Bling Entertainment, led by partners Swati Iyer, Piya Sawhney and Shanti Sivaram, has merged with another celebrity platform, Matrix, in a move indicating consolidation in India’s growing celebrity management industry.
Iyer will serve as CEO of the merged entity.
Matrix, founded by Reshma Shetty and Vivek Kamath, represents Indian film actors such as Abhishek Bachchan, Alia Bhatt, Dulquer Salmaan, Farhan Akhtar, Katrina Kaif, Madhuri Dixit Nene, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Ram Charan, Shahid Kapoor, Varun Dhawan and Vicky Kaushal, among others. The company also represents directors like Rohit Shetty and Zoya Akhtar and as part of a recent venture into the sports category, has signed cricketer KL Rahul.
After the merger with Matrix, the roster of talent formerly represented by Bling including Vidya Balan, Radhika Madan, Twinkle Khanna, Dimple Kapadia as well as directors such as Konkona Sen Sharma, Sandeep Modi, Tahira Kashyap and Vasan Bala, among others, will now be represented by Matrix, the two companies said in a joint statement.
In addition to managing movie, TV, streaming, endorsements, events, social and digital portfolios for film talent, Matrix also has a string of partnerships with celebrity private labels including Ed-a-Mamma (founded by Alia Bhatt and now a joint venture with Reliance Brands), Kay Beauty (founded by Katrina Kaif as a joint venture with Nykaa) and Anomaly (Priyanka Chopra Jonas’ hair-care brand).
The Bollywood talent management ecosystem is currently dominated by agencies like Spice PR, Raindrop Media, and Universal Communications which manage media and public relations for top actors, directors, and publicity campaigns for films.
In 2020, filmmaker Karan Johar had announced a talent management venture Dharma Cornerstone Agency in partnership with Bunty Sajdeh. Dharma is the second Bollywood production house after Yash Raj Films to operate a talent management arm. The latter manages names like Ayushmann Khurrana and Bhumi Pednekar.