News Broadcasting
Industry’s in trouble, but there’s hope
MUMBAI: CNBC‘s “The Entertainment Industry: Taking The Big Leap” brainstorming session held on 19 December in Mumbai, resulted in a lot of soul-searching amongst industry experts and heated debates involving the reasons for 2002 being billed as the year of ‘no-show‘ business.
The interactive session was aimed at generating interest in CNBC‘s new programme That‘s Entertainment. The programme is targeted at the ‘behind-the-scenes‘ happenings and the economics (should we say hard-hit) of the Rs 15 billion media industry.
The panel on the dais had CNBC Mumbai bureau chief Govindraj Ethiraj and his colleague Anuradha Sengupta moderating the discussion and inviting comments from an illustrious gathering comprising of SET India CEO Kunal Dasgupta, IDBI chairman and MD P P Vora, Reliance Entertainment chairman All India Film Producers‘ Council president Amit Khanna, UTV chairman Ronnie Screvwalla, ENIL MD A P Parigi, Shringar Films‘ director Shravan Shroff and Nimbus Communication chairman and MD Harish Thawani.
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The leaders in the business of entertainment rubbed shoulders with entertainment analysts, celebrities and superstars as the CNBC team sought insights and understanding on what makes the industry tick. The audience comprised of an illustrious gathering of people from various fields such as the film industry‘s producers, distributors, financiers; the TV producers, programmers, actors; radio a KPMG executive director Rajesh Jain kicked off the proceedings with a presentation on the mechanics of the entertainment industry. There were contrasting views offered by the panelists and the members of the audience on several issues: whether the Indian film industry scene was as bad as was perceived; whether the Hindi film industry deserves the attention it gets; whether creativity was being killed by money-minded producers; whether the content creators were in sync with the audience preferences; piracy and pilferage; the alternative streams of entertainments such as gaming, animation, live entertainment and home videos. Finally UTV‘s Biren Ghose summed up the feelings by saying that the entertainment industry must give adequate importance to the four key elements of the entertainment industry: the structural capital, the human capital, the intellectual capital and the customer capital. |
nd music industry head-honchos; and the media. Offering their views were film directors and producers Ramesh Sippy, Mukesh Bhatt and Manoj Desai; actor-producer Shekhar Suman; UTV COO of animation Biren Ghose; Saregama vice president Atul Churamani; TAM India CEO L.V Krishnan; TV programming executives Rekha Nigam and Nupur Asthana; and indiantelevision.com‘s Anil Wanvari.
News Broadcasting
Kamlesh Singh receives Haldi Ghati Award from MMCF
India Today Group editor honoured for three decades of journalism at Udaipur ceremony.
MUMBAI- Kamlesh Singh just turned a lifetime of sharp words into a shiny shield because when journalism wakes up a society, even the Maharana of Mewar wants to pin a medal on it.
The Maharana of Mewar Charitable Foundation (MMCF) conferred its prestigious Haldi Ghati Award on Kamlesh Singh, a senior editor at the India Today Group, during a ceremony in Udaipur on 15 March 2026. The national award, instituted in 1981-82, recognises “work of permanent value that initiates an awakening in society through the medium of journalism.”
Singh, who leads several editorial initiatives including Aaj Tak Radio, the Teen Taal community and The Lallantop, was presented the honour by Lakshyaraj Singh Mewar, Managing Trustee of MMCF. The citation highlighted his three decades of contributions to Indian media, innovations in digital journalism, mentoring young reporters, and his popular podcast persona “Tau” on Teen Taal, which fosters thoughtful public discourse.
The Haldi Ghati Award, named after the historic Battle of Haldighati symbolising valour and resilience, is one of four national awards given annually by MMCF. Past recipients include Tavleen Singh, Piyush Pandey and Raj Chengappa.
Other honourees this year included Padma Vibhushan Pt Hari Prasad Chaurasia, Vedamurti Devvrat Rekhe, Treeman of India Marimuthu Yoganathan, Vir Chakra Capt Rizwan Malik, and US-based researcher Molly Emma Aitken, who received the Colonel James Tod Award for contributions to understanding Mewar’s spirit and values.
In an era where headlines often shout louder than substance, the MMCF quietly reminded everyone that real journalism isn’t about noise, it’s about the quiet, persistent work that stirs society awake, one thoughtful story at a time.
