News Broadcasting
Rajesh Devraj quits Sony
MUMBAI: SET’s executive creative director Rajesh Devraj has put in his papers.
The resignation confirms the buzz that has been doing the industry rounds since early October that Devraj was on his way out. This was when veteran writer and filmmaker Venita Coelho joined SET with the brief to work along with Devraj in developing new shows.
When contacted, SET executive vice president Sunil Lulla would only say, “Rajesh had a contract with us which has come to an end.”
Devraj who joined Sony in January this year, says he had been working on a feature film script before joining SET and intends to go back to that now. Devraj has earlier worked with Channel [V], MTV and Hindustan Thompson Associates.
Among the highpoints of his tenure at SET, Devraj counts Jassi Jaissi Koi Nahin, definitely. “It was an enjoyable experience working with the SET team, and talented, intelligent people like Tony and Diya and Victor Acharya. It was equally gratifying that all the decisions we took on the adaptation – the story changes, the casting, the production design, the Punjabi flavour, the characterizations of Jassi and her family – everything connected with the audience as we’d planned. We tried to bring in a freshness lacking on television, and our efforts paid off,” he says of the Jassi experience.
Apart from Jassi, Devraj has also initiated a few projects that he believes are path-breaking in their own way. “I hope they do as well,” he says.
About the learnings he garnered at Sony, Devraj says, “Personally, I’ve learnt a great deal about shaping ideas. The sheer exposure to a large volume of scripts and ideas, the process of interacting with writers every day, all of this has helped sharpen my own creative skills.”
About his tenure at Sony, however, Devraj has a different opinion. “It’s been frustrating, I won’t deny that, but it’s been an incredible learning experience as well. So no regrets.”
News Broadcasting
Uma Sudhir signs off from NDTV after 27 years
The executive editor shaped NDTV’s southern reportage for nearly three decades
NEW DELHI: Senior journalist Uma Sudhir has retired from NDTV, bringing to a close a 27-year association with the network.
Sudhir served as executive editor, heading NDTV’s south India editorial operations. Over nearly three decades, she emerged as one of the most recognisable faces of on-ground reporting from the region, with sustained coverage of politics, governance and social issues across Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.
At NDTV, Sudhir played a central role in strengthening regional journalism within national television news. Her reporting consistently connected local developments to the national conversation, ensuring stories from the field shaped policy debates beyond studio discussions. Known for her boots-on-the-ground approach, she came to represent a generation of reporters whose authority rested on fieldwork rather than prime-time punditry.
An award-winning journalist, Sudhir is a recipient of the Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Award and the Chameli Devi Jain Award. Her body of work has been widely recognised for its public-interest focus, spanning elections, governance, gender issues, rural distress, environmental reporting and social justice.
