Imagining the Future

Prior to his media career, K Madhavan was in the banking and corporate finance sector. K Madhavan currently serves as president of the Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF) and as chairman of the National Committee of Media & Entertainment CII (Confederation of Indian Industry). 

He is a post-graduate in Commerce from Calicut University and Certified Associate of Indian Institute of Bankers (CAIIB).

Before taking on an expanded role, Kevin was spearheading the regional entertainment channels across Maharashtra, Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Kerala, and Karnataka. In his stewardship, the regional GECs portfolio has grown significantly and several channels have attained leadership and the highest market share.

In 2013, he drove the successful launch of English premium HD offerings with Star Movies Select and Star World Premiere while leading the English cluster of channels; in 2011, he took on the responsibility to lead Star Jalsha which he quickly catapulted into the #1 entertainment channel in West Bengal. Kevin joined Star in 1996 and soon became the youngest Ad sales lead in the company’s history.

Kevin began his career with The Times Group in 1992. He holds a Diploma in Business Management from Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies.

Amita is an Electronics & Telecom engineer with a specialization in Human Resources from XLRI. Before Star, she has worked in diverse organizations such as Asian Paints, GE Capital, Genpact and MetLife India Insurance. Amita also provides pro-bono support to Care India, an international NGO.

Gaurav joined Star News as prime time anchor and senior producer and launched the Bengali news channel of the group, Star Ananda in 2005. 

He moved on to lead the content strategy of the network’s regional entertainment channels in 2008 and expanded the company’s reach in two new markets, Bengal and Maharashtra with Star Jalsha and Star Pravah respectively. Within a year of launch, Star Jalsha became the number one Bengali language channel in India.

In October 2009, Gaurav moved on to Hindi entertainment as Head of Content Strategy at Star Plus, and he was responsible for Star’s widely popular shows like 'Diya aur Baati Hum' and 'Sasural Genda Phool'.

Gaurav took on the role of General Manager of Star Plus in 2013 and propelled Star Plus into a strong leadership brand with blockbuster shows like Mahabharata and Yeh Hai Mohabbatein.

Around 2015-2016, as Star’s entertainment became available across screens, Gaurav took charge as the leader of the Content Studio and refreshed the storytelling approach for Star Plus and Star Bharat. He has strengthened the Disney+ Hotstar library with world class content that appeals to unique tastes of audiences with Hotstar Specials like ‘Special OPS’ and the Emmy nominated ‘Aarya’. 

Gaurav is dedicated to nurturing a pool of talented writers with Star Writers Program – one of India’s most immersive courses in television writing.

Gaurav believes that good stories provide context. It comes from his experience of being a journalist with Aaj Tak in 2000. As an anchor, he covered the Afghan war and the General Elections.

Gaurav has a Master’s in Film Making and Video from Mass Communications Research Centre, Jamia Milia Islamia University, Delhi.

A cable and broadcasting industry veteran with more than 25 years in the trade fraternity, Gurjeev is credited with innovations and best practices. He has played an instrumental role in digitization; collaborating with broadcasters, DPO partners, regulatory authorities, and other industry stakeholders, to join forces and build a digital highway that has been crucial in curbing piracy and bringing greater transparency in the business.

Prior to his current role, Gurjeev headed the International Business for Star out of London. He began his career with ESPN Star Sports for the South Asian countries, thereafter, he moved on to play crucial roles at Set Discovery(Business Head), Star Den Media Services(CEO), Media Pro(COO), a joint venture between Star DEN Media Services and Zee Turner.

Gurjeev holds a Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering from Delhi College of Engineering (DCE), and a Master's degree in Business Management from the Faculty of Management Studies (FMS), Delhi University.

He has over 20 years of experience, with a rare mix of product engineering and commercial expertise. He brings experiences from across the world – having scaled businesses in the US, setting up large teams in South East Asia, and working with super app players in Latin America.

Sunil joins Disney+ Hotstar India from Google (Mountain View, California) where he worked for 8 years, and last served as the GM & Managing Director, Cloud for Games. He oversaw product, engineering and business development to grow the Cloud business in the video games segment. Prior to Google, Sunil worked with McKinsey & Co. for 8 years, where he was instrumental in driving commercial growth for large tech clients and developed deep expertise in sales force productivity and technology-enabled selling. He has also worked with Infosys, iGATE Mastech and IBM.

Sunil was raised in Chennai and completed Bachelor of Engineering in Computer Science from Madras University in 1996, after which he moved to the US in 1997.

In his previous role, Bikram was leading marketing and distribution for the Studios business. Before that he was spearheading the corporate strategy and business development functions for Disney India. Bikram has also led the marketing and digital efforts for the Media Networks business, and supported creative functions in building Disney’s linear TV business in India.

Bikram has more than two decades of extensive experience in the media industry. Before joining Disney India, Bikram worked with global brands across multiple categories in companies like JWT, Lowe, HUL, and Turner. He also founded his venture in the premium tourism segment in an entrepreneurial stint shortly before joining Disney.

He has a post-graduate diploma in advertising and communications management from NMIMS, Mumbai.

Having been with Star India for 10 years, Sanjog also led content development for Life OK – Star India’s GEC channel for two years, prior to his role in Sports. He has been in the broadcast industry for almost two decades and has donned content leadership roles across English & Hindi News, Hindi General Entertainment, and Sports.

He is also the Chairperson of the Sports & Youth Affairs Committee at FICCI. In this capacity, he has been influential in bringing the focus of corporate India to sports development and holistically driving a strong multi-sport ecosystem in the country.

Sanjog is a Graduate in Economics (Honours) from Shri Ram College of Commerce, University of Delhi.

Mihir has also played a pivotal role in guiding the company and the industry through challenging regulations under an ever evolving regulatory landscape in India.

Mihir began his career with Haresh Jagtiani & Associates as a litigation counsel practicing before the Bombay High Court. Prior to joining Star India, Mihir worked at AZB & Partners, where he practiced both contentious and non-contentious assignments. 

Mihir holds an LLB and is a Bachelor of Socio-legal Sciences, both from the Indian Law Societies, Law College, University of Pune.

Minakshi joined Star in 2016. Since then, she has been passionately driving creative communication and has helped businesses across verticals deliver impact at scale. She has been instrumental in crafting some of the biggest campaigns enabling the network brand and channel brands reach and stay in their dominant leadership positions. Some notable successes are the IPL campaigns including ‘Ek Saath Wali Baat’, ICC World Cup campaign, Star Plus refresh and the ‘Sach much” NTO campaign. She takes pride in delivering meaningful agendas creatively. A true believer in the power of collaboration, she builds a creative culture and sets up ecosystems inclusively, raising the creative temperature for teams to deliver to their highest potential.

Minakshi is a veteran, award-winning Creative Director with over 28 years across Advertising, Fashion and now Media. She was Chief Creative Officer at Rediffusion Young and Rubicam, House of Anita Dongre (a General Atlantic company), Creative Director at J Walter Thompson and Leo Burnett. Minakshi was also co-founder of Salt Brand solutions. She subsequently shifted gears migrating her brand building and creative skills to the fashion industry responsible for high street, couture and sustainable fashion.

Minakshi holds a Master’s in Business Administration (MBA) in Marketing from Indian Institute of Management Bangalore and a Bachelor of Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics from Mount Carmel College, Bangalore.