MAM
DDB Mudra names Anand Murty, Mehak Jaini as India strategy chiefs
Mumbai: DDB Mudra Group on Thursday announced the onboarding of Anand Murty and Mehak Jaini as strategy chiefs of DDB Mudra and 22feet Tribal Worldwide, respectively.
Both Murty and Jaini will lead the group’s promise of a cohesive view across advertising, digital marketing and media, the company said in a statement.
“We are so excited about Anand and Mehak taking charge of the strategy department at the group. They are the key to the kind of success we want to create for our people and clients,” commented DDB Mudra Group CEO and MD Aditya Kanthy. “From brilliant creative work and beautiful, seamless experiences through to measured and disproportionate brand and business growth – the strategists are at the heart of the action here. While one part of the task is to bring changes to the ways of traditional marketers, equally, they will help bring the basics of brand building and consumer thinking to help set a foundation for long-term sustainable growth for digitally forward companies.”
Murty and Jaini are also part of DDB Worldwide’s Global Strategic Council which brings together the network’s strategy leaders. The India chapter of the council seeks to bring together the ‘best-in-class’ Omnicom tools, integrating insights and understanding from across advertising, digital and media to partner with clients across workstreams – from brand consulting to creative strategy, said the statement.
“It is an absolute privilege to lead the strategy team at DDB Mudra and build the network’s strategic product with a partner like Mehak,” said DDB Mudra national strategy head Anand Murty. “The agenda is to continue to build a team that helps drive growth for our clients and partners with creative to deliver on Unexpected Works – on repeat. I look forward to continuing the momentum on DDB’s effectiveness charter and the deep work on insights and culture that has enabled us to build some solid work across our vast and diverse client portfolio.”
“The timing couldn’t be better,” stated 22feet Tribal Worldwide national strategy head Mehak Jaini. “With traditional businesses experimenting with their digital presence, and digitally native brands challenging what qualifies as marketing – be it exclusive experiences, metaverse extensions, or NFTs; an integrated strategy agenda like ours ensures no client is left behind. And with Anand’s team of brand & communication strategists, and 22feet’s specialist teams of digital evangelists, technologists, brand and business analysts, SEO & listening experts, data nerds and media mavericks, the full funnel wins are ripe for reaping.”
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.
