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Star India’s Uday Shankar’s Paley parley with Bobby Ghosh

Published

12 years ago

May 31, 2014

MUMBAI: Did you know that Star Plus’ most talked about social show Satyamev Jayate (SMJ) may have never happened?

Well, Star India CEO Uday Shankar shared nuggets such as these during his one-on-one with Time International editor Aparisim Bobby Ghosh in front of the Paley Media Council – an exclusive, invitation-only membership community for entertainment, media and technology industry executives and provides an independent forum for top industry leaders – at its media centre in New York on 30 May.

Shankar addressed various topics like – the Star India Network’s – led by Star Plus – focus on women, the journey of its social cause show Satyamev Jayate and the evolution of Star India.

He began by saying, “We were not okay with bringing the American culture concept into India and so decided to create Indian content for Indian people.”

“Even though our pedigree is News Corporation and 21st Century Fox now, it was very clear that we were not bringing in American culture into India,” he added. Star India completely indigenised the content, because according to them, it was the only way. “Somebody had to own and so it was owned by the parent company, while we were told to go and create a business that was the right business for the Indian people and Indian society,” he said.

Shankar further went on to say that his bosses always encouraged him to pursue the agenda of challenging the status quo. “We address whatever is not right in the country, whatever needs to change for people in the country. We at Star have never thought of going and telling people what they should be doing next. Our job is to focus the spotlight on what we believe needs to be questioned and what needs to be observed closely and questioned. And that’s where we leave it. That’s exactly what we have done with our content. Whether it’s our entertainment content, dramas, reality shows or finally SMJ.”

“When I told my CFO that I was planning to do a show such as SMJ, he looked at me as though I was going totally out of line,” Shankar told the French bearded-bald-headed Ghosh. “I called up James Murdoch and told him about the risk associated with SMJ because of the investment and he told me ‘we would live.’ I needed his blessings to go ahead with it.”

Shankar informed Ghosh that he had met up with Aamir Khan to understand how they could use the power of television and work together to improve society after he did 3 Idiots. “It took two years of his team and our team working together to come up with Satyamev Jayate,” he said. “We thought of taking all the challenging issues like female feticide, and so on a Sunday morning. That was a challenge – to get viewers on-board to watch the show at that time slot. It was of a duration of an hour and a half to do a very, very deep dive into some of the very unpleasant parts of Indian life. Everything about the show suggests that it shouldn’t work. Aamir and I spent a lot of time discussing this and finally we concluded that we are not going to pull our punches neither in the creative expression nor in the format.”

Shankar thought the brand had to mature and take a big leap. And that big leap came with SMJ.

“Satyamev Jayate was the beginning of a journey. In the journey of our purpose we wanted the brand to carry, it had matured to a level where we wanted to make that one big leap and tell people that ok we have been looking intently to implementing stories and characters and we have been giving you messages, subtle messages. India was ready, our viewers were ready and internally Star as a company was ready to take the leap and that’s how came SMJ where we decided that sharply we will, in each episode, focus on some of the things that must change in the country while all other kinds of economic and social changes keep happening. I wouldn’t say that we have taken our corporate social responsibility seriously. At Star, we have now gone a step ahead and we believe that all content that we create is corporate social responsibility,” he said.

Shankar narrated that he had had a meeting with the Minister for Corporate Affairs when the new Companies Act in India was being drafted. “They needed inputs. They were saying that a certain fix percentage of profits should go towards CSR and I said well I am fine to do that, but you must make a note that all media content if it goes on-air is towards corporate social responsibility. If it’s not, then we as media community have failed.”

Shankar told Ghosh that SMJ has had its impact on Indian society. “The sex ratio in India has been under pressure and declining. The gap between female and male kids has been rising. For the first time in 40 years, in the state of Maharashtra, where Mumbai is, it was reversed by a factor of 24 for each thousand. The state health minister publicly went and acknowledged that every single policy and intervention remained the same. The only external stimulus that had come in was SMJ’s episode on female foeticide and he said his officers felt that it was SMJ that gave women the confidence to resist abortion.”

Shankar opined that the SMJ episode on drugs led to three or four governments passing legislations and orders to make sure government hospitals only supply generic drugs. “We are still fighting with the pharmaceutical industry on that episode where we said that labeling of drugs was just an exercise to raise drug prices. If generic drugs were sold and encouraged by governments then prices would come down substantially,” he said.

Then he disclosed that four states have gone and set up fast track courts for rape victims following an episode which highlighted and demanded the need for this. “We wanted fast track courts,” said Shankar, “because the Indian judicial system can sometimes be very slow and rape victims were struggling with the time it took to get justice. And we got a response from some state governments.”

He pointed out that it was strange that while initially there was a lot of interest in the region for SMJ after it was aired, its format has so far been licensed to a production house in China.

