MAM
Havas Media Group India announces key elevations for senior management
Mumbai: Havas Media Group India on Monday announced several new elevations and promotions, as it gears up to accelerate its growth across key markets in the country.
This year, the focus of the agency has largely been on the product offering and thus investing in people and consolidating client businesses under the global Mx operating system. “Mx is Havas’ new way of activating the most meaningful media to the audience for all clients. This transformation ensures higher focus on clients, better omni channel planning and a seamless workflow right from client briefs to business results, whilst
keeping the audience and consumer behaviour at the centre of all planning exercise,” the agency said on Monday.
North: Delhi/Gurgaon is one of the largest business units of Havas Media Group India with clients ranging from auto, consumer durables, real-estate to fashion, F&B and hospitality sectors among others. The north operations have been consolidated under two unit heads – Roopali Sharma, who completes eight long years, and Harbir Singh, who completes six years. They have been promoted as managing partners – Delhi. Chandradeep Kumar completes five years and has been promoted to senior vice president (Delhi).
West: Mumbai will be led by Manish Sharma, previously vice president -Delhi as executive vice president & head – Mumbai. He has been with the organisation for over five years. Both North and West continue to report to president, north and west India Uday Mohan, who has been a pillar at the agency for the last 13 years.
South: Bangalore, which is another fast-growing market for Havas Media Group India with new-age clients such as Swiggy, Gamezy, MyGate and the recent win of Ola, will continue to be led by Saurabh Jain. He has been with the agency for over six years and has been promoted as managing partner – south.
Digital: Rohan Chincholi is now elevated to head of digital to oversee and consolidate the overall digital business/services across markets, as the agency strengthens its digital footprint in the region through its new Mx methodology that combines both consumer insight and data. This is Chincholi’s second stint at Havas Media. He re-joined the agency in 2017.
Saurabh and Rohan continue reporting to CEO, Havas Media Group, Mohit Joshi.
Commenting on the re-organisation, Joshi said, “Continuing to invest in people as we reaffirm our focus on Mx operating system and four Ps – Product, People, Pitches and Passion, I am excited to announce the promotions for these deserving leaders. They have been with us for a long time, tireless with their efforts and commitment in what has been one of the toughest years to help Havas Media reach greater heights. We are confident that going forward this team of emerging leaders will continue to help us become a more agile and robust media group.”
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.
