Prajato Guha Thakurta

Based in Mumbai

Prajato Guha Thakurta—fondly known as Projo—is the Founder and Chief Creative Officer at Manja, full-funnel agency providing creative solutions, empowering and building brands in the digital landscape.

Prajato started his career in 2004, as the Creative Group Head at McCann Worldgroup. Later, he served as the creative director at DDB and JWT, before moving on to his eight-year-long stint at Leo Burnett as the National Creative Director.

Prajato is a creative force whose work thrives at the intersection of storytelling, technology, innovation, and design. Among his most celebrated achievements is the Bajaj V campaign, which made history by bringing home India’s first Cannes Gold Lion for Creative Effectiveness.

With over two decades of experience in the advertising landscape, Manja has, under his leadership, built a portfolio of brands like Budweiser, Taco Bell, The Times Group, Teacher’s, Barclays, Lee Cooper, Stayfree, Pears, The Economic Times, Smirnoff, and Nokia, among others.

Some of their most notable work include Amazon Prime 'An Epic Showdown', Mahindra 'Kargil Diwas', Ajio x Shakti Kapoor & Shraddha Kapoor, Starbucks X Netflix Archies, and Netflix x KitKat ft. Ayushmann Khurrana.

Prajato’s work has been recognised with honours at Cannes Lions, D&AD, The One Show, Adfest, Spikes Asia, and Effies, while he himself has contributed to the industry as a jury member at Cannes Lions and the Abby One Show. Recently, at the Good Ads Matter Awards, India '25, Manja bagged a silver for Mahindra Group 'Mahindra For Planet | Zaheerabad Automotive Factory', and another silver and a bronze for Native RO by Urban Company 'Filter to Pagal Hai'.

Beyond advertising, Prajato brings equal passion to his many pursuits. He is a voracious reader, a (self-)published author, a trained classical pianist, and a budding organic farmer. A hands-on father of two, he also plays striker in his local football team and volunteers as a football coach for an NGO working with underprivileged children.

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