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PR story comes full circle as veteran pens India’s five-decade journey
MUMBAI: From press releases to power moves, Public Relations in India has been on quite the rollercoaster and now its story has been bound between covers. Communication veteran Ganapathy Viswanathan, who has spent over 30 years shaping brands at Ogilvy, Lintas, Mudra and Publicis, has launched a new book chronicling PR’s dramatic transformation across five decades.
What began in the 1970s as a little-understood function has now grown into a strategic juggernaut that drives reputation, navigates crises, and even influences elections and sport. Viswanathan’s book captures this arc with real-world anecdotes and practical insights that make it both a guide for the young and a mirror for industry stalwarts.
“PR today is about building trust, telling authentic stories, and engaging meaningfully with audiences across platforms. This book is my tribute to a profession that has the power to shape perceptions, influence decisions, and create lasting impact,” said Viswanathan at the launch.
The chapters don’t shy away from today’s burning questions either: the talent crunch, the shifting roles of influencers and journalists, and how empathy has become as critical as strategy.
For students, it’s a crash course in a craft that’s moved beyond “spin.” For professionals, it’s a reminder that PR is now central to boardrooms, not just newsrooms. And for India’s communication industry at large, it’s a milestone marker charting how far PR has come, and how much further it could go.
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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.
