Mumbai, India – Havas India, in partnership with Shortcut and Shobiz, has launched Shortcut Shobiz India, combining global creative expertise and local experiential capabilities to tap India’s growing luxury and lifestyle market.
The new entity will combine Shortcut’s French savoir-faire and global creative capabilities with Shobiz’s Indian creative, production and experiential expertise. It will design and produce experiences and events for luxury, beauty, fragrance and lifestyle brands, as well as brandhouses, institutions and organisations.
The launch follows Shortcut’s recent expansion into Milan and comes as the agency looks to tap into India’s growing luxury market, valued at approximately $10 billion to $12.1 billion, according to The McKinsey and Business of Fashion (BoF) State of Fashion Report 2025.
Based in Mumbai, Farah Lauren Khan, Vice President at Shortcut Shobiz India, will lead the new agency and report to Sameer Tobaccowala, CEO at Shobiz. Khan brings more than 15 years of experience in experiential marketing and brand strategy, having worked with brands including Apple, Bvlgari, Cartier, Dior, Ferrari, Gucci, Hermès, Rolex, Rolls-Royce and W Hotels.
“India and France have long shared a strong commercial and cultural relationship, this partnership arrives at a particularly crucial moment when India’s luxury and lifestyle market is growing at an unprecedented speed,” said Rana Barua, Group CEO at Havas India, SEA & North Asia (Japan & South Korea).
“As we keep growing, Shortcut Shobiz India (which is the 26th expertise added to the One Havas ecosystem in India) will not only add more power to our suite of expertise but also strengthen our integrated offerings. Of the 1000+ clients in Havas India’s portfolio, we already have a significant roster of luxury and lifestyle client partners,” Barua added.
“And there are many more that want to expand into the luxury category. Shortcut Shobiz India will help us further strengthen our client partnerships and unlock many new business conversations,” concluded Barua.
“Shortcut Shobiz India marks a defining milestone in our entrepreneurial journey. Having celebrated 30 years of Shortcut in July 2026, this venture represents both the strength of our legacy and the beginning of an exciting new international chapter,” said Christophe Pinguet, Co-Founder & Co-President at Shortcut.
“Together with Shobiz and Havas India, we are bringing together French savoir-faire, artistic intelligence, operational excellence and India’s remarkable creative talent to design experiences that are locally meaningful and internationally inspiring,” added Pinguet.
“I sincerely thank Yannick Bolloré, Sameer Tobaccowala and Rana Barua for their confidence in this shared entrepreneurial ambition,” concluded Pinguet.
Meanwhile, Lionel Laval, Co-Founder & Co-President at Shortcut, said, “Shortcut Shobiz India is, first and foremost, a creative partnership built on trust, shared values and complementary expertise.
“From our first conversations with Rana, Sameer, Farah and the Shobiz teams, it was clear that we shared the same passion for creativity, craftsmanship and executional excellence. Beyond their professionalism, I have been deeply impressed by the generosity, curiosity and creative energy of the India team,” Laval added.
“By combining Shortcut’s artistic intelligence and finesse with Shobiz’s creative dynamism, production capabilities and deep local understanding, we have a unique opportunity to create a new generation of immersive experiences for luxury, beauty, fragrance and lifestyle brands in India,” Laval concluded.
“I’ve spent much of my career watching India’s experiential industry evolve from delivering events to creating moments that shape how people connect with brands. Nowhere is that evolution and momentum more evident than in the luxury space, where audiences expect experiences that are thoughtful, immersive, and deeply authentic,” said Tobaccowala.
“What excited me about this partnership is that Shortcut and Shobiz share a core belief: true creative brilliance only happens when world-class design and flawless execution exist as one,” added Tobaccowala.
“By anchoring this agency at Shobiz’s offices across India, we’re blending Shortcut’s global conceptual heritage with our creative depth, scale, and understanding of the Indian consumer. Together as partners, we’re setting a new standard for what collaborative experiential marketing can achieve here,” Tobaccowala concluded.
The launch expands Shortcut’s presence in India while strengthening Havas India’s offering for the country’s growing luxury and lifestyle market.
