004: All the World’s a Stage: Roshan Abbas on Building Kommune, the Evolution of Art and Harnessing Creativity for Commerce

⌛ 6 MINUTES

“I was called Mirza Tod-Phod as a child. I would always take my toys apart to see what’s inside instead of being content with what was on the surface.”

Roshan Abbas is a master storyteller, and the story behind his innate creativity and love for engaging with an audience is no less than any of his other works. He grew up in a household where both parents were involved in academia, so intelligent conversations and love for curiosity were encouraged early on. This is what Abbas credits when asked about how he came to be a multi-hyphenate. It’s really no wonder that a child who was read Shakespeare at bedtime grew up to become one of the most respected names in Indian theatre.

Building a One of-its-Kind Community

Abbas says it became clear to him from a very young age that performing for and connecting with an audience would form an integral part of what he would do in life. Following the common thread of creativity and engagement throughout his career, he is happy that he was able to turn his art into something that would also help him pay the bills. “Art feeds your soul, but at the end of the day, you need to feed yourself too. I may choose to dole out advice for free, but if I’m helping you solve a problem, I’d like to be paid for it. That’s the creative entrepreneur in me,” he says.

After hitting a creative block and going through a burnout of sorts, which is not unusual for someone involved in the arts, Abbas began a journey of artistic recovery with the help of a book called The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron. In the book was the concept of a ‘creative date’ which basically encouraged spending time with an art form you were previously unfamiliar with. And so he began exploring and experiencing new things to help different atoms collide and gain a perspective that is visually, narratively, figuratively and musically rich. Through this new perspective, a sort of vacuum became apparent to him. A gap in the creative world that he took upon himself to bridge. The result — Kommune, an ecosystem that would nurture artists and help them not only create but also present their content for the world to see. Eventually, with inspiration from The Moth, a storytelling collective based in the US, Kommune took the form of a hybrid between the original idea of nurturing artists and a new platform for sharing stories. “We function as an art incubator. At any given time, we’re involved with multiple artists, trying to help them work out the technicalities behind putting out a great piece of work.”

Creating a Product Worthy of Investment

At Kommune, they stand for sustainable art. Meeting new people, learning new things and enriching yourself with the help of the community becomes sustainable when you also return that favour, and that’s how this community thrives. This sustainability also extends to the monetary aspect. Roshan is of the opinion that creators/platforms are themselves responsible for creating & sustaining the demand and managing the supply to keep the market at equilibrium. As opposed to rolling out average products for free, he believes in building a strong product, so that consumers choose you over alternatives, and then putting a reasonable price on it.

If one has the chance to make use of lockdown times learning how to get better at online communication from a revered theatre artist like Sheena Khalid, then the consumer is more likely to choose it over aimless scrolling on Instagram. The audience needs to be educated about the worth of the product. They should feel like they’re making an investment, not merely paying a ticket fee. These are small ways of working around the psychology of the consumer, an approach Roshan adopted while working with Glitch (where he’s a partner) on their portfolio of services as well.

"While everyone is shouting, we go and whisper"

One of the building blocks of Kommune is redefining storytelling and shaping it in a way that hasn’t been seen before. Apart from the fact that it is the only performing arts collective of its kind in the country, Kommune is pushing the boundaries of how people connect with art in other ways too. One of these ways is the widely known Spoken fest. “It was something that hadn’t been done before — where poets, musicians and all kinds of storytellers would come together for a festival where people tune in, not tune out. It was going to be: the Edinburgh Fringe meets Hyde Park.” Roshan, who calls himself a ‘reservoir of optimism’, started off on the rough calculation that even if five per cent of their YouTube audience shows up, they will have five thousand people attending Spoken. And this wasn’t a dream fulfilled easily. The journey of Spoken from the first year to where it is today wasn’t one without setbacks. At times, there were people questioning whether it would be possible, but if there is one person who embodies the concept that passion makes things happen, it’s Roshan Abbas. The first edition saw a footfall of six thousand, and when people compared it to the first year of NH7 Weekender, Roshan knew that they had been successful in building a boutique property for an organic audience with a genuine interest in art. The road ahead for Spoken is already mapped out and pandemic or not, losing momentum is not part of the plan.