On the programming front Shankar revealed that Star does do a lot of market research, but it is not a market research driven company, he explained to Ghosh. “I see Star as a company which is very focused on observing society and whatever is happening. So if a political movement is going on, if there are concerns that are being expressed informally, then often times the research insights do not really capture them. But we also try and anticipate. We are at a level where we try and stay ahead of those concerns, so meaning that when you are in the business of media, you should be shaping the concerns, you should be voicing and helping people connect their dots to themselves and whether these are dots of aspirations or these are dots of concerns that are holding their aspirations.”

He further stated that, television, print, and media in general are heavily encouraging, motivating and proselytizing agencies. He believes that the new Modi-led government is very focused and has the highest representation of women ministers, compared to any government since independence and that is a good thing. “30 per cent of the cabinet ministers are women, so we think this by itself should give an impetus to the whole process of change. Television I think can do a great deal, more than it is doing even now,” he ended.

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Awards

Hamdard honours changemakers at Abdul Hameed awards

Published

4 weeks ago

February 7, 2026

indiantelevision.com Team

NEW DELHI: Hamdard Laboratories gathered a cross-section of India’s achievers in New Delhi on Friday, handing out the Hakeem Abdul Hameed Excellence Awards to figures who have left their mark across healthcare, education, sport, public service and the arts.

The ceremony, attended by minister of state for defence Sanjay Seth and senior officials from the ministry of Ayush, celebrated individuals whose work blends professional success with a sense of public purpose. It was as much a roll call of achievement as it was a reminder that influence is not measured only in profits or podiums, but in people reached and lives improved.

Among the headline awardees was Alakh Pandey, founder and chief executive of PhysicsWallah, recognised for turning affordable digital learning into a mass movement. On the sporting front, Arjuna Awardee and kabaddi player Sakshi Puniya was honoured for her contribution to the game and for pushing women’s participation onto bigger stages.

The cultural spotlight fell on veteran lyricist and poet Santosh Anand, whose songs have echoed across generations of Hindi cinema. At 97, Anand accepted the honour with characteristic humility, reflecting on a life shaped by perseverance and hope.

Healthcare honours spanned both modern and traditional systems. Manoj N. Nesari was recognised for strengthening Ayurveda’s place in national and global health frameworks. Padma shri Mohammed Abdul Waheed was honoured for his research-backed work in Unani medicine, while padma shri Mohsin Wali received recognition for his long-standing contribution to patient-centred care.

Education and social development also featured prominently. Padma shri Zahir Ishaq Kazi was honoured for decades of work in education, while former Meghalaya superintendent of Police T. C. Chacko was recognised for public service. Goonj founder Anshu Gupta received an award for his dignity-centred rural development initiatives, and the Hunar Shakti Foundation was honoured for empowering women and young girls through skill development.

The Lifetime Achievement Award went to former IAS officer Shailaja Chandra for her long career in public healthcare and governance, particularly in the traditional systems under Ayush.

Speaking at the event, Hamdard chairman Abdul Majeed said the awards were a tribute to those who combine excellence with empathy. “These awardees reflect Hakeem Sahib’s belief that healthcare, education and public service must ultimately serve humanity,” he said.

Minister Seth struck a forward-looking note, saying India’s young population gives the country a unique opportunity to become a global destination for learning, health and wellness by 2047.

The ceremony also featured the trailer launch of Unani Ki Kahaani, an upcoming documentary starring actor Jim Sarbh, set to premiere on Discovery on 11 February.

Instituted in memory of Unani scholar and educationist Hakeem Abdul Hameed, the awards have grown into a national platform that celebrates those building a more inclusive and resilient India. For one evening at least, the spotlight was not just on success, but on service with substance.

MAM

Why the best campaigns today start with insights, not ideas

Published

4 weeks ago

February 7, 2026

indiantelevision.com Team

MUMBAI: For decades, creative storytelling has been the cornerstone of brand communication. The “big idea” amplified through catchy jingles, striking visuals, and memorable hooks was once the gold standard for relevance and recall. Creativity defined presence, and the loudest, boldest campaigns often won attention.

But the marketing landscape today looks very different.

Audiences are more exposed, more discerning, and far less patient. They are inundated with messages across platforms, formats, and creators, often encountering hundreds of brand touchpoints in a single day. In this environment, creativity alone especially when untethered from real consumer truths is no longer enough to move behaviour. Great ideas are abundant. Meaningful impact is not.

This is where insights matter.

The difference may seem subtle, but it is fundamental. An idea represents what a brand wants to say. An insight reflects what the audience is already thinking, feeling, or experiencing. The most effective campaigns emerge not from cleverness alone, but from the intersection of these two forces.

