Niketan Madhok

Early life and education

Niketan was born on 9 October 1976 in Delhi, India. His mother's name is Kusum Madhok. Niketan grew up in Delhi. Of the two siblings, he is the eldest and has a younger sister. He completed his high school (Grade 12) from St. Columba's School, Delhi and gave high importance to academics. As an intelligent student since childhood, he joined the prestigious Delhi College of Engineering (now Delhi Technological University), New Delhi and completed a degree to become a mechanical engineer. Later, he decided to pursue a career in management and enrolled with the International Management Institute, IMI and was awarded with an MBA degree in both Finance and Marketing. He also studied Enterprise Resource Planning.

Work

He has done modeling projects, shows and assignments in different cities across India and abroad. He has worked with some of the top international and Indian fashion designers including Rohit Bal, Aki Narula, Ritu Kumar, JJ Valaya, Suneet Varma and Muzaffar Ali He has done shows for brands like Blackberrys, Casablanca, Louis Féraud and Reebok. About his professional success, he said in an interview with DNA, "It’s a job that doesn’t give you an opportunity to show your intelligence, but you have to be really smart to stick around." He also commented, "It's show-business, you get to travel a lot, you get a lot of hype & fame and other exciting things in life happen; but the nature of the job is very erratic." In an interview with Zoom, he stressed, "I'm very proud of the work I've done in modeling, but I'm very particular about the quality of work that I do."

Niketan also consulted with few luxury brands for promotions and brand activation. He also curated events in fashion, art and lifestyle space.

He has done many press campaigns and TV commercials for brands like Raymonds, Limca, Tata Safari, Samsung, Sony, Dettol, Hitachi, Kotak Bank, Chivas and many more.

Niketan has now turned producer for TV commercials, digital content and music videos.

Career

Though he was preparing himself for a different career path, he also developed an interest in modeling. When he was 17 years old, he took up his first professional modeling assignment in 1994. He subsequently started doing other fashion shows and projects in Delhi and later in other various cities across India. In 2002, he moved from Delhi to Mumbai to seek a better career in fashion and modeling industry. The same year, he gained eminence in the modeling industry when he walked the ramp for Lakme Fashion Week. During his initial years in Mumbai, he survived on takeout as he didn't know how to cook.

In August 2004, Bovet Fleurier, a Swiss watch major, chose Niketan as its model during its launch in India, with its $38,700 watch. He walked the ramp for Seagram's Blenders Pride's The Blenders Pride Fashion Tour 2005 to showcase designs from their Spring-Summer lines. In December 2005, he displayed the Indian haute couture, Sangam, designed by Hemant Trivedi at The Gulf Hotel, in Manama, Bahrain. Displaying designer collection for the brand Sheetal, it was an event organized to mark Bahraini-Indian friendship. The same month, he modeled for Provogue for its Fall-Winter 2005 collection and the launch of its Rang de basanti collection, along with other celebrities like Aamir Khan, Deepika Padukone, Zulfi Syed and Tapur Chatterjee.

In December 2006, he exhibited the rarest timepieces & watches by the world's oldest watch manufacturer, Vacheron Constantin at The Taj Mahal Palace Hotel in Mumbai. Other models who participated in this event included Deepika Padukone, Dipannita Sharma, Fleur Xavier and Vidisha Pavate. Niketan walked the ramp for the grand finale of Lakme Fashion Week in March 2007. In May 2007, he featured at the launch event of Captain Morgan, a spiced gold rum, by Diageo India at Aurus in Mumbai, along with mix of celebrities like Mahima Chaudhry, Yana Gupta, Nikhil Chinappa and DJ Pearl. Niketan presented the Admiral Collection watches for frequent travelers by Swiss watchmaker Longines in a fashion show in Mumbai in November 2008, that also featured Aishwarya Rai & Carol Gracias among other leading models.

In February 2008, he showcased the launch of new label, 180 degrees, a men's collection, by designer Arjun Khanna at Indigo in Mumbai, along with other models like Marc Robinson, Gautam Singhania, Atul Kasbekar, Deepak Malhotra, Lata Patel and Ayesha Dharker Niketan featured at the launch party of an international beer brand in India, Tiger Beer at Hotel Ashoka, New Delhi, . In September 2008, he exhibited a range of menswear clothes and accessories of an international denim brand Jack & Jones' Fall Winter 2008 collection, with Aftab Shivdasani, Rahul Khanna, Dino Morea, Zaheer Khan and Manish Malhotra. The event marked the entry of the brand in India. He showed up as a guest in the Cîroc's annual bartending competition, judged by Jean Sébastien Robicquet in January 2009. He made an appearance at the Prriya and Chntan's Art Route gallery in May 2009 for preview of artworks by four contemporary artists Nilesh Vede, Hemant Sonawane, Hemant Ravandale and Rakesh Pattnaik and also for unveiling of a limited edition of paintings inspired by the film 99.

