MAM

Women leading from the front

Published

3 years ago

April 3, 2023

Mumbai: Today, women are breaking the glass ceiling in every sector. Beyond all this, there still exists a patriarchal mindset. Not many women are in the C-suite taking important decisions. And, of course, there still exists pay parity.

This Women’s Day, we, at Indiantelevision.com, are acknowledging some women leaders of the media, marketing, and advertising fraternity and also from other professions, who have given more than expected.

Mrinalini Khana, Vice President, Originals, Lionsgate

Her Journey

My journey makes me believe in miracles because when I was growing up in Delhi the thought of being in entertainment was farthest from my reality. I studied to be an Architect, I did science in school despite wanting to pursue a career in music, dance and acting but it so happened that opportunities led me towards writing and eventually I moved to Mumbai and became a producer with Endemol. I was actually a part of their ‘Think Tank’ which used to come up with formats on how to pitch ideas to broadcasters; I think my love for scripting just took over from then. Since 2012 I was pushing the company to move in the direction of scripted entertainment versus non-fiction which was our claim to fame. Eventually, in 2016, I met Ekta Kapoor for a series she wanted to put on her platform for which Samar Khan and I were co-producers and since then I have never looked back. I think the beauty was one, the city of Mumbai just allows you a shot at the life you want as long as you are willing to work hard and two, it is also the industry – it’s just invigorating, inspiring and once you feel a part of it you never want to leave.

Her inspiration and inspiring the team

I have many inspirations in terms of the people I meet and work with but I think the biggest thing that inspires me is when I remind myself that what I do for a living is a privilege – not everyone in the world gets to be in a job that they love. A lot of these choices are usually out of necessity versus love and passion so the fact that I have an opportunity to wake up and do something I love every day in itself means a lot to me. Besides, I think we owe it to audiences, to our creators, to the incredible team of technicians and just the crew and the actors to give it our best every time we enter into a project. It’s a privilege to entertain people – to make them laugh, cry, remember their best moments, remind them of love and the best way to take that privilege forward is to give it your 100 per cent.

Empowerment of Women

I think the first thing we should do is teach the girls at our homes – our sisters, daughters, and mothers, that the biggest thing they can do for themselves is be financially independent. That to me is the best way we can empower women across the country – by educating and teaching them how to make their own way in the world. For women in the industry I think it’s important to know that we should be together whether we are on different sides of the table, or we do polar opposite activities on a project. It’s time for women to get together and push each other and protect each other as opposed to necessarily falling within the stereotype which is famous amongst men that ‘two women can’t be friends’. They can.. and they can be incredible friends.

Ankita Srivastava, Chief Marketing Officer, KISNA, H K Jewels Pvt Ltd.

Her journey

I have spent 18+ years in the Industry shaping up some of India’s most loved brands in the beauty, personal care and men’s grooming and lifestyle space. My expertise is brands, delivering innovations that are meaningfully differentiated and appealing to consumers, helping the consumer upgrade her life in some way. My primary role has been one of a problem solver – identifying unique consumer opportunities and delivering brand and business solutions that meet them profitably.

Her inspiration and inspiring the team

I have seen the Indian woman at the stage where she was seeking societal approval for the colour of her skin to navigate her way, finding her voice and asserting herself and now buying diamonds for herself! I have also seen men change from alpha to more beta version, taking better care of themselves and often being the wind beneath the wings of these successful women. Men and women have changed, the equation between them has changed and it will continue to evolve even more rapidly. The joy of listening, truly listening, to these changing needs of the consumer, understanding their pain points and aspirations and then creating a solution that will make their day better in some way, keeps me going. I aim to ensure that the mix of strategy or communication that gets signed off from my desk continues to be meaningful, progressive and uplifting for my consumers.

Empowerment of Women

At a fundamental level, women’s empowerment comes down to two critical pillars: equal opportunity as well as the freedom to make one’s own choices. It is evident from the growing number of women in the workplace that the basics are now in place. What is critical is for women to remember who they are and ask themselves basic questions – whose expectations are they working towards – their own or someone else’s? Is their decision-making framework personal or is toeing the line of “should” and “should not”? Critically, is their behaviour modelling borrowing heavily from men, particularly when it comes to showing of authority. True empowerment will come from a sustained sense of authentic self and behaviour irrespective of whether they are in the corporate space or outside of it.

Sukanya Chakraborty, Chief Communications Officer, VFS Global

Her journey

My journey started with a passion to make an impact through effective communication. With over 24 years of experience in the industry, I have had the opportunity to work with a diverse range of audiences across industry segments. Throughout my career, I never let my gender come in the way of my aspirations and achievements. I developed my skills and knowledge not only in communications but also in the industry segments I worked in, a trait I continue to pursue and I was fortunate enough to have some wonderful managers and allies who supported me along the way. One of the highlights was leading the global communication strategy and outreach for VFS Global during Covid-19 when travel across the world was shut down. It was a challenging and intense experience, but the responsibility to deliver real-time information to a diverse set of stakeholders was extremely gratifying.

