MAM
Baba Ka Dhaba owner files case against YouTuber who put him in limelight
NEW DELHI: Kanta Prasad (80), who runs the now-famous Baba Ka Dhaba in south Delhi, has filed a complaint against YouTuber influencer and food blogger Gaurav Wasan for allegedly misappropriating funds that were raised to help their business.
Prasad and his food stall became the talk of the town when Wasan shot a video of him tearfully recounting his struggle to keep the business running since the lockdown. The video was shared across social media platforms and people came out in droves to support #BabaKaDhaba.
Now, in his complaint Prasad has alleged that Gaurav Wasan shot his video and posted it online, asking the public on social media to donate money to the eatery owner.
Prasad also claimed that Wasan "intentionally and deliberately shared only his and his family and friends’ bank details and mobile numbers with the donors and collected a huge amount of donation through different modes of payments without providing any information to him.”
DCP (south) Atul Kumar Thakur said, “We received the complaint yesterday and are enquiring into it.” No FIR has been registered yet.
On his part, Wasan has denied the allegations and said he transferred all the money into Prasad’s account: “When I shot the video, I didn’t know it would become this big. I didn’t want people to harass Baba (Prasad) so I shared my bank details…” The food blogger shared three receipts of the transactions, all dated 27 October — two cheques of Rs 1,00,000 and Rs 2,33,000 and one receipt of bank payment of Rs 45,000. He said this was the amount of money collected in three days. Wasan also put up a bank statement on Facebook in which the total money credited in the three days is around Rs 3.5 lakh.
Asked about the other two transactions, Prasad said he hasn’t been able to check his account as he doesn’t carry his phone.
This turn of events has created quite a stir, with some questioning Wasan’s motivations, and others berating Prasad for turning on his benefactor. While some YouTubers accused Wasan of receiving Rs 20-25 lakh in donations, Wasan has strongly refuted it. “We have initiated legal action against the YouTubers,” he said.
Brands
Hemlata Sharma joins ONEOTT Broadband as chief business officer
Former Zee Media distribution head to steer growth, partnerships and strategy
MUMBAI:Â Hemlata Sharma has joined ONEOTT Broadband as chief business officer, bringing with her more than three decades of experience across television, telecom and media distribution.
Sharma most recently served as head distribution, research & CRM at Zee Media Corporation Limited, where she worked closely with editorial and senior management while overseeing distribution, consumer research and customer relationships for 14 news channels including Zee News, WION, Zee Hindustan and Zee Business, along with ten regional state channels.
In that role, she led nationwide distribution across platforms such as DTH, Hits, IPTV, cable networks and DD Free Dish. She also drove consumer research and strategic insights on a pan India scale, analysing content performance, anchor impact, programme slots and audience behaviour to guide editorial decisions and programming strategy.
Her portfolio also included managing one of the largest alliances with Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited and overseeing the global distribution monitoring of Wion across North America, Mena, Europe, Africa, APAC and Australia.
Earlier, Sharma briefly served as head sales and distribution at Triplecom Media Pvt Ltd, an engagement driven OTT platform bringing together content, gaming, music and advertising for the entertainment distribution ecosystem.
Her earlier career includes a senior vice president stint at Ten Sports Network, where she played a key role in relaunching the sports broadcaster as an independent bouquet comprising Ten Sports, Ten Cricket, Ten Action and Ten Golf following the Zee takeover. During this period, she moved from vp west to head strategy for cable and dth and later national head retail distribution, helping build the network’s retail distribution vertical across India and launching dedicated golf and football channels.
Before that, Sharma spent over six years at Bharti Airtel as general manager operations for Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. She initially led marketing and corporate communications before moving into sales leadership, where voice sales grew by 86 per cent and revenues by 96 per cent. She later headed business operations, expanding annual business volumes to Rs 100 crore while significantly reducing operational costs.
Sharma began her long association with the media distribution ecosystem at Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited as regional head sales and distribution for central India. During that period, she played a role in the early rollout of pay television channels including Zee Cinema, HBO, Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network, while also contributing to the launch of Siti Cable in key central Indian cities.
With her new role at ONEOTT Broadband, Sharma is expected to focus on strengthening business strategy, expanding partnerships and driving growth across the company’s broadband and digital distribution ecosystem.
