From hosting the Commonwealth Games in 2010, anchoring the popular Don’t Worry Be Happy show for 102.6FM and Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar on Doordarshan, arranging Bollywood star presence for hi-profile weddings, acting with Bipasha Basu in Aadat to launching his new production venture starring Alia Bhatt in her maiden music video... Delhi boy Nitin Arora has come a long way.
“It was a pleasure working with Alia. She is a perfectionist and wants to understand everything in detail. She is a thorough professional and a wonderful soul,” says Arora, about the talented actor in the trending track Prada, composed by The Doorbeen.
A radio jockey, anchor, voiceover artiste, actor and an event manager, the multi-faceted Arora started his career in sales at the ‘basic grassroot level’ in the late 1990s. The hotel management graduate from Institute of Hotel Management, Catering & Nutrition, Pusa, New Delhi, was working in the hospitality sector when the acting bug hit him.
“It was not easy to gain foothold in the entertainment world. I was an outsider. But God does help – a friend of mine – he is no more now – gave me an opportunity to host a show in 2000, which changed my life. I started getting more shows and many artistes became friends.” Next year, he shifted base to Mumbai.
Soon, event management companies started approaching him to connect them to his celebrity contacts. He extended those favours for a while, but eventually thought, ‘why not turn into an event manager?’ Hence was born Katalyst Entertainment, in 2007.
Along with managing events, he was also looking for acting assignments. “I did a cameo in Qayamat, which starred Ajay Devgn and Neha Bhupia. I also did TV shows like Aaj Bhi Ateet, Left Right Left, Jassi Jaisi Koi Nahin and Kaisa Ye Pyar Hai and films like Karam, Ishq Vishk, Uff Kya Jadoo Mohabbat Hai, Jugaad, Youngistaan and Anarkali of Aarah,” he says, adding that though he loves all his diverse careers, acting remains his first love.
In Aadat, a September 2019 release, he co-starred with Bipasha Basu. “Working with Bipasha was a lot of fun. I learnt a lot from her. This film will always remain close to my heart as I re-lived my college days through it.”
As a manager on a roll
Through Katalyst, Arora manages events and shows. He turned the likes of Arjun Rampal and Nargis Fakri into DJs for weddings, curated an Indian Broadway musical with artistes from all over the globe and made Akon and Sukhbir jam together at a sangeet ceremony.
“I have hosted and performed alongside the three Khans, Hrithik Roshan, Akshay Kumar, Mika Singh, Badshah, Benny Dayal and Sunidhi Chauhan among others,” he says, adding that he is proud of all the approximately 5,000 projects he's completed so far. “But few are really close to my heart, like the Auli wedding, which was organised 10,000ft above sea level.”
Talking about the positives and negatives of the event management industry, he says the pluses are comparatively more. “The biggest one being that you get to travel all over the world and experience exotic locations which many only dream of. You meet people from diverse backgrounds and learn from them. The biggest minus, however, is you have no time for yourself and your family.”
There’s a lot of scope in the field, he says, as earlier only big corporates needed event management services while now event managers step in even for social do’s and weddings. “This field has a huge potential and I feel it will grow by leaps and bounds,” he signs off.