MAM
MSLGroup gets 8 new regional practice leaders in Asia
MUMBAI: Publicis Groupe’s strategic communications and engagement consultancy, MSLGroup has appointed eight new regional practice group leaders and two regional deputy practice group leaders across Asia to further strengthen the firm’s expertise and leadership.
The practice leaders will ensure best-in-class client service and strategic counsel, including growing the business, developing new offerings and methodologies, structured internal capability enhancement and thought leadership.
MSLGroup president Asia Glenn Osaki said: “Most of these top talents and leaders have been with us for many years, some have grown with us for over a decade. We are very happy to appoint these experts to take on international leadership roles and to contribute to developing the future of MSLGROUP in Asia and globally. MSLGroup is driving the change. I’m proud that these top talents will play a part in taking our firm – and our industry – to the next level.”
The eight regional practice leaders are: Amrit Ahuja (with over 20 years of experience she will be adding the role of regional practice leader to her current position as client engagement leader for 20:20 MSL in India), Narendra Nag (will be adding the role of regional practice leader to his current position as vice president and co-leader of MSLGroup Social Hive in India), Parveez Modak (apart from his current position as senior VP and co-leader of MSLGroup Social Hive in India, he will be adding the new role to his portfolio) , Amit Misra (he will be adding the role of regional practice leader to his current position as executive VP and director, Public Affairs, at MSLGroup in India), Par Uhlin (will add the role of regional practice leader to his current position as vice chair, MSLGroup China), Ellen Cheng (the sought-after trainer and advisor to senior executives of leading international companies in China will be adding the role of regional practice leader to her current position as director, MSLGroup China), Ken Hirata (will add the role of regional practice leader to his current position as senior director, MSLGroup in Japan), Dennis Hsu (will add the role of regional practice leader to his current position as VP, MSLGroup in Taiwan).
Jaideep Shergill will continue his leadership of the regional Financial Communications practice.
Two deputy practice leaders have also been appointed: Jolin Liu (will be adding the role of deputy regional practice leader to her current position as group account director, King Harvests) and Fu Yumei (will add the role of deputy regional practice leader to her current position as healthcare leader and senior associate director at MSLGroup in Singapore).
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.
