News Broadcasting
Star Plus’ ‘Kucch Kar Dikhana Hai’ has a new face: Shruti Seth
MUMBAI: Starting today, Shruti Seth will be replacing Shonali Malhortra in the Star Plus talent hunt show Kucch Kar Dikhana Hai.
She will make her debut in a one hour special to be aired on the channel at 8 pm, while the Viva girls will be the celebrity judges for this special. In true Kucch Kar Dikhana Hai tradition, the celebrity guests will perform for the audience. But no surprise here, as they will be singing a song Tumko hai agar pyar from their debut album.
Besides being the newest addition to Channel [V] VJ bandwagon, Shruti has been a familiar face on television, courtesy her roles in the campus flick Kyun Hota Hai Pyarrr and Sabrina – the teenage witch spin off Shararat., both on Star Plus. While her role as Ramya in campus flick Kyun Hota Hai Pyarr is now being played by another actor, her role in the Shararat as ‘Jeeya’ is on kiddies’ must watch list. Besides, the lady had a cameo in Star Plus’ Friday big ticket show, Josh.
News Broadcasting
Senior media executive Madhu Soman exits Zee Media
Former Reuters and Bloomberg leader says he leaves with “no regrets” after brief stint at WION and Zee Business
NOIDA: Madhu Soman, a veteran of global newsrooms and media sales floors, has stepped away from Zee Media Corporation after a short stint steering business strategy for WION and Zee Business.
In a reflective LinkedIn note marking his departure, Soman said his time within the network’s corridors was always likely to be brief. “Some chapters close faster than expected,” he wrote, signalling the end of a nearly two-year spell in which he oversaw both editorial partnerships and commercial strategy.
Soman joined Zee Media in 2022 after more than a decade abroad with Reuters and Bloomberg, returning to India to take on the role of chief business officer for WION and Zee Business. His mandate was ambitious: bridge the newsroom and the revenue desk while expanding digital and broadcast reach.
During the stint, Zee Business reached break-even for the first time since its launch in 2005, while WION refreshed programming and strengthened its digital footprint across platforms such as YouTube and Facebook.
But Soman suggested the cultural fit proved uneasy. Describing himself as a “cultural misfit”, he hinted at deeper tensions between editorial instincts shaped in global newsrooms and the realities of India’s television news ecosystem.
Before joining Zee, Soman spent more than seven years at Bloomberg in Hong Kong as head of broadcast sales for Asia-Pacific, expanding the company’s news syndication business across several markets. Earlier, he held senior editorial roles at Reuters, overseeing online strategy in India and managing Reuters Video Services from London.
His career began in television and wire reporting, including a stint with ANI during the 1999 Kargil conflict, before moving into digital publishing as India’s internet media landscape took shape.
Now, after nearly three decades in broadcast and digital media, Soman is leaving Delhi NCR and returning to his hometown, Trivandrum.
Exhausted, he admits. But unbowed. And with one quiet line that sums up the journey: he didn’t sell his soul — because some things, after all, are not for sale.