Over the years, I have learned the importance of resilience, perseverance, and adaptability in the face of adversity. I have also kept pace with the evolving communication industry, trends and technologies, which are essential for any communicator to remain relevant.

Her inspiration and inspiring the team

My inspiration comes from the power of effective communication in bringing people together and driving positive change. I believe that communication is a tool that can break down barriers and build bridges between individuals, communities, and organisations.

To inspire my team, I always demonstrate the importance of clear and concise communication in everything we do. I prioritise listening, empathy, and collaboration, and encourage my team to do the same. I also seek out opportunities for professional development, whether through training programmes, workshops, or mentorship, to ensure that we stay up-to-date on the latest trends and best practices in communication.

Another way I try to inspire my team is by fostering a positive and supportive work environment. I believe that when people feel valued and supported, they are more likely to be engaged and motivated in their work. I regularly acknowledge and celebrate our team’s achievements, big or small, and encourage open communication and feedback to ensure everyone feels heard and respected.

Empowerment of Women

I believe that the empowerment of women is not only a moral and social imperative but also a strategic imperative for any organisation or society. Women make up nearly half of the world’s population, and their contributions are critical to economic growth, social development, and political stability.

Enabling women means equipping them with the necessary tools, resources, and opportunities to reach their full potential. This can include providing access to education and healthcare, advocating for gender equality in the workplace, supporting entrepreneurship and innovation, and promoting women’s rights and representation in all areas of society.

From a communication perspective, elevating women means highlighting their voices and experiences, dismantling stereotypes and biases, and fostering supportive environments for women to connect. This can contribute to the creation of a more fair and equitable society for everyone.

Inclusion has to be real, not mere tokenism.

In short, empowering women is not only the right thing to do but also the smart thing to do. By investing in women’s advancement, we can unlock their full potential, create more inclusive and prosperous societies, and build a better future for all.

Sowmya Iyer, Founder DViO Digital

Her journey

My journey in the last 15 years has been very fulfilling. Today we are in four countries, serving six markets, and a team of two hundred professionals working across digital, creative and technology. We are one of the largest independent digital force, marketing and tech firms with a multi-country approach.

Her inspiration and inspiring the team

About my inspiration, really. I think any woman who’s trying to break the gender stereotypes that have been built over the last so many years purely by her self-expression, right? Not as a rebel or not as someone who’s trying to prove a point, but as someone just through her self-expression, her ambitions, and her motivations, breaking the gender stereotypes is an inspiration for me. On how I inspire my team. I believe in giving my best to the team. My role is to give my best to the team. And when the team sees you giving your best, or when the team sees your inaction, they reciprocate equally or more. So that is how I inspire my team.

Empowerment of Women

Well, about women empowerment, I think we need to stop using this word, women empowerment. Empowerment, in its very essence, means somebody is empowering you. Why should anybody in the world empower women? Right? Women should find the power within themselves to do what they need to do. They don’t need empowerment to be granted to them by anybody. We haven’t heard of anything called man empowerment, of men empowerment. So why should we speak about women’s empowerment? And I also think to women at large, when they hear of terms like women empowerment, automatically, we settle into the belief that somebody will come and give us something. Nobody is going to come and give us anything. We must find our power within ourselves and get the world.

And in the context of Women’s Day, I’d like to highlight that as I have grown through this journey, I’ve been fortunate not to experience gender-based or gender-biased decisions in my entrepreneurial experience. That speaks a lot about how far we moved, even as a society. The Middle East is one of our significant markets. And quite contrary to the general perception, I’ve only received much encouragement as a woman entrepreneur in this region and also business on merit. So, that makes me feel very proud. And I am in a happy space with this experience that I’ve had.

Rajeshree Naik, Founder, Ping Network

Her Journey

It’s over 20 years of being a communications, marketing and now a business owner. Many hats, many roles and many brands. As an agency person and on the consulting side I have had the ability to be part of several brands across categories. That has held me in good stead because it has made me naturally curious and interested across industries. A huge news junkie – and here may I clarify, I do not watch television news and I get what I have to from newspapers and high-quality long form magazines. I have had the privilege of working about eight years in the diamond industry which gave me a strong perspective of both the luxury world and a unique insight into consumer behaviour, especially women. Having taken a mid-career study programme – I strongly recommend this to people who are 12-15 years into their careers. This helps rejuvenate and give a newer perspective. This pursuit of a general management and leadership programme at INSEAD was the start of my own interest in pursuing an entrepreneurial venture. As a marketing and communications person, media was a very easy and natural choice for me. 10 years as part of the founding team at Ping digital broadcast and working in the digital ecosystem has been extremely rewarding and a significant learning curve. In these ten years, with an unwavering belief in the power of video online, the influence of creators, and the belief in utility and knowledge-driven categories like food have seen us build a brand that is today truly a catalyst for creators – monetising through content and commerce.

