Makarand Narkar (29)
Co-founder, Boomranng Studio
In 2016, when British rock band Coldplay performed in Mumbai, Makarand Narkar—then a student at JJ College of Applied Arts—tried desperately to get tickets. Every attempt failed. Eight years later, fate took a surprising turn.
As co-founder of Boomranng, a Mumbai-based independent multidisciplinary illustration and design studio, the 29-year-old almost disregarded a direct message from a team member of Coldplay that landed in the studio’s Instagram account. Assuming it was a scam, he dismissed it as a marketing ploy. “He emailed us again, saying it was really them and that they wanted to work with us,” Narkar says.
Boomranng became the only Indian studio selected to create a 13-second animation for Coldplay’s song ‘Good Feelings’ from their 10th studio album. The work was part of A Film for the Future—a 44-minute multimedia visual companion to Coldplay’s 2024 album Moon Music—featuring 150 global artistes from 45 countries.
Impressed by the timely delivery, the band returned within weeks with an assignment Narkar calls “a dream beyond dreams”—designing the visual identity for Coldplay’s concert at Ahmedabad in January 2025. The band’s largest single show to date drew over 134,000 fans, while the livestream garnered 8.3 million views on Disney+ Hotstar. For Narkar and his co-founder Sonal Vasave, it was a defining moment.
Inspired by a rare planetary alignment that occurred a day earlier, on January 25, Boomranng designed the opening titles, overlays, song-title animations and the poster. The visuals featured cosmic imagery—planets, stars and celestial motifs. The resulting aesthetic leaned into what they describe as “cosmic punk”, blending futurism with folklore-inspired nostalgia. The studio later won a Blue Elephant Kyoorius Award for the branding.
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The studio breaks stereotypes about Indian folklore by infusing it into their stories crafted for global brands. “I want to channel all the art and craft that surrounds us through my body of work to make our culture globally approachable,” Narkar adds.
“Boomranng represents the new wave of Indian creativity—unapologetically bold, contemporary and globally relevant,” says jury member Amit Krishn Gulati, founder and director of Incubis Consultants. “Their work pulsates with the energy of a new India… one that is confident, hybrid, and plugged into the global design conversation.”
Boomranng’s growing list of milestones includes being the only Indian studio invited to create explainer animation videos for the 2024 Paralympics, designing the Google Doodle for India’s 79th Independence Day, and collaborating with brands and institutions such as Nike, Apple, YouTube, Netflix, Amazon, Spotify, Coca-Cola, Pepsi, The Guardian and Manchester United.
It was also involved in a project called Nike By You—a service offered by the brand that allows customers to personalise and design their own Nike footwear and sportswear. “Through the 20 illustrations we created on the theme of Mumbai, which could be printed on Nike T-shirts, we tried to build a world where Nike is not a luxury but a commodity. People own it, and it’s a part of their daily lives,” says Narkar. The series became one of Nike’s best-selling collections.
The urge to translate their art into tangible forms has led to the creation of Cosmicpunk, a multimedia universe and art movement. “We are building a speculative universe. Over the years, we founded this unique style of illustration, and we are turning that style into its own line of art collectibles, including paintings, sculptures, premium rugs, along with wearables that include apparel, jewellery and more,” says Narkar.
Nicki Field, joint MD, Jelly, a London-based artist management agency that has represented Boomranng since 2023, says, “I’m constantly in awe of Makarand’s unwavering dedication to their vision as a studio and their ‘Cosmic Punk’ world… his talent is genuinely rare.”
First Published: Jan 19, 2026, 11:29
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