In Norse mythology, Valhalla is the place where slain heroes enjoy afterlife. Well, one does not have to go to such extremes to enjoy XLRI’s Ensemble-Valhalla, the four-day cultural fest of the B-school that starts from Friday.

Ensemble-Valhalla, the cultural, sports, and management fest, will stay true to its theme of Break Free while hosting celebrities, over 500 students from various B-schools from across the country, “future leaders” from school and college campuses and a dazzling array of competitive events.

Well-known Bollywood character actor and entrepreneur Akash Khurana will inaugurate the event on XLRI premises.

Others guests at the fest will include Arijit Biswas, a senior HR executive at TCS who also co-wrote the cult movie Andhadhun; Virali Modi, a young disability rights activist who contracted a severe form of malaria that left her tied to a wheelchair but transformed her into a motivational speaker; Nikhil D’Souza, song-writer, singer and guitarist, and Varun Mahana, an entrepreneur.

Likhita Y., a student of XLRI, said their fest was getting “bigger and better every year”.

“It’s a talked-about event across campuses in India, thanks to our flagship events, eclectic guests, and the sheer variety of our competitions,” she said. “The prize money of the most premier business contests can surpass Rs 1 lakh.”

The sports and cultural wing of the fest organisers host dances, plays, battles of the bands, debates, sports and games from chess to cricket and tennis to futsal (football played on hardcourt, often indoors, with five players per team).

But, many future captains of the industry come for the over 50 business events designed to test the students intellectually and creatively while giving them a feel of a live corporate ambience.

“Yes, it’s perfect to test if you can think on your feet in tough situations,” said Likhita. “You get live projects, case studies and simulations. The exciting flagship events include Prometheus (finance), Circus Maximus (marketing), War of Wits (human resources), Strike or Yield (industrial relations), Genesis (entrepreneurship), Strategikon (strategy) and Helios (operations),” said the student.