MAM
Razorfish appoints Charulata Ravi Kumar as new CEO for India
MUMBAI: Razorfish has announced the appointment of Charulata Ravi Kumar as the chief executive officer, India.
Kumar will work from the agency’s Mumbai office, also responsible for the regional presence across Bangalore, Gurgaon and Pune. She will report to APAC executive chairman Vincent Digonnet.
Previously, Kumar has held leadership roles in India, Middle East and Europe and has managed businesses and brands across US and South Asia. Her 25 year career includes stints with the WPP and Lowe networks as well as establishing her own successful innovation and leadership skills consultancy Coffee Kettle.
Kumar said, “I’m honoured to lead Razorfish India’s business and to be tasked with taking the network to new heights, leveraging technology, social media, e-commerce, data services, experience, design and brand building capabilities to deliver transformational business experiences. My goal is to ensure Razorfish India remains to be the destination for smart, curious, creative and entrepreneurial-minded people and to further strengthen Razorfish India’s existing core competencies.”
Digonnet remarked, “Charulata brings to this role true business transformation skills through a blend of innovation, integrated marketing solutions and entrepreneurship. She has diverse experience across sectors such as services, manufacturing and consumer products across leading multinational corporations and global brands.”
He continued, “She is the perfect succession choice and her proven skills that help brands to bridge the gap between today’s business reality and tomorrow’s new opportunities, is a perfect marriage to Razorfish’s business model. She has in-depth understanding of the Indian market and her background is a perfect complement to the skills we have already developed.”
Outgoing managing director, Kanika Mathur added, “It’s been a privilege to have worked within the Publicis Groupe, latterly at Razorfish, an iconic organisation with digital at its core, since 2008. I commence my new professional challenge assured that under Charulata’s leadership, Razorfish India will continue to thrive and progress an agenda, helping clients navigate the future and transform their businesses.”
Kumar’s appointment is effective immediately.
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.
