MAM
Havas Media Mumbai reports growth of 150 per cent in 2020-21
Mumbai: Following the strategic restructuring of Havas Media Group India’s senior management a few months ago, the agency’s Mumbai office has reported a growth of 150 per cent in 2020-21, on the back of over 15 new account wins.
This includes ACC Cement, Ambuja Cement, ICICI Securities, De Beers Forevermark, Wai Wai, GITAM University, Dr Reddy’s, OZiva, and several others. In addition, the agency has seen tremendous growth on the back of marquee clients like Tata Motors and TVS Eurogrip and their increased media spends even in 2020. In total, Havas Media Mumbai has added a total billing of over Rs 500 crore in 2020-21, the agency shared.
In the last fifteen months, Havas Media bolstered its senior leadership team in Mumbai. Uday Mohan took over as president & head – North & West India, which includes the Mumbai operations. In addition, Manish Sharma was elevated as executive vice president and head of the Mumbai operations. To further strengthen the strategy teams, Sanchita Roy was named Havas Media Group India strategy head.
“Despite the market challenges, in the last 15 months we stuck to our task, defined our vision and kept investing in both our talent and product,” said Havas Group India Group CEO Rana Barua. “In 2020, Havas Media Group India has garnered a growth rate of 35 per cent (RECMA June 2020) – the highest among all media agency networks in India.”
“Our North operations have always been extremely strong, and now it’s heartening to see the same being replicated in other markets,” said Havas Media Group India CEO Mohit Joshi. “We have seen both organic growth and won some fabulous new client wins in the West in the last 15 months resulting in unprecedented growth.”
“We are firmly aligned to the network’s global philosophy of creating meaningful media and brands. Havas Media Group is growing the business on four pillars – product, people, pitches, and partnerships,” said Uday Mohan, who has led this unprecedented resurgence story of Havas Media in the West. “Built on the media experience [Mx] operating structure, each phase of the Mx process is powered by converged, an identity–based planning platform, which places the audience at the heart of the media planning process and capitalises on media that matters.”
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.
