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Gaurav BanerjeeManaging Director (MD) and Chief Executive Officer (CEO)
Gaurav BanerjeeManaging Director (MD) and Chief Executive Officer (CEO)
Gaurav Banerjee is a distinguished leader with over two decades of experience in the media and entertainment industry. As the Managing Director and CEO of Sony Pictures Networks India (SPNI), Gaurav is responsible for steering the company's strategic direction, ensuring operational excellence, and maintaining its leadership in the market. His expertise spans the creative and business aspects of the industry, enabling SPNI to stay at the forefront of innovation while achieving robust financial performance.
Gaurav has a proven track record of translating content strategies into sustained business growth. At Disney Hotstar, where he served as Head of Content, he played a key role in developing a diverse slate of series and films that resonated with both Hindi-speaking audiences and various regional markets. His strategic insight was instrumental in the platform's rapid growth, significantly increasing subscriber numbers and market share.
At Star India, Gaurav's leadership over Star Plus and the broader Hindi entertainment portfolio, including Star Gold, solidified the network’s market leadership. He also successfully launched and managed regional channels like Star Jalsha and Star Pravah, which quickly became market leaders. His ability to identify and leverage new market opportunities expanded the network's reach and drove significant financial growth.
His career began in the news sector, giving him a solid foundation in media operations. His academic background includes a master's degree in Filmmaking and TV production from Jamia Millia Islamia University and a graduate degree in History from St. Stephen's College, Delhi.
He enjoys watching cricket, a sport he follows passionately. He is also an avid movie enthusiast, often exploring new genres and styles in cinema, reflecting his deep love for film.
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Aditya MehtaHead – Corporate Strategy, Business Monetization & Data Analytics CoE
Aditya MehtaHead – Corporate Strategy, Business Monetization & Data Analytics CoE
Aditya has been with SPNI since 2013 and spearheads the corporate strategy, business monetisation and data analytics Centre of Excellence. He has been instrumental in the network's growth, expansion and streamlining of businesses and in leveraging the power of data.
With a career spanning over 20 years, Aditya's experience spans investment banking, venture capital and media and entertainment.
As part of the senior leadership team, he has worked closely with the office of the CEO on some notable strategic initiatives that include the acquisition of TEN Sports, the joint venture with BBC, re-entry of ESPN in India and SPNI's foray into the Kids' genre. Besides the network expansion, Aditya has worked on sports content acquisition deals such as media rights for Cricket Australia, England & Wales Cricket Board, Euro, Olympics and other non-sports rights.
Before SPNI, he worked with companies such as Standard Chartered Bank and Bank of America Merrill Lynch.
Aditya is an alumnus of the Indiana University – Kelley School of Business, where he completed his BSC in Finance and International Business.
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Ajay BhalwankarBusiness Head, Sony SAB
Ajay BhalwankarBusiness Head, Sony SAB
Ajay is a key member of the leadership team at Sony Pictures Networks India, having been with the company since 2014. In his current role as the Business Head of Sony SAB, he spearheads strategic growth and creative direction, enhancing the channel's reputation for quality entertainment. With a strong focus on delivering innovative, engaging content for a diverse audience, he leverages his extensive experience and creative leadership to continually elevate the viewing experience.
Over his decade-long tenure at SPNI, Ajay has also served as the chief creative director for Sony Entertainment Television (SET), the company’s flagship general entertainment channel. Under his leadership, Sony Marathi also achieved notable success, building a dedicated audience with high-quality relatable programming, firmly establishing the channel as a prominent player in the Marathi entertainment market.
Prior to joining SPNI, Ajay worked in various capacities across broadcasters and channels like Zee TV, Music Asia amongst others where he launched Marathi & Hindi channels besides producing Marathi films and setting up a film production studio. At Zee Network he was content head – Hindi GECs and had been instrumental in delivering quality content with exceptionally popular shows and remarkable characters across a bouquet of genres. He has also worked as a journalist with Mumbai’s leading Marathi newspaper ‘Aapla Mahanagar’ and fortnightly sports magazine ‘Ekach Shatkar’.
Ajay has an M.A.in French Literature from the University of Mumbai and done an advanced media management course from MICA, Ahmedabad. An ardent movie buff, he loves watching films in different genres, besides reading books on history, poetry and philosophy. During the weekends he loves to spend quality time with his family and go on road trips with them.
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Danish KhanBusiness Head - Digital Business StudioNEXT & Network Channels Licensing
Danish KhanBusiness Head - Digital Business StudioNEXT & Network Channels Licensing
Danish Khan heads SPNI’s digital business – Sony LIV, in addition to the network’s independent production venture – StudioNEXT and Network Channels Licensing. Besides being an experienced and seasoned media professional, he has an accomplished-dotted experience in both the marketing and the creative side of the entertainment space.