We still have quite a distance to cover because it’s early days – but we do know with the work with creators, our food education vertical Start2Bake, our product venture with Kabita’s Kitchen with the launch of her spice range, our publishing platform India Food Network network and also what we do for Tastemade in India – is a unique spectrum and we know we are building something very unique. We continue building our vision of the most valuable catalyst for creators through content and commerce.

Her inspiration and inspiring the team

My inspiration is some amazing entrepreneurs and business heads – I easily turn to them for advice and an exchange of ideas.

I have tried to inspire my teams more through my own actions. I feel when they see my passion, commitment and also will to do, they will be inspired by my actions.

Today Ping is a woman-dominated organisation – but this has less to do with a gender-driven effort at recruitment and more with the skills we have got on board.

Empowerment of Women

I believe women need to be empowered not just professionally but personally – this will come when all stakeholders at home and at work see them as equal. I would like to believe what we are building at Ping is an environment where all feel empowered – irrelevant of gender. Good entrepreneurial ventures benefit significantly when employees across levels feel empowered. It’s something we consciously encourage because we believe it’s critical to success.

Brands

Netflix India names Rekha Rane director of films and series marketing

Streaming giant bets on a seasoned marketer who helped build Amazon and Netflix into household names

Published

4 weeks ago

February 9, 2026

indiantelevision.com Team

MUMBAI: Netflix has put a proven brand builder at the helm of its films and series marketing in India, naming Rekha Rane as director in a move that signals sharper focus on audience growth and cultural cut-through in one of its most hotly contested markets.

Rane steps into the role after seven years at Netflix, where she has quietly shaped how the platform sells stories to India. Her latest promotion, effective February 2026, crowns a run that spans brand, slate and product marketing across originals, licensed content and new verticals such as games.

A strategic marketing and communications professional with roughly 15 years’ experience, Rane has spent much of her career building technology-led consumer businesses and new categories, notably e-commerce and subscription video on demand. She was part of the early push that introduced Amazon.in, Prime Video and Netflix to Indian homes, then helped turn them into everyday brands.

At Netflix, she most recently served as head of brand and slate marketing for India from March 2024 to February 2026, leading teams across media and marketing for global and local content portfolios. Before that, as manager for original films and series marketing, she led IP creation and go-to-market strategy for titles including Guns and Gulaabs, Kaala Paani, The Railway Men* and The Great Indian Kapil Show, spanning both binge and weekly-release formats.

Her earlier Netflix roles covered product discovery and promotion in India and integrated campaign strategy to drive conversations around the content slate, product awareness and brand-equity metrics.

Before Netflix, Rane logged more than three years at Amazon in brand marketing roles in Bengaluru. There she handled national and regional campaigns for Amazon.in, worked on customer assistance programmes in growth geographies and contributed to the go-to-market strategy for the launch of Prime Video India.

Her career began well away from streaming. At Reliance Brands in Mumbai, she worked on retail marketing for Diesel and Superdry. A stint at Leo Burnett saw her work on primary research for P&G Tide, mapping Indian shoppers’ paths to purchase. Earlier still, at Orange in the United Kingdom, she rose from sales assistant to store manager, running a team and owning monthly P&L for a retail outlet.

The arc is telling. As global streamers fight for attention in a crowded Indian market, executives who understand both mass retail behaviour and digital habit-building are prized. Rane’s career sits at that intersection.

For Netflix, the bet is simple: in a market spoilt for choice, sharp marketing can still tilt the screen. And with Rane now leading the charge, the streamer is signalling it wants not just viewers, but fandom.

Brands

Orient Beverages pops the fizz with steady Q3 gains and rising profits

Kolkata-based beverage maker reports stronger revenues and profits for December quarter.

Published

4 weeks ago

February 9, 2026

indiantelevision.com Team

MUMBAI: A fizzy quarter with a steady aftertaste that’s how Orient Beverages Limited, the company that manufactures and distributes packaged drinking water under the brand name Bisleri closed the December 2025 period, as the Kolkata-based drinks maker reported improved revenues and a healthy rise in profits, signalling operational stability in a competitive beverage market.

