MAM
MindShare takes ‘mostest’ at Emvies 2005; Sony adjudged best marketer
MUMBAI: It was Champagne popping time for Group M’s MindShare, which swept the most awards by far at the Emvies 2005 that were held in Mumbai this evening. It was crowned Media Agency of the Year with a total of 70 points bagging five golds and four silvers.
Second in command were Lodestar Media and O&M with 30 points each. The former bagged two golds and three silvers, while the latter notched three golds.
Group M South Asia CEO Ashutosh Srivastava said, “The agency has truly been recognised for the depth of its work. A lot of people say that since we have the highest volume of business, we would tend to be the agency of the year but it’s interesting that there were a couple of agencies, which had more entries than MindShare.”
MindShare had a total of 50 entries while Madison had 60. The total number of entries that the Ad Club received were 264, out of which 37 were shortlisted. MindShare laid claim to 11 of the 37 shortlisted entries. Even more heartening was the fact that nine out of the 11 won awards.
An elated MindShare South Asia managing director Vikram Sakhuja says, “Clearly this victory is for the MindShare team, with the activation, ATG, Digital and various other units functioning in perfect synergy. I know how difficult team work is and when it happens it is truly commendable.”
When queried by Indiantelevision.com as to how they managed to make a clean sweep, Sakhuja candidly retorts, “We prepared very hard. Our written and oral presentation this time round was excellent. Last year, we didn’t pay attention to detail, which we ensured this year.”
He further added, “It is good clients that lift our game. It is only with their support and proactivity that quality can take an upper hand.”
Sony Entertainment Television (SET) India and Living Media India Ltd were adjudged the best media marketers of the year. SET India business head and executive vice-president Tarun Katial says, “It’s a credit to a great team including our agencies – Euro RSCG, Mediacom and Genesis. Also due credit goes to Sunil (Lulla now with the Times group) and Albert (Almeida business head of Max). We hope to keep this going and raise the bar each year.”
The Grand Emvies was bagged by Mediacom. The agency also bagged the Gold for the Best Media Research Award for Aviva Life Insurance and the Tam Award for the Best TV Research.
Madison Communications clinched the Best Case Study presentation (People’s Choice Award) for Nirvana Plus – The End of Reach.
For Best Media Strategy, in the category Best Media Innovation – Never Used Before Media; Lodestar Media won for the Club Mahindra (Mobile Holiday Rajdhani Express).
Interestingly, Starcom and Madison figured nowhere in the Top 8 agencies rated by the Ad Club. Lintas Media Group, on the other hand, didn’t participate in the Emvies this year.
The Awards were charged with enthusiasm, excitement and energy with hooting, drumrolls and live sirens. Building the tempo for the anxious media professionals was the emcee for the evening – the very suave and eloquent radio jockey Brian Tellis. With his energetic style he managed to lead the crowd of media professionals into a frenzy.
With a tally of 15 points, rmg David stood fourth, whereas SET India, Living Media India LTD, Mediacom and Maxus were all tied at the fifth spot with 10 points each.
Two acts were also performed at the Emvies, the first being a play called – Two to Tango produced by Rael Padamsee, which was a comedy revolving around the life of a married couple and the complexities of male and female incompatibilities. The second act was ‘apna’ Indian Idol Abhijeet Sawant who made the audience croon to his tunes.
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.