Another way in which Kommune is contributing towards constant evolution of the creative world is by encouraging podcasting as a medium through their initiative POD’ium in collaboration with Spotify and Anchor. Roshan describes a podcast as “a form of self-expression that doesn’t require anything more than you”. Different from the now common but technically-produced YouTube videos and the new wave of time-bound TikTok clips, all podcasts require is lending your voice and thoughts to help people discover. Coupled with this simplicity is a ‘visual fatigue’ that is beginning to set in. Screen times are through the roof and podcasts are thriving on the breaks people are taking to connect with something new or maybe disconnect from something worn out. In India, however, there are still a few years to go before we can have our own Sarah Koenig and Joe Rogan. Kommune is doing its bit in making that happen and plans to help launch 10,000 podcasts by the end of this year. “It’s like a friendship between the listener and the host — a safe space of pure learning — and friendships last forever,” says Abbas.

Commercialising Creativity: A New Take on Marketing and Branding

Roshan has also founded an experiential marketing firm called Encompass (acquired by WPP and now called Geometry Encompass) through which he sought to change the way brands approached consumer engagement.

When it comes to building a successful brand activation, as Roshan has with the biggest names in the corporate world like HP, Pepsi and Godrej, these are some pointers to always keep in mind:

Looking Back to Move Ahead: A Then-and-Now

~ Social Media

On his relationship with social media, Roshan says that it has helped bring about a sort of democracy of the arts — an era in which there are no ‘gatekeepers’ standing in the way of new artists being able to present their work. Previously, the traditional ways of putting art out there were much more inaccessible, which has now changed. Social media has also brought about a generation of brands that are no longer monolithic like brands of the past. They must keep in mind the three pillars of showcasing skill, projecting responsible influence and maintaining a suitable identity — concepts which didn’t exist earlier on. With social media, one also stays grounded by constantly analysing real-time feedback to help decide which strategies work and which don’t, as it’s easy to get carried away with ideas.

~ Performing Arts

Talking about how he views the evolution of Indian performing arts over the years, Abbas gives an insightful response. He categorises artistic content into three — the ultra-niche (classical arts), the mass consumption arts (music and comedy as of now, which will soon reach their tipping point) and the niche (podcasting and YouTube gaming, which he says will soon turn into mass consumption content). The revolution started with the ultra-niche, enjoyed by few as entertainment and even fewer as a profession. Then the late 90s brought about the realisation that art could be an industry separate from Bollywood with bands and independent artists slowly gaining popularity. This set into motion a cycle of consumer preferences and pop culture changing in synchronisation.

~ Roshan Abbas as an Artist and Entrepreneur

Roshan shares that his father always said, “Knowledge is a key you have to carry with you because you never know which door it will open.”

And just like that, he used his bunch of keys from his experience with performing arts to unlock doors whenever he worked on a commercial project. Recalling the product launch for Motorola pagers his company (then called Encompass) worked on in 1997, Roshan narrates:

“For the launch party, I took inspiration from the Starship Enterprise from Star Trek and how their doors would open after putting their IDs in front of scanners. This was a time when no touch screens or scanners of this sort existed. I said that the pagers are going to help open the doors, and everyone was apprehensive. Using sheer theatre, we had a person sit hidden inside our makeshift door frame and open the door whenever a guest put their pager in front of the prop scanner. It was a pure suspension of belief and something that I learnt from my days of theatre.”

Along with this bursting-at-the-seams creativity, he has also learnt discipline from the theatre. The simple act of ‘showing up’ is a sign of commitment and determination, even if it’s for an eight-hour rehearsal where you only have two dialogues. And when you show up, spend time with a theatre crew and see a production being pieced together, you inevitably learn the importance of every single person involved — from the lighting dada to the director. This acquired appreciation for all people has helped Roshan become an empathetic leader. “Whether you’re a hotshot actor or a crew dancer, you’re equally important to me,” he says. By the end of it, Roshan seems to have immense respect for anyone who sticks to their art to make it work — “Don’t be a hobbyist and do ‘chance pe dance’. Invest time and keep at it, returns will follow.”

As we reach the end of the episode, we sign off with some rapid 🔥 questions. Get the popcorn and start reading!