Balaji Telefilms appoints Abhishek Kumar as group CEO

Ekta Kapoor-owned film, television and web content production house Balaji Telefilms has announced the appointment of Abhishek Kumar as group chief executive officer. Kumar takes over from Nachiket Pantvaidya who had quit the company this May within a year of joining for a second stint. Pantvaidya had returned to Balaji last July after having briefly moved to Asianet News Media and Entertainment, where he was managing director, before which he had served as group chief operating officer at Balaji and CEO for its video streaming service ALTBalaji. At Balaji, Kumar will be responsible for the overall growth and success of the group, the firm said in a statement.

Kumar comes with 20 plus years of experience in business strategy, mergers and acquisitions, operations and investing in technology and media. He has been associated with brands like Rainforest Ventures, Snapdeal, TV18 Broadcast Ltd, and NDTV. He moves to Balaji from private equity fund Jupiter Capital, where he was chief operating officer and general partner of the new funds of the group. Before Jupiter Capital, Kumar was running a venture capital network, at Rainforest Venture Network as managing partner and was also an advisor and partner to multiple family offices for technology and consumer investments.

“We are pleased to have Abhishek as group CEO, and are confident that he is the right person to lead Balaji to the next stage of growth and value creation. The Indian media sector is undergoing massive change which also creates enormous opportunities for us at Balaji, and Abhishek will lead the efforts with the rest of the team, to seize these opportunities and create value for all our stakeholders,” Shobha Kapoor, managing director, Balaji Telefilms said in a statement.

Balaji is known for films like Love Sex Aur Dhokha and Udta Punjab, besides scores of daily soaps and its video streaming service ALTBalaji.

“I am of the view that content will continue to remain a key and exciting space irrespective of the platform and value is being attributed to creators of content. Hence, at Balaji, I believe that I can add significant value through my experience in business strategy, and investing in technology and media,” Kumar said in a statement.