Imagining the Future

He currently also serves as:

• President of the Indian Broadcasting & Digital Foundation (IBDF) – India's apex organization of television broadcasters and Digital players that promote the interests of the Industry.
• Chairman, National Committee of Media & Entertainment CII (Confederation of Indian Industry)
• Director, BARC (Broadcast Audience Research Council) India – Ratings body for the broadcasting sector in India.
• Director on the board of the US-India Strategic Partnership Forum.

Under his leadership at the Hindi Content Studio, a remarkable slate of shows has consistently ranked among the top 10 in the category. These successes include groundbreaking series such as Anupama, Ghum Hai Kisi Ke Pyaar Mein, Imlie and many others. Furthermore, his contributions to Disney+ Hotstar include creating award-winning and immensely popular series like Emmy nominated - Aarya, Special Ops, The Freelancer, and The Night Manager.

Gaurav joined Star News as a prime-time anchor and senior producer. He played a significant role in launching the Bengali news channel Star Ananda for the group in 2005.

Building on his success, Gaurav moved to lead the content strategy for the network's regional entertainment channels in 2008 and expanded the company's reach in two new markets, Bengal and Maharashtra, with Star Jalsha and Star Pravah, respectively. Star Jalsha became India's number-one Bengali language channel within a year of launch.

Gaurav was appointed as the Head of Content Strategy for Star Plus, the flagship Hindi entertainment channel of the network, in 2009. During his tenure, he played a crucial role in the success of cult shows such as Diya aur Baati Hum and Sasural Genda Phool.

He assumed the role of General Manager for Star Plus in 2013. Under his guidance, the channel soared to new heights and became a dominant force in the industry with blockbuster shows like Mahabharat and Yeh Hai Mohabbatein.

Gaurav took charge of leading the Content Studio in 2015 and refreshed the storytelling approach for Star Plus and Star Bharat. He has strengthened the Disney+ Hotstar library with world-class content that appeals to the unique tastes of audiences with Hotstar Specials.

His passion for storytelling stems from his early years as a journalist. As an anchor with Aaj Tak & later Star News, Gaurav covered significant events such as the General Elections and Annual Budget, gaining valuable insights into the power of stories and their ability to provide context.

Gaurav holds a master's degree from the Mass Communications Research Centre at Jamia Milia Islamia University, Delhi and has completed his undergraduate studies at St. Stephens, Delhi.

Coming from REA India (the largest full-stack real estate company owned by REA Australia and News Corporation), where he was the Group Chief Operating Officer, he has over 26 years of extensive experience across diverse areas, including P&L management, setting up and managing large-scale operations, risk management, data analytics and corporate finance. In his prior role, Mani led the turnaround of Housing.com and transformed the company into the market-leading online real-estate classifieds platform. His experience spans across 30 countries in financial services and the internet, with leadership roles in companies such as Citigroup and Yahoo!. Mani was part of the Silicon Valley start-up community for more than a decade and was on the management team and advisory board of start-ups with responsibilities across revenue, business development, strategy, operations, and finance, including fundraising and M&A. 

Mani has a PGDM from IIM Calcutta and an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business, where he was an Arjay Miller Scholar. He is also a qualified cost and management accountant.

He began his career at Star T.V., followed by successful stints at The Gallup Organization and Affle, based in Singapore. He then went on to join Google, where he strongly contributed to growing Google's presence by building its Malaysian operations from the ground up. He eventually ran and managed their operations across Malaysia, Vietnam, the Philippines, and emerging countries. After a 20-year stint in Southeast Asia, he returned home to India and was instrumental in expanding the Google Pay business before joining Disney+ Hotstar in 2022.

An athlete at heart, he represented Singapore in cricket as well. He holds a B.A. (Hons) in History from Hindu College, Delhi University, an MBA from Fore School of Management, New Delhi and another MBA (with distinction) from the Asian Institute of Management, Manila, Philippines.

A cable and broadcasting industry veteran with more than 25 years in the trade fraternity, Gurjeev is credited with innovations and best practices. He has played an instrumental role in digitization; collaborating with broadcasters, DPO partners, regulatory authorities, and other industry stakeholders, to join forces and build a digital highway that has been crucial in curbing piracy and bringing greater transparency in the business.

Prior to his current role, Gurjeev headed the International Business for Star out of London. He began his career with ESPN Star Sports for the South Asian countries, thereafter, he moved on to play crucial roles at Set Discovery(Business Head), Star Den Media Services(CEO), Media Pro(COO), a joint venture between Star DEN Media Services and Zee Turner.

Gurjeev holds a Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering from Delhi College of Engineering (DCE), and a Master's degree in Business Management from the Faculty of Management Studies (FMS), Delhi University.

In his previous role, Bikram was leading marketing and distribution for the Studios business. Before that he was spearheading the corporate strategy and business development functions for Disney India. Bikram has also led the marketing and digital efforts for the Media Networks business, and supported creative functions in building Disney’s linear TV business in India.

Bikram has more than two decades of extensive experience in the media industry. Before joining Disney India, Bikram worked with global brands across multiple categories in companies like JWT, Lowe, HUL, and Turner. He also founded his venture in the premium tourism segment in an entrepreneurial stint shortly before joining Disney.

