MAM
FICCI retains PKSV Sagar as sports panel chair, Adesara stays co-chair
MUMBAI: The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) has reappointed GMR Sports president PKSV Sagar as chairperson of its sports committee for another term, signalling continuity in its strategy to deepen private sector participation in Indian sport.
Sagar will continue to be supported by Adani Sportsline chief business officer Sanjay Adesara, who remains co-chairperson. WordsWork Communications founder Neha Mathur Rastogi has also been retained as secretary of the committee and convenor of Turf, FICCI’s annual sports conclave.
During the previous term, the committee played an active role in shaping policy discourse, issuing sectoral recommendations and studies, and advocating increased private investment in grassroots sports development across select states.
Responding to his re-election, Sagar said the renewed mandate reflected the committee’s collective progress in promoting a more sports-conscious India, with structured and purpose-driven corporate involvement.
FICCI president Anant Goenka and director general Jyoti Vij welcomed the reappointments, praising the committee’s contribution to strengthening the country’s sporting ecosystem and extending their best wishes for the new term.
MAM
Sameer Nair shares heartfelt note as he exits Applause Entertainment
After nine years building the streamer’s content engine, one of India’s best-known TV men is moving on
MUMBAI: Sameer Nair is out. The chief executive of Applause Entertainment, the content studio backed by Kumar Mangalam Birla’s media empire, has announced his departure after nearly nine years at the helm, closing the chapter on one of Indian entertainment’s more quietly consequential careers.
Nair, who built Applause from the ground up in its current avatar, oversaw a slate that spanned Indian originals and international adaptations, threading together a hub-and-spoke business model that partnered with streaming platforms, broadcasters and production houses alike. The results were uneven, as they always are in content, but the ambition was not.
In a post on LinkedIn, Nair was generous to his outgoing patron. He thanked Birla for being an “inspirational boss and a great patron of the arts,” and signed off with a cheerful “Au Revoir” and a promise to remain Applause’s biggest cheerleader. Whether that sentiment survives the next chapter remains to be seen.
No successor has been named. Applause Entertainment did not immediately comment.
Nair built the machine. Now someone else has to run it — and in a streaming market that is simultaneously consolidating and convulsing, that is no small ask.
