MAM
UdChalo appoints Abani Kant Jha as CFO
Mumbai: udChalo, a consumer tech company focusing on Indian defence personnel and their dependents, has announced the appointment of Abani Kant Jha as chief financial officer.
In his role, Jha will contribute to strategy formulation in alignment with the organisation’s long-term objectives and goals, planning and management of company resources to maximise ROI, identifying cost-saving projects and leading the treasury of the organisation for effective deployment of funds, said the company in a statement.
He will lead a team of tax experts, consultants, and the finance team at udChalo and play a key role in bringing investments for the next growth phase of the organisation, it added.
Welcoming Jha on board, udChalo CEO Ravi Kumar said, “We are confident that his expertise in global finance will benefit us to have better financial operations, identify risks, and setting up processes to mitigate them.”
Jha comes with 25 years of industry experience. In his most recent role, he was with Jindal Flims as director of business operations & CFO. He was previously associated with companies like EaseMyTrip, Aditya Birla Group, Koutons, DP World and Reliance Industries, where he held significant roles and handled global positions at leadership levels.
On his appointment, Jha stated, “I believe udChalo has a great business model and talented management team that uniquely positions it to capitalise on the changing environment. I look forward to working with the team.”
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.
