'A List' not to miss

Awards have been a fairly good parameter to judge upcoming stars. This, though, is a measure of how good you've been all along. Campaign India released the A List yesterday, after having built enough intrigue around the event and laid very strict rules.

A tradition that has been followed with the UK arm of the Haymarket publication for about 30 years was inaugurated for the first time in this part of the sub-continent at the Grand Hyatt, Santacruz, Mumbai.

For the uninitiated and the ones who weren't a part of the list, the A List is a compilation that highlights the most important and influential people within the advertising, media and marketing industries, not necessarily the senior most.

Although the UK version of the list involves only advertising and media industry professionals, the Indian version decided to include marketers as well.

The A List, published in a black paperback book, has close to 500 names listed in alphabetical order. The names include Piyush Pandey (Ogilvy); Sam Balsara (Madison); Rahul Welde (Unilever); Rajesh Kamat (Colors); Raghav Bahl (Network 18); Hemant Malik (ITC); Ravi Kiran (Starcom); Ram Madhvani (Equinox Films); T Gangadhar (MEC); Sunil Lulla (Alva Brothers Entertainment); Barkha Dutt (NDTV); Alex Kuruvilla (Conde Nast); Meenakshi Madhvani (Spatial Access Group); Prahlad Kakkar (Genesis Films); Pratap Bose (Mudra); Pradeep Guha (Culture Company); Zarina Mehta (UTV); Lynn de Souza (Lintas Media Group) and many more.

The list gives readers insights into these 500 persons' lives, with them answering questions such as 'Why are you good at what you do?' , 'Biggest risk taken', 'Fantasy business partner' and, on a lighter note, 'Desert island favourite objects', 'Hidden talents', and 'Perfect day'.

The practice will be a yearly function, with a similar list being released next year, too, with a new set of people making it and many more who will be seen again.