From creativity to relevance

As the marketing ecosystem becomes increasingly saturated, consumers are growing immune to inflated claims and surface-level storytelling. Even beautifully crafted campaigns can fail if they are disconnected from lived realities. The gap between a brand’s internal enthusiasm and the audience’s actual sentiment can be the difference between attention and indifference.

Insights help bridge this gap. They force brands to pause, listen, and observe to understand emotions, behaviours, cultural contexts, and contradictions. Instead of trying to be remembered through louder branding, insight-led campaigns allow audiences to see their own experiences reflected back at them. When a campaign articulates a problem that feels personal, relevance is created. Trust follows.

Insight is interpretation, not information

It’s important to distinguish between data and insight. Data tells us what is happening. Insight explains why it is happening. While data is measurable and structured, insights are interpretive and dynamic, shaped by real-time sentiment and human behaviour.

Modern consumers are full of contradictions. They demand authenticity while remaining deeply aspirational. They want brands to take a stand but expect nuance, not instruction. They seek transparency, yet are drawn to curated narratives. These tensions are not obstacles, they are opportunities. When understood correctly, they can shape communication that feels timely, credible, and human.

Some of the most effective campaigns today are born not in isolated brainstorm rooms, but through listening to audiences, creators, editors, online communities, and cultural signals. Insights often exist in blurred patterns, but once identified, they can redefine how a brand connects.

A recent campaign we executed for Domino’s illustrates this shift clearly. The brief wasn’t to make a pizza look bigger or louder. Instead, it was rooted in a simple behavioural truth: in Tier 2 and Tier 3 markets, sharing food is an emotional act tied to family, celebration, and value perception. The “Big Big 6-in-1 Pizza” became a canvas for this insight. The campaign leaned into regional voices and real sharing moments, allowing people to show how they experienced the product rather than being told why they should buy it. Influencers and celebrities amplified genuine usage, not scripted endorsements. The impact from engagement to footfall to sales came not from a clever idea, but from understanding how people relate to food in their everyday lives.

Shifting the starting point

Today’s consumer landscape demands a shift in perspective from “What should the brand say?” to “What does the audience need to hear right now?” This marks a move away from inward-led marketing toward communication shaped by behaviour, emotion, and cultural relevance.

Brands leading today are keen observers. They notice when perfection stops resonating. They sense when luxury shifts from aspiration to excess. They recognise when influencer content begins to feel repetitive and trust erodes.

Virality, too, is often misunderstood. It is not a strategy to chase, but an outcome. Campaigns rooted in insight do not aim to go viral; they aim to resonate. When content reflects something familiar, a shared truth, emotion, or tension, it travels organically because people see themselves in it.

Ideas attract attention. Insights build connection.

The evolving role of PR

For PR professionals, this shift has redefined success. Coverage volume alone no longer tells the full story. The more meaningful questions today are: Did the communication influence behaviour? Did it align with cultural conversations? Did it address a real consumer pain point?

Insight-first thinking allows these questions to be answered at the planning stage, rather than corrected midway through execution.

In a world where formats and platforms will continue to evolve, what remains constant is the power of authentic communication. The strongest campaigns today do not begin with a brainstorm, but with observation, interpretation, and empathy. That is not just better marketing, it is more responsible, resilient, and meaningful brand-building.

Brands

Ahmad Muneeb elevated to VP – HR centre of excellence at Zepto

Published

4 weeks ago

February 7, 2026

indiantelevision.com Team

MUMBAI: Zepto has elevated Ahmad Muneeb to vice president – HR centre of excellence, placing him at the helm of the company’s total rewards, executive compensation and organisational effectiveness as the quick-commerce firm powers through a high-growth phase.

The move follows his stint as senior director of the HR COE, where he played a central role in preparing the company for IPO readiness while scaling its people analytics capabilities. During this period, Muneeb helped align complex performance management structures with more streamlined and scalable employee experience frameworks.

In his new role, he will steer the design of total rewards strategies, executive compensation planning and organisational design, while also overseeing performance management, employee experience initiatives and people analytics programmes.

Before joining Zepto, Muneeb spent nearly three years at Meesho, where he held multiple rewards and HR business partner roles. Earlier in his career, he worked as a senior rewards consultant at Mercer, advising high-tech clients on compensation benchmarking, pay structures and talent-focused reward frameworks.

He began his hr journey at Cognizant, where he supported compensation programmes for nearly two lakh employees across India and worked on m&a compensation alignment and skill-based pay initiatives. Prior to moving into HR, Muneeb started his career as a software engineer at Netcracker, bringing a technical grounding to his people strategy work.

With a mix of consulting rigour, start-up agility and enterprise-scale experience, Muneeb’s elevation signals Zepto’s continued focus on building robust people systems as it races towards its next phase of growth.