has seen a surge in the quantity of talent launches, which has created the space and requirement for an organization such as Exceed. Furthermore, with expertise in-house, Exceed is in safe hands with a trained and experienced workforce to deliver ultimate brand satisfaction. We are hopeful that our endeavour will be recognised and scale new heights of success.”

The team has an unencumbered drive and an on-going commitment to contribute to India’s RS 965 billion* entertainment industry and plans to channelise this passion towards the conceptualisation, growth and progression of entertainment projects through the vehicle of Exceed. Furthermore Exceed has spearheaded several industry firsts the first being its foray into the arena of Licensing and Merchandising, recently tying-up for India’s first celebrity brand extension project with Bollywood superstar Hrithik Roshan to launch 

the star’s new clothing range HRx – Push Your Extreme. The partnership is an excellent example of monetising an entertainment entity, similar to international strategies for stars such as Jay-Z, Jordan, and Britney Spears fragrance, and will add a new thread of brand extension to Hrithik Roshan’s already booming profile.

Speaking about the launch of Exceed, two of the company’s esteemed clients, Hrithik Roshan and Saif Ali Khan said "I am absolutely excited about the new avatar of my agency and I feel ecstatic that they have decided to give a distinct identity to their ceaseless ambitions.  Exceed is a perfect representation of their spirit, work and attitude towards life. They are distinct, powerful, unique, determined and limitless. Tanujaa Mehraa and Afsar Zaidi are  two of the most dynamic gifted and inspirational individuals I have ever known. Besides managing my professional career and always being there right by my side, they guide a team of superstars from talent management, production and creative who exceed all my expectations every single day of their lives. I am proud to be associated with the team for 8 years now. My best wishes to the entire team at Exceed. I wish you all a supersonic success",  says Hrithik Roshan.

Saif Ali Khan says, "Exceed - An apt name for the team that has managed my work successfully for years now. The team at Exceed lives up to its name and constantly surprises, surpasses expectations and always aims only to push the envelope further. They are game changers who have pioneered different avenues of business in Entertainment and have personally, been an unwavering support specially Afsar Zaidi. Wishing Exceed all the success and best always."
With plenty of exciting plans in the pipeline, Exceed is well poised to capitalise on the ever-evolving, fast-paced global entertainment space, and will strategise to become a major player on the world entertainment stage.