He has a post-graduate diploma in advertising and communications management from NMIMS, Mumbai.

Having been with Star India for 10 years, Sanjog also led content development for Life OK – Star India’s GEC channel for two years, prior to his role in Sports. He has been in the broadcast industry for almost two decades and has donned content leadership roles across English & Hindi News, Hindi General Entertainment, and Sports.

He is also the Chairperson of the Sports & Youth Affairs Committee at FICCI. In this capacity, he has been influential in bringing the focus of corporate India to sports development and holistically driving a strong multi-sport ecosystem in the country.

Sanjog is a Graduate in Economics (Honours) from Shri Ram College of Commerce, University of Delhi.

Mihir has also played a pivotal role in guiding the company and the industry through challenging regulations under an ever evolving regulatory landscape in India.

Mihir began his career with Haresh Jagtiani & Associates as a litigation counsel practising before the Bombay High Court. Prior to joining Star India, Mihir worked at AZB & Partners, where he practised both contentious and non-contentious assignments. 

Mihir holds an LLB and is a Bachelor of Socio-legal Sciences, both from the Indian Law Societies, Law College, University of Pune.

Minakshi joined Star in 2016. Since then, she has been passionately driving creative communication and has helped businesses across verticals deliver impact at scale. She has been instrumental in crafting some of the biggest campaigns enabling the network brand and channel brands reach and stay in their dominant leadership positions. Some notable successes are the IPL campaigns including ‘Ek Saath Wali Baat’, ICC World Cup campaign, Star Plus refresh and the ‘Sach much” NTO campaign. She takes pride in delivering meaningful agendas creatively. A true believer in the power of collaboration, she builds a creative culture and sets up ecosystems inclusively, raising the creative temperature for teams to deliver to their highest potential.

Minakshi is a veteran, award-winning Creative Director with over 28 years across Advertising, Fashion and now Media. She was Chief Creative Officer at Rediffusion Young and Rubicam, House of Anita Dongre (a General Atlantic company), Creative Director at J Walter Thompson and Leo Burnett. Minakshi was also co-founder of Salt Brand solutions. She subsequently shifted gears migrating her brand building and creative skills to the fashion industry responsible for high street, couture and sustainable fashion.

Minakshi holds a Master’s in Business Administration (MBA) in Marketing from Indian Institute of Management Bangalore and a Bachelor of Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics from Mount Carmel College, Bangalore.

In his stint over 20 years with Star, Rishi has played an instrumental role in growing the talent pool to support aggressive business growth over the years. His work on the employer brand has set Disney Star as an aspirational employer. He has redesigned some of the company’s most thoughtful policies around inclusion, diversity, and employee benefits, and his efforts around institutionalizing comprehensive talent development practices have resulted in higher retention for the company.

Rishi has been a part of the core teams to set up a series of new businesses, including Star Sports and Hotstar. He has played a key role in setting up HR practices, strategy, and talent for Hotstar since the early stages of the business, which is now one of the most downloaded streaming apps in the world in the form of Disney+ Hotstar. 

He joined the Star Network in 2002 as an HR business partner for Star News and grew it from scratch to a diverse and agile 600-member team. Rishi believes in the culture of collaboration  and upheld this value even while leading various HR transitions, including integrating the India business of Star with Disney India and during Star’s acquisition of Asianet and MAA TV. 

Rishi began his career with Grindwell Norton, part of the Saint Gobain group, in 1997. He was last working with Computer Associates before joining Star. He holds a Master’s degree from Symbiosis Institute of Business Management, Pune.

He brings over 25 years of experience as a financial journalist and a communications professional. He has a deep understanding of communication trends and audience behaviour, which enables him to develop communication strategies that resonate with key stakeholders. Before joining Disney Star, in his last role, George was Director & Head of Group Communications for the Deutsche Bank Group in India. He was also Barclays' Head of Corporate Communications for the Asia Pacific region. George was a part of the founding teams that launched Bloomberg TV India (then UTVi) and ET NOW, prior to which he did a stint at The Economic Times. 

In his current role, he leads a team of communications, PR and ESR professionals who work together to ensure the company's messaging is consistent and effective across all channels.  

George is a financial journalist by training and holds a Commerce degree from Mahatma Gandhi University in Kerala.

Before joining Star India in 2005, he made significant contributions at Mindshare, NDTV, and Hutch (now Vi). However, he has truly found his home at Star India (now Disney Star), where he has dedicated the past 18 years to various functions. His journey began in the realm of Consumer Insight before transitioning to Distribution, where he played pivotal roles in Distribution Strategy and eventually took charge of the entire function. In the last seven years, he has been heading Disney Star's Tamil Business and taking on additional responsibilities across various markets. 

Krishnan Kutty holds an MBA from the Indian School of Business (Batch of 2004), a PG in Advertising and Communication Management from NMIMS (1999), and a B.Com degree from Mumbai University (1997).

Ajit is an MBA graduate from XIM Bhubaneswar. With over 27 years of experience, Varghese has established himself as a highly accomplished leader, driving growth and revenue while spearheading business transformations across multiple areas.