In June 2009, he inaugurated the relocation of a new Tommy Hilfiger store to Khader Nawaz Khan Road off Nungambakkam High Road, Chennai with Mandira Bedi In October 2009, Niketan did a modeling assignment for Vodafone at a Shoppers Stop Store in Juhu, Mumbai by showcasing men's T-shirts when the company launched the ZooZoo brand merchandise. Other prominent models like Aanchal KumarBandruna Abdullah were also a part of the project. In November 2009, he modeled the creations by Barkha 'n' Sonzal's couture collection for men titled Dance of the Warrior. He made a guest appearance at the Provogue's Fall-Winter 2010 collection with celebrities like Priyanka Chopra, Ranbir Kapoor, Shamita Shetty, Rocky S and Aanchal Kumar at the club Trilogy in Juhu, Mumbai in September. Basab Paul invited him for his 42nd birthday celebrations in January 2010 and also for the launch of a calendar at the Vie Lounge and Deck in Mumbai, with other celebrities like Sohail Khan, Alvira Agnihotri, Atul Agnihotri, Neeta Lulla, Marc Robinson and Reena Dutta. In June 2010, he made an appearance for a special screening of the film Rajneeti. Salim Khan and Alvira Agnihotri, who held this event, also invited Salma Khan, Helen, Arbaaz Khan. In July 2011, he took part in the French National Day event in Mumbai, a function hosted by Francois Pujolas.

Niketan inaugurated the 8th Shoppers Stop store in NCR at Jacksons Crowne Heights, Rohini, Delhi in July 2011. He has also done campaigns for Raymond and he said, "I've been associated with this brand for about four years. Raymond is special for a male model in this country."

In February 2013, Niketan walked the ramp for Jaguar Couture Fashion Show by designer Narendra Kumar at Hotel Taj Lands End in Mumbai to mark the launch of Jaguar's latest edition - XF2,2D. The other celebrities who participated in this event included Shibani Dandekar, Carol Gracias, Aanchal Kumar and Vijender Singh

Niketan has been featured by several magazines like Femina, India Today Plus, Society, Man's World and Bride & Home.

Music video

Niketan acted in a 2004 music video titled bheegi bheegi raaton mein with Anupama Verma. The duet track was composed by Lesle Lewis with vocals by Srinivas and Sujatha Mohan.

TV commercials

Reality TV

Niketan participated in an Indian celebrity reality TV show Bigg Boss Season 6 from October 2012 till its end in January 2013. The format of the show is based on Dutch-based Endemol's show Big Brother where a group of people live together in a large house, isolated from the outside world. His ex-girlfriend Karishma Kotak was also a contestant at the same show. During the show, he said, "I haven't achieved anything in my life that I tried achieving. In fact, my biggest achievement in life is entering the Bigg Boss show." Niketan, who is a friend of the show host, Salman Khan, managed to survive till the last day and finished as a finalist. In an interview with PTI, he said, "I did not expect at all that I would reach so far. Maybe calm and composed behaviour and no fights brought me till here."

Personal life and other activities

Niketan is an avid car racing buff. He said in an interview with The Times of India, "People love to drive cars which afford them super momentum and often push them to achieve their fastest speed." During his early 20's, he used to be an enthusiastic golfer. He had elaborated about his interest in this game in an interview with The Indian Express, "It doesn't require a genius to guess that my most precious possession is my set of Ping golf clubs. My uncle got it for me from London. I'm sure it will last me for years.". He has widely traveled throughout the world. His personal favorite clothing is T-shirt and regular demin.

He used to be in a relationship with a British Indian model, Karishma Kotak, whom he met in Mumbai in 2005, though their affair lasted for about just two months. He told that he met at her at the TV show Bigg Boss in October 2012 after a few years and commented, "Karishma and me are now on very good terms. She's a very nice soft girl and we're very good friends. She almost cried when I didn't win the show and I'm very grateful to her."

He disclosed, "My life is stuck for the last 12-15 years and want to move on career-wise, although I'm highly educated and I still like to continue studying." Niketan, who monitors global developments very closely, loves to be very social and he commented, "I'm a people's person. Given a choice between people and money, I'd prefer people." In a web-interview with In.com, he said, "My philosophy is that in a man's life, there are five vices - illicit desires, anger, undue attachment, greed and pride. If you can conquer these five vices, you're a super-hero and you're next to God." He further said, "I pray a lot. I've been reading, chanting, and meditating." He also said in an interview with The Asian Age, "I have never been desperate for any job or money. I have done things that excite me or I am passionate about."