MAM
Megha Ajgaonkar named GM- sales at The Leela Palaces, Hotels & Resorts
Mumbai: The Leela Palaces, Hotels and Resorts on Friday announced the appointment of Megha Ajgaonkar as general manager for sales division. In her new role, Ajgaonkar will spearhead and drive sales performance thus fortifying The Leela’s sales and distribution network and strategies.
Ajgaonkar brings with her about two decades of diverse experience in hospitality and business development. Prior to joining The Leela, her most recent role was with Marriott International as area director of sales & distribution West India for Marriott South Asia. Over the course of her vast career, Ajgaonkar has worked with brands such as Taj, Starwood, and Marriott.
She has been instrumental in the successful opening of multiple luxury brands across the country including the JW Marriott Mumbai Sahar and positioning the Ritz Carlton Pune. Her sales leadership aided luxury hotels including the W Goa, St Regis Mumbai, and JW Marriott Juhu in expanding their market share performance.
A hotel management graduate and an alumnus of IHM, Aurangabad, Ajgaonkar began her journey through the Taj Management Training Program and is also a certified sales trainer. She is the recipient of multiple industry accolades for leading from the front and driving sales performance in her former roles.
Welcoming Ajgaonkar on board, The Leela Palaces, Hotels and Resorts, chief operating officer, Anuraag Bhatnagar said, “With her extensive experience, understanding of key markets, and strong relationships, we are confident that Megha will further enhance and strengthen The Leela’s sales and distribution network and strategies.”
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.