As the man at the helm, for Sony LIV and StudioNEXT, Danish drives the overall business of the three verticals with key focus on driving growth, viewership and developing innovative revenue opportunities. He has been instrumental in resurrecting marquee properties like Kaun Banega Crorepati, Indian Idol and The Kapil Sharma Show that have received widespread recognition across the industry. He has also created IPs with talent-led reality shows like Super Dancer and Superstar Singer, which have been well received by the audience and industry alike. He has also been in the forefront of launching and nurturing the StudioNEXT business, armed with the ambition of making SPNI a content leader in the M&E industry.
At Sony LIV, he successfully spearheaded the launch of the revamped OTT platform in May 2020. He has been instrumental in bringing together its robust content catalogue including titles like Avrodh, Your Honor, Undekhi and the mega-successful Scam 1992: The Harshad Mehta Story. He is credited for the platform reaching millions of subscribers within a short span of time. He has also served as the programming head of Star Plus where he is credited with building shows like ‘Mahabharat’ and ‘Yeh Hai Mohabbatein’. Prior to Star India, Danish was the Marketing head of SET, his first stint at SPNI.
A sociology graduate with a postgraduate degree in management, he has more than two decades of experience in advertising and the broadcasting industry. An avid reader, he enjoys listening to music, watching movies and soccer during his leisure time. He also loves to travel and is a foodie.
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Leena Lele DuttaBusiness Head, Sony YAY!
Leena Lele DuttaBusiness Head, Sony YAY!
Leena heads SPNI’s kids’ entertainment channel – Sony YAY! She is responsible for building this genre for SPNI through strategic content development and marketing initiatives.
A seasoned professional in the broadcast industry, Leena joined SPNI in 2016. Before that, she was the Executive Director, Distribution at Sony Pictures Television (SPT). In her role at SPT, Leena’s mandate was to spearhead, structure and develop the content distribution and licensing division for the company in India and South Asia. Previously, Leena has worked at Ten Sports India Ltd, Channel 9 (Nine Broadcasting Media) and MTV India amongst other reputed companies, besides having worked in Sales with SPNI from 1995-1999.
Leena holds a post graduate degree in Marketing Management from the University of Mumbai.
A hands-on mother of two young boys, Leena ensures that she balances her work life to spend quality time with them. An ardent dog lover and movie buff, she spends her weekends catching up on action movies, going for long drives with her family, and chilling out with her dog, Rex.
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Manu N. WadhwaChief Human Resource Officer and Head – Enterprise Technology Group
Manu N. WadhwaChief Human Resource Officer and Head – Enterprise Technology Group
A human resource management specialist, Manu joined Sony Pictures Networks India in 2019 to drive the people strategy for the network. In her current role, she is responsible to create a compelling employee experience while establishing leadership and promoting best talent practices.
With a career spanning over two decades, across various industries and countries, she has piloted the workplace and people agenda for dynamic global organizations like American Express & General Electric, in roles as Head HR, Talent & Development, M&A, HR Transformation, Change & Digital Innovation. Prior to joining SPNI in 2019, Manu was associated with Coca-Cola, as the Head of Human Resources - India and South West Asia.
She is a member of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) – National Leadership & HR Committee, Society for Human Resources Management (SHRM) – Asia Pacific Advisory Board, Chandigarh University Corporate Advisory Board and Jombay Advisory Board.
Manu holds a PGDBA in Human Resources from Symbiosis Centre for Management and Human Resource Development, Pune and a Bachelors in Economics from the University of Rajasthan.
An epicurean globetrotter, Manu likes to travel and experience culinary delights from across the world.
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Nachiket PantvaidyaBusiness Head - Sony Entertainment Television
Nachiket PantvaidyaBusiness Head - Sony Entertainment Television
With a rich and diverse career spanning three decades across multiple media conglomerates, Nachiket Pantvaidya heads SPNI’s flagship General entertainment channel Sony Entertainment Television (SET). This marks his third stint with Sony Pictures Networks India. While he joins the channel as the Business Head, he will also continue to manage his role as General Manager at Sony Pictures International Productions (SPIP).
At SPNI, Nachiket will be responsible for driving the overall business for SET with key focus on propelling growth, increasing viewership and developing innovative content and revenue opportunities. During his previous stints with the network, he has been instrumental in reinventing and monetizing marquee properties like Indian Idol, Kaun Banega Crorepati, and the Filmfare Awards also known as the Indian Oscars, that have garnered widespread recognition across the industry today.
Prior to joining SPNI, Nachiket was CEO - Sony Entertainment Talent Ventures (SETVi), Group CEO - Balaji Telefilms, Business Head of Sony Entertainment Television. He was also the Business Head of Star Plus and held several roles in the Star TV network, including Head of Star Pravah and Managing Director of Fox Television Studios. He has also held key management roles in BBC and Disney.
An alumnus of the Indian Institute of Management (Ahmedabad), Nachiket is a voracious reader and enjoys listening to music during his leisure time.
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Rajesh KaulChief Revenue Officer, Distribution and Head - Sports Business
Rajesh KaulChief Revenue Officer, Distribution and Head - Sports Business
Rajesh leads the Sports and Distribution verticals for SPNI. He is responsible for invigorating the sports business at SPNI and the acquisition of marquee sports properties for the network. Under his leadership, the SPNI distribution business has been expanding rapidly.
