MAM
Joy Das joins FCBUlka Interactive as Media Director
MUMBAI: FCBUlka Interactive recently appointed Joy Das as Media Director – Digital. With the rapid growth that the FCBUlka Interactive arm has been clocking, it was only imperative to make a hire at this level to handle some of its key accounts.
Joy has tremendous experience in the digital space with over 10 years of focused digital media specialization. Being a well-entrenched digital expert, Joy boasts of an enviable twitter following of over 17,000 tweeters and a unique and inspiring blogger network. He also brings with him deep knowledge of Digital Media Mix Modelling Tools which ensure high efficiency and measurable response.
Prior to his stint at FCBUlka Interactive, Joy has worked on a gamut of brands like eBay, ITC, Tata Docomo, MTV,among many others.
FCBUlka Interactive has a long and impressive client list and works with Amul, TCS, Tata Chemicals, Abbott Healthcare, Wipro, ITC, Bausch & Lomb, Nerolac, ICICI Bank, World Vision, FabIndia, Tata Housing to name a few. Joy will provide leadership to the digital media duties of several of these accounts and will lead a team of over 10 digital media planning and buying professionals.
Joy, commenting on his appointment said “FCBUlka Interactive has some great accounts and has been doing robust work. In fact, a lot of their campaigns have been awarded at the Indian Digital Media Awards, DMAi 2013 etc. I am delighted to join the digital arm of one of the most respected advertising agency groups in the country. I look forward to contributing to this spree of account and award wins.”
Last year, FCBUlka Interactive had made a senior level hire with the recruitment of SudarshanSudevan aka Sudi as Creative Head -Digital. Sudi had an interesting career start as a cartoonist before venturing into the digital space and going on to become a digital specialist.
Commenting on Joy Das’ appointment,Satish Ramachandran, Senior Vice President, FCBUlka Interactive, said, “We are growing at a scorching pace and digital is well poised to become a key medium for many of our Group’s clients. Our Interactive team’s strength is now over 50 members. We have been consistently investing in talent and technology to ensure we are ahead of the curve. Joy’s experience will be of immense value for us to maintain our growth rate”
Digital
Content India 2026 opens with a copro pitch, a spice evangelist and a £10,000 prize for Indian storytelling
Dish TV and C21Media’s three-day summit puts seven ambitious projects before an international jury, and two walk away with serious development money
MUMBAI: India’s content industry gathered in Mumbai this March for Content India 2026, a three-day summit organised by Dish TV in partnership with C21Media, and it wasted no time making a statement. The event opened with a Copro Pitch that put seven scripted and unscripted television concepts before an international panel of judges, and by the end of it, two projects had walked away with £10,000 each in marketing prize money from C21Media to support development and international promotion.
The jury, comprising Frank Spotnitz, Fiona Campbell, Rashmi Bajpai, Bal Samra and Rachel Glaister, evaluated a shortlist that ranged from a dark Mumbai comedy-drama about mental health (Dirty Minds, created by Sundar Aaron) to a Delhi coming-of-age mystery (Djinn Patrol, by Neha Sharma and Kilian Irwin), a techno-thriller about a teenage gaming prodigy (Kanpur X Satori, by Suchita Bhatia), an investigative crime drama blending mythology and modern thriller (The Age of Kali, by Shivani Bhatija), a documentary on India’s spice heritage (The Masala Quest, hosted by Sarina Kamini), a documentary on competitive gaming (Respawn: India’s Esports Revolution, by George Mangala Thomas and Sangram Mawari), and a reality-horror competition merging gaming and immersive fear (Scary Goose, by Samar Iqbal).
The session was hosted by Mayank Shekhar.
The two winners were Djinn Patrol, backed by Miura Kite, formerly of Participant Media and known for Chinatown and Keep Sweet: Pray & Obey, with Jaya Entertainment, producers of Real Kashmir Football Club, also attached; and The Masala Quest, created and hosted by Sarina Kamini, an Indian-Australian cook, author and self-described “spice evangelist.”
The summit also unveiled the Content India Trends Report, whose findings made for bracing reading. Daoud Jackson, senior analyst at OMDIA, set the tone: “By 2030, online video in India will nearly double the revenue of traditional TV, becoming the main driver of growth.” He noted that in 2025, India produced a quarter of all YouTube videos globally, overtaking the United States, while Indians collectively spend 117 years daily on YouTube and 72 years on Instagram. Traditional subscription TV is declining as free TV and connected TV gain ground, forcing broadcasters to innovate. “AI-generated content is just 2 per cent of engagement,” Jackson added, “highlighting the dominance of high-quality human content. The key for Indian media companies is scaling while monetising effectively from day one.”
Hannah Walsh, principal analyst at Ampere Analysis, added hard numbers to the picture. India produced over 24,000 titles in January 2026 alone, with 19,000 available internationally. The country now accounts for 12 per cent of Asia-Pacific content spend, up from 8 per cent in 2021, outpacing both Japan and China. Key exporters include JioStar, Zee Entertainment, Sony India, Amazon and Netflix, delivering over 7,500 Indian-produced titles abroad each year. The top importing markets are Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt, the United States and the Philippines. Scripted content dominates globally at 88 per cent, with crime dramas and children’s and family titles performing particularly strongly.
Manoj Dobhal, chief executive and executive director of Dish TV India, framed the summit’s ambition squarely. “Stories don’t need translation. They need a platform, discovery, and reach, local or global,” he said. “India produces more movies than any country, our streaming platforms compete globally, and our tech and creators win international awards. Yet fragmentation slows growth. Producers, platforms, and tech move in different lanes. We need shared spaces, collaboration, and an ecosystem where ideas, technology, and people meet. That is why we built Content India.”
The data, the pitches and the prize money all pointed to the same conclusion: India is not waiting for the world to discover its stories. It is building the infrastructure to sell them.
