MAM
Saha takes centre stage as JioStar signs industry heavyweight for SVP role
MUMBAI: If career graphs had box-office openings, Krishnendu Saha’s newest move would be a first-day, first-show sell-out, as the seasoned media strategist steps into his new role as senior vice president at JioStar. The appointment marks a significant talent win for the company, bringing on board one of the industry’s most analytically grounded and regionally fluent leaders.
Saha joins JioStar after a standout two-year stint as business head of Colours Bangla Cluster, Jalsha Movies, Star Kiran, and head of Marketing, Strategy and Insights for Star Jalsha at Disney Star (Nov 2023–Nov 2025). In this role, he steered multi-genre, multi-market portfolios, shaping content strategy, platform positioning and regional growth across West Bengal and Odisha.
Before Disney Star, Saha spent 1 year and 7 months at Viacom18 as senior director, marketing and content/business strategy for Colours Bangla and Colours Bangla Cinema, a phase defined by sharp regional consumer decoding, content optimisation, and brand strengthening across the Bangla cluster.
His earlier milestone-rich journey includes over two years at Sun TV Network, where he led marketing, research & strategy for Sun Bangla, the company’s first foray beyond the South. He also played a central role in establishing the network’s footprint in Maharashtra with the successful launch of Sun Marathi.
Saha’s understanding of regional dynamics runs deep. Between 2019 and 2020, as assistant vice president of research & strategy for Zee’s regional HSM & premium cluster, he helped craft the business plan for Zee Punjabi, the network’s maiden GEC in the region, and Zee Ganga Biskope, a Bhojpuri movie channel. His work spanned consumer insights, content calibration, and strategic planning across brands like Zee Marathi, Zee Yuva, Zee Talkies, Zee Bangla, Zee Bangla Cinema, Zee Sarthak and the premium English cluster.
His longest-running association was with Star India, where he spent nearly five years driving strategy for Star Jalsha, Jalsha Movies, and later Star Plus, contributing to long-term growth roadmaps, programming direction, communication strategy and consumer insights. From analysing show health and audience behaviour to shaping full-channel strategies, his analytical depth became his signature.
Saha’s professional foundation, however, predates media beginning as a senior software engineer in Samsung R&D’s graphics team before pivoting into management through an MBA from FMS Delhi. His academic background includes an M.Tech and B.Tech from IIT Bombay, where he graduated with top-tier SPI scores (9.8 and 10.0) and held leadership roles in NSS and departmental bodies.
Across Disney Star, Viacom18, Sun Network, Zee, and Star, one thread runs consistently through his career, a reputation for data-backed decision-making, regional mastery, and brand-building.
At JioStar, Saha steps into a pivotal leadership position at a time when the network is sharpening its regional strategy and scaling its entertainment footprint. With his track record of launching channels, shaping clusters, decoding diverse markets, and driving business transformation, the appointment signals a clear intent: JioStar is doubling down on expertise to power its next phase of growth.
For an industry where talent is often the true differentiator, this is a move worth watching and perhaps a sign that the next big plot twist in regional broadcasting is just getting written.
Brands
Faber-Castell India appoints Sunaina Haldar as director – marketing
With stints at Tata, SleepyCat and ADF Foods under her belt, Haldar is primed to redraw Faber-Castell’s brand story
MUMBAI: Faber-Castell India has poached Sunaina Haldar from ADF Foods, appointing her director – marketing as the German stationery brand looks to muscle up in a category that is rapidly reinventing itself around creativity and self-expression.
Haldar hit the ground running. “My first couple of weeks have been incredibly energising, understanding consumers, visiting markets, engaging with retailers and immersing myself into the world of Faber-Castell Group,” she said.
She arrives with considerable firepower. At ADF Foods, Haldar ran marketing across India and international markets for a portfolio spanning Ashoka, Aeroplane, Camel and ADF Soul. Before that, she was vice-president – marketing at direct-to-consumer mattress brand SleepyCat, where she helmed brand, content and performance marketing. Her résumé also includes a stint leading marketing, new product development and CRM for Tata SmartFoodz at Tata Consumer Products, no small proving ground.
Between corporate roles, Haldar also operated as a fractional CMO for early-stage startups, building marketing strategy and operational structures from scratch, a signal that she knows how to move fast with limited resources.
With 18 years straddling FMCG, D2C and the startup world, Haldar now takes the reins at a brand that has long owned the classroom but is clearly hungry for the living room. In a stationery market where the pencil has become a lifestyle statement, Faber-Castell has picked someone who knows exactly how to sell that story.