Rajesh joined SPNI in 2008. He began his career with ICI Paints and thereon moved on to Modi Entertainment Network. He joined ESPN Star Sports in 1997 and sharpened his leadership skills at the organization for over 16 years. Rajesh played a vital role in creating the success story of ESPNI Star Sports, heading their distribution and marketing nationally, and was credited with the successful launch of Star Cricket.
An alumnus of LIT Nagpur University, Rajesh has a degree in Chemical Engineering. He enjoys travelling and diving into the historical perspectives of global cultures in his free time.
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Ritesh KhoslaGeneral Counsel
Ritesh KhoslaGeneral Counsel
Ritesh Khosla joined Sony Pictures Networks India (SPNI) in 2008 and rose to the position of General Counsel in 2024. Previously, he served as Deputy General Counsel and Head - Standards & Practices for six years.
In his current role, Ritesh oversees Legal, Compliance & Regulatory Affairs, Corporate Relations, Public Policy, CSR, and the Standards & Practices functions for SPNI and its subsidiaries in India and internationally. He also serves as the company’s Ombudsperson and Data Protection Officer.
Ritesh provides strategic legal advisory and guidance, manages the company’s legal risks, and strengthens SPNI’s and its subsidiaries’ governance and compliance framework, especially in corporate, digital and intellectual property rights.
With over two decades of experience, Ritesh brings extensive expertise in mergers and acquisitions (M&A), joint ventures (JVs), regulatory frameworks, compliance, corporate governance, complex litigation, and intellectual property rights (IPR) protection and enforcement. He began his career as a practicing lawyer in law firms and, before joining SPNI, worked as a Senior Associate at UnitedLex and Chambers of Law, Chandigarh.
Ritesh holds an LLM in Intellectual Property Laws from the University of Manchester and a law degree from Panjab University, Chandigarh. He is a Director at Bangla Entertainment Private Ltd. (BEPL) and is also a member of the Broadcast Content Complaints Council (BCCC), a member of the Legal Committee of the IBDF and represents SPNI at Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI),
Beyond his professional life, Ritesh enjoys swimming and travelling.
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Sandeep MehrotraHead – Ad Sales, Network Channels
Sandeep MehrotraHead – Ad Sales, Network Channels
In his illustrious career spanning two and a half decades, Sandeep has a proven record in driving revenues and delivering efficiencies to clients & businesses. Within SPNI, he has moved through multiple channels, regions and ranks. In his current role as Head of Ad Sales - Network Channels, he is responsible for strategizing, planning and driving revenues for the Ad sales function.
With a unifocal thought of creating business solutions, he has invested his time in curating long-term client relationships. Sandeep strongly believes and works towards reinforcing the culture of innovation & pragmatism to the function of Advertising Sales and lives by his philosophy, “I am into the business of repeat purchases”. He has been instrumental in turning around operations that thrive on the rapidly changing market challenges. Sandeep’s rich experience and ability to comprehensively interpret priorities, align strategies and innovate, have led to impactful enterprise-wide sales solution plans and strategic initiatives for sales process reengineering.
Prior to joining SPNI, Sandeep was with Times of India Corporate where he was directly reporting to the Vice Chairman and Managing Director. In his stint of over 5 years, he led the Regional Centric Offerings where he played a pivotal role in turning non profitable businesses profitable.
An alumnus of the University of Lucknow, Sandeep also has a Post Graduate Diploma in Marketing Management from the Times School of Marketing.
During his free time, Sandeep loves to read and spend quality time with his family.
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Tushar ShahBusiness Head, Hindi Movies, English, Bengali, Marathi,Infotainment Channels & Chief Marketing Officer (CMO)
Tushar ShahBusiness Head, Hindi Movies, English, Bengali, Marathi,Infotainment Channels & Chief Marketing Officer (CMO)
Tushar is part of the SPNI’s leadership team and has been with the network for over 18 years across two stints. He brings over three decades of varied experience across revenue, marketing and business functions in print, telecom and media industries.
Equipped with a deep understanding of the media landscape and sharp business acumen, his responsibilities at SPNI include spearheading business and driving profitability for the Hindi movies, English, Bengali and Infotainment channels comprising Sony MAX, Sony MAX2, Sony WAH, Sony PAL, Sony PIX, Sony AATH and Sony BBC Earth. Tushar is also Chief Marketing Officer (CMO), where he is responsible for developing and implementing comprehensive brand strategies aligned with the company's overall goals and growth objectives. His dynamic leadership and expertise will fuel further innovation across these channels, enhancing their market presence.
Prior to joining SPNI, he worked in various capacities across sales, product development, marketing and communications in companies such as Times of India, Modi Telstra, Hutchison Telecom and Walt Disney. His strategic vision combined with entrepreneurial approach and strong execution capability has helped him successfully build brands, turnaround businesses and drive growth across several organisations.
An alumnus of St Xavier’s College, Kolkata, he also has a Post Graduate Diploma in Marketing from the Institute of Marketing and Management, Kolkata. Tushar loves to read, watch content, travel, and spend quality time with his family.
