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Sony Pictures Networks India (Spni) has unveiled three leadership changes, amid other management changes.

Nachiket Pantvaidya will become the Business Head of Sony Entertainment Television (Set), marking his third stint with Spni. He will also continue to serve in his current role as General Manager at Sony Pictures International Productions (Spip). The company stated that Pantvaidya’s previous responsibilities included managing P&l for Set, developing franchises, and boosting advertising and distribution revenues.

Ajay Bhalwankar will take on additional responsibilities as the Business Head of Hindi-language channel Sony Sab. He has been at Spni since 2014 and currently heads its Marathi channel. Previously, Bhalwankar served as the chief creative director for the Set channel. The company stated that his leadership has allowed Sony Marathi to see significant growth and “carve a niche in the crowded Marathi Gec market,” helping the channel capture a 9% market share.

Tushar Shah will oversee Sony Max,...

Sony Pictures Networks India (Spni) has revealed a series of leadership changes, affecting key positions across its entertainment channels.

Nachiket Pantvaidya, a seasoned media executive with previous stints at Star TV and Balaji Telefilms, has been appointed as the business head of Sony Entertainment Television (Set). This marks Pantvaidya’s third stint with Spni. He will retain his current role as general manager at Sony Pictures International Productions, allowing him to leverage his expertise across both platforms.

Tushar Shah, currently the business head of English, Bengali, and infotainment channels and the chief marketing officer at Spni, will expand his portfolio to include oversight of Sony Max, Sony Max HD, Sony Max 2, Sony Wah, and Sony Pal. Shah, who has been with Spni for nearly 18 years across two tenures, has been instrumental in driving growth and profitability for the channels under his purview.

Ajay Bhalwankar, who has been with Spni since...

Cannes Do Spirit

Coralie Fargeat’s Demi Moore-starring feminist body horror film “The Substance” has been set as the closing night title for the New Zealand International Film Festival. The picture is one of 16 which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival last month selected for the Nziff which is now under the artistic leadership of Paolo Bertolin.

The Nziff’s Fresh” strand features: “Good One,” by India Donaldson (daughter of New Zealand cinema legend Roger Donaldson); “To A Land Unknown,” by Mahdi Fleifel; Truong Minh Quý’s “Viet and Nam” a journey of young miners in Vietnam; Mo Harawe’s “The Village Next to Paradise”; and Agathe Riedinger’s “Wild Diamond.”

The “Widescreen” strand showcases films including: Chinese director Guan Hu’s Un Certain Regard-winning “Black Dog”; Mohammad Rasoulof’s “The Seed of the Sacred Fig,” which took home Cannes’ Special Jury Prize; Boris Lojkine’s “The Story of Souleymane...

Sony Pictures Entertainment has hired Nachiket Pantvaidya as general manager of productions in India.

In the role, Pantvaidya will oversee local Indian production while working alongside Shony Panjikaran who is the general manager and head of Sony Pictures Releasing International in India.

Pantvaidya was previously CEO at Balaji Telefilms and Head of Business at Sony Entertainment Television. He also served as the head of business at Star Plus and held several roles in the Star TV network, including head of Star Pravah and managing director of Fox Television Studios.

“I am pleased to lead and nurture our creative and business forces to ensure that we best serve our movie audiences, especially in these dynamic times where the creative and business parameters for movie making in India are being redefined,” Pantvaidya said of his new job.

“We are aiming to scale our output to not only match audience expectations but also...

Principal photography has commenced on Netflix original drama-comedy film “Kathal” (Jackfruit) from Ekta Kapoor’s Balaji Telefilms and Guneet Monga’s Sikhya Entertainment.

The woman-led film starring Sanya Malhotra and Anant Joshi (“Cobalt Blue”) is set in a small town and revolves around a local politician whose prized jackfruits go missing and a young police officer who is adamant to solve this bizarre case to prove herself. “Kathal” marks the directorial debut of Yashowardhan Mishra, who previously directed several shorts and Amazon Prime Video comedy special “Pata Nahi Par Bolna Hai.”

Mishra co-wrote the script with revered writer Ashok Mishra, who won India’s National Film Award for best screenplay for Shyam Benegal’s “Samar,” and whose credits also include Benegal’s “Bharat Ek Khoj,” “Welcome to Sajjanpur” and “Well Done Abba!,” Saeed Akhtar Mirza’s “Naseem” and Jagmohan Mundhra’s “Bawandar.”

Kapoor, known as India’s soap opera queen,...

Indian streamer Alt Balaji has notched more than 20 million paid subscribers as of the end of the first quarter of 2019, building a customer base by keeping prices low and courting viewers outside the big cities.

While the top five metropolitan areas account for 55% of India’s Ott users, Tier 1 cities account for another 36%, according to a study released in June by Counterpoint Research. Alt Balaji, a division of Balaji Telefilms, has made inroads in this market, and its subscribers are likely to hit 25 million when its next quarterly results are announced.

“We are in mass Hindi-speaking India,” Nachiket Pantvaidya, Group COO of Balaji Telefilms and CEO of Alt Balaji, told Variety. “We want people in Surat, Ranchi, Raipur to watch us. We want people in rural India to watch us.”

Launched in 2017, Alt has consistently managed to stay within the top percentile in a crowded market of more than 30 Ott players,...

Redefining ?entertainment? right from its inception, ALTBalaji, India?s leading homegrown Ott platform completes 2 glorious years. Housing an extensive, multi-genre content library, the platform has established a niche for itself in the Originals space and has successfully created an individual binge-viewing habit amongst the Indian audience. With over 36 originals as of today, ALTBalaji aims to further bolster this content library with a committed pipeline of around 100 shows by 2020.

Speaking on the 2nd anniversary, Nachiket Pantvaidya, CEO ALTBalaji, and Group COO, Balaji Telefilms said, ?Entertaining viewers with innovative content has been the core ethos of the group and very significantly runs in the DNA of ALTBalaji too. Celebrating the journey of 2 glorious years is a very proud moment for us as we set foot into the third year. By constantly working on an effective content strategy to cater to individuals, we aim to ramp up our offerings in the Originals space at an exciting pace.

NEW DELHI -- BBC Worldwide's BBC Global Channels division on Wednesday announced the appointment of Nachiket Pantvaidya as general manager, South Asia, reporting to Christine Leo-McKerrow, senior vp Global Channels Asia-Pacific.

Pantvaidya, based in Mumbai, recently resigned from Walt Disney Television India, where he spent three years as executive director of programming and production. He begins his new role with the BBC on July 11.

Pantvaidya will be responsible for leading the BBC Global Channels team in the region, where he will manage the growth strategy for such BBC-branded channels as news network BBC World, BBC Entertainment and CBeebies.

"There is enormous opportunity for BBC Global Channels in India right now, and we are delighted to have Nachiket's unique strengths to build a deep business and to ensure our channels really resonate with our audience," Leo-McKerrow said.

NEW DELHI -- Mumbai-based Walt Disney Television International India said Thursday that its second original production will be "Dhoom Machao Dhoom" (Make Some Noise).

The project follows the network's local-content debut this year with "Vicky Aur Vetal".

Targeting a "tween" audience, the live-action "Dhoom Machaao Dhoom" tells the story of four young girls who team up to form a band against all odds.

The show is set to air Monday-Thursday on the Disney Channel.

"Following the success of the first local production, 'Vicky Aur Vetaal, ' Disney Channel seeks to further strengthen its already robust connection with kids and their families with this cool and contemporary show," WDTI executive director Nachiket Pantvaidya said.

"Dhoom" features the voice talents of Bollywood female singer Shreya Ghoshal, among others.