iWorld
Shailesh Amonkar and Darshan Gangakhedkar join Planet Marathi as strategic advisors
Mumbai: Vistas Media Capital Company’s Planet Marathi OTT announced its leadership expansion with veteran experts in media, marketing, and business. The OTT platform has onboarded Shailesh Amonkar and Darshan Gangakhedkar in the roles of strategic advisors. They will assume the responsibilities of mentoring and guiding the team on monetisation and strategy for the fast-expanding company and its various departments.
To develop exemplary capabilities, the focus is on appointing effective mentors who will steer and back pivotal decisions with their in-depth insight and command developed through years of market experience.
With three decades of core experience in revenue generation and brand building, Shailesh Amonkar considers himself both a marketing and a sales person at heart. Having worked with media conglomerates like The Times of India Group and Sakal Media Group, Amonkar has also worked in new media and new product development. His specialities include the building and monetisation of audiences and communities. Amonkar is an entrepreneur who runs Kemistry Media Solutions, a media consulting firm.
Commenting on his appointment, Amonkar said, “Planet Marathi OTT has surpassed expectations with its spectacular performance and ingenious ideas in concept and marketing. It will be an honour to guide as well as learn from these great minds, both fresh and experienced, all of whom are brimming with ideas for the firm.”
Darshan Gangakhedkar, a media sales expert, is an entrepreneur and media professional. He comes with 20 years of extensive experience and has won many accolades in the media sales space throughout his time in the industry. He has worked with prominent regional media businesses, including Hindi language media houses, Nava Bharat and Raj Express, and the leading Marathi language daily Sakal from the prestigious Sakal Media Group.
Gangakhedkar’s comprehensive knowledge of the language industry and exceptional skills in active media sales make him a great mentor asset. Speaking on his appointment, he said, “It is always great to be surrounded by teams who are willing to push boundaries. I have been following Planet Marathi OTT’s outstanding trajectory closely and it will be exciting to work on developing this business further, taking it to newer heights.”
Planet Marathi OTT founder and head Akshay Bardapurkar shared, “We are happy to announce that we will have the guidance of two exceptional names in the fields of media, branding and sales, both Shailesh Amonkar and Darshan Gangakhedkar. Planet Marathi OTT needs the expertise of these talents to draw out bigger goals and set out in the right direction to achieve them. Our teams will work to develop products, revenue streams, branding and audience engagement in the OTT space under the guidance of these professionals.”
Founded and helmed by national award winner, Akshay Bardapurkar who is known as a game-changing icon in the industry, Planet Marathi OTT has made a mark for itself in a short span of one year. Since its inception in August 2021, the OTT platform has seen a phenomenal spike of 500 per cent in its subscriber base due to its path-breaking content slate and genius marketing efforts.
iWorld
Epic Company launches unified Epic Studio for films and OTT
Vivek Krishnani to head films business; Samar Khan leads OTT & Television.
MUMBAI: Epic just merged its creative superheroes under one cape because when films and OTT need to fight for attention together, you don’t keep them in separate universes. The Epic Company has launched Epic Studio, a next-generation creative and production powerhouse that unites Juggernaut Productions and Movieverse Studio under a single banner. The move creates a streamlined, scalable platform for premium storytelling across theatrical films, OTT originals, television, digital-first formats and branded content.
Vivek Krishnani has been appointed chief executive officer, Epic Studio (Films), overseeing the theatrical and film business with a focus on culturally resonant narratives across Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, Gujarati and Malayalam cinema. Samar Khan continues as chief executive officer, Epic Studio (OTT & Television) and retains his role as chief content officer for Docubay and Epic On.
The Epic Company managing director Aditya Pittie said, “Epic Studio brings together our entire creative ecosystem under one unified studio vision. This is not just an integration of verticals, but the creation of a collaborative environment where writers, filmmakers, creators, and brand partners can seamlessly develop and scale stories across formats and screens.”
Vivek Krishnani added, “We are building an audience-focused mainstream film studio committed to delivering fresh, engaging, and innovative stories for both theatrical and streaming platforms.”
Samar Khan commented, “This alignment allows us to approach storytelling with a unified studio mindset. We are building IP under one creative umbrella, with scale and longevity in mind from inception.”
The unified structure eliminates silos, enabling ideas to flow fluidly from concept to screen while adapting to evolving audience behaviour. Epic Studio positions itself as a creator-led ecosystem championing purposeful, resonant storytelling with commercial strength.
In an entertainment landscape where stories now leap between screens faster than plot twists, Epic isn’t just building a studio, it’s crafting a single launchpad where every tale gets the best shot at soaring across every platform.