For the quarter ended December 31, 2025, Orient Beverages posted standalone revenue from operations of Rs 39.98 crore, up from Rs 36.42 crore in the previous quarter and Rs 33.53 crore in the same quarter last year. Total income for the quarter stood at Rs 42.24 crore, reflecting consistent demand and stable pricing across its beverage portfolio.

Profit before tax for the quarter came in at Rs 3.47 crore, a sharp improvement from Rs 1.31 crore in the September quarter and Rs 0.39 crore a year ago. After accounting for tax expenses of Rs 0.79 crore, the company reported a net profit of Rs 2.68 crore, nearly three times the Rs 0.99 crore recorded in the preceding quarter.

On a nine-month basis, the momentum remained intact. Revenue from operations for the period ended December 31, 2025 rose to Rs 117.66 crore, compared with Rs 106.95 crore in the corresponding period last year. Net profit for the nine months climbed to Rs 5.51 crore, more than double the Rs 2.18 crore reported in the same period of the previous financial year.

The consolidated numbers told a similar story. For the December quarter, consolidated revenue from operations stood at Rs 45.06 crore, while profit after tax came in at Rs 2.06 crore. For the nine-month period, consolidated revenue touched Rs 133.57 crore, with net profit of Rs 4.49 crore, underscoring the group’s improving profitability trajectory.

Operating expenses remained largely controlled, with cost of materials, employee benefits and other expenses broadly aligned with revenue growth. The company continued to operate within a single reportable segment beverages simplifying its cost structure and reporting framework.

The unaudited financial results were reviewed by the Audit Committee and approved by the Board of Directors at its meeting held on 7 February 2026. Statutory auditors carried out a limited review and reported no material misstatements in the results.

In a market where margins are often squeezed by input costs and competition, Orient Beverages’ latest numbers suggest the company has found a reliable rhythm not explosive, but steady enough to keep the fizz alive.

MAM

Washington Post CEO exits abruptly after newsroom cuts spark backlash

Leadership change follows layoffs, protests and a bruising battle over trust.

Published

4 weeks ago

February 9, 2026

indiantelevision.com Team

MUMBAI: When the presses are rolling but patience runs out, even the editor’s chair isn’t safe. The Washington Post announced on Saturday that its chief executive and publisher Will Lewis is stepping down with immediate effect, bringing a sudden end to a turbulent two-year tenure marked by financial strain, newsroom unrest and public backlash.

Lewis’s exit comes just days after the Bezos-owned newspaper announced sweeping job cuts that triggered protests outside its Washington headquarters and a wave of anger from readers and staff. While newspapers across the US are grappling with shrinking revenues and digital disruption, Lewis’s leadership had increasingly come under fire for how those pressures were handled.

The Post confirmed that Jeff D’Onofrio, a former Tumblr CEO who joined the organisation last year as chief financial officer, has taken over as CEO and publisher, effective immediately. In an email to staff, later shared by reporters on social media, Lewis said it was “the right time for me to step aside.”

The leadership change follows the announcement of large-scale redundancies earlier this week. While the Post did not officially confirm numbers, The New York Times reported that around 300 of the paper’s roughly 800 journalists were laid off. Entire teams were dismantled, including the Post’s Middle East bureau and its Kyiv-based correspondent covering the war in Ukraine.

Sports, graphics and local reporting were sharply reduced, and the paper’s daily podcast, Post Reports, was suspended. On Thursday, hundreds of journalists and supporters gathered outside the Post’s downtown office in protest, calling the cuts a blow to public-interest journalism.

Former executive editor Marty Baron described the moment as “among the darkest days in the history of one of the world’s greatest news organisations.”

Lewis defended his record in his farewell note, saying “difficult decisions” were taken to secure the paper’s long-term future and protect its ability to publish “high-quality nonpartisan news”. But his tenure coincided with growing scrutiny of editorial independence at the Post.

Owner Jeff Bezos faced criticism for reining in the paper’s traditionally liberal editorial page and blocking an endorsement of Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris ahead of the 2024 US election. The move was widely seen as breaking the long-standing firewall between ownership and editorial decision-making.

According to a Wall Street Journal report, around 250,000 digital subscribers cancelled their subscriptions after the paper declined to endorse Harris. The Post reportedly lost about $100 million in 2024 as advertising and subscription revenues slid.

While the wider newspaper industry continues to battle declining print advertising and the pull of social media, some national titles have stabilised. Rivals such as The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times have managed to build sustainable digital businesses, a turnaround that has so far eluded the Post despite its billionaire backing.

As Jeff D’Onofrio steps into the role, the challenge is stark, restore confidence inside the newsroom, win back readers who walked away, and prove that one of America’s most storied newspapers can still find its footing in a brutally competitive media landscape.