Banijay rejig to see Asia arm combine with Endemol Shine India under Deepak Dhar
European production group Banijay is reorganising its operations in Asia, combining Endemol Shine India and Banijay Asia under the leadership of Deepak Dhar.
Deepak Dhar
Media veteran and entrepreneur Dhar has been appointed group CEO of the combined entity following Banijay’s full buy-out of Endemol Shine India from CA Media.
Dhar led Endemol’s Indian operations between 2005 and 2018 before launching Banijay Asia and overseeing its strategic growth. He will now continue leading the wider group’s content strategies, partnerships, new business and alliances, in addition to generating new IP that can travel.
The new structure will include group-wide roles as well as dedicated creative positions within the respective production labels. Further appointments will be made in the coming weeks.
Dhar said: “The reorganisation of Banijay in Asia is our biggest and boldest move yet and aligns with our ambition to drive further growth in India and Asia at-large. Leveraging the creative potential and possibilities of both brands, we will now strategically pursue complementary yet independent creative portfolios to offer the most diverse and compelling cross-genre content from all across the globe to our Indian and Asian platforms and screens.”
Marco Bassetti, CEO of Banijay, said: “Deepak is a leading creative and entrepreneurial force in Asia, and in our partnership thus far he has successfully created an impressive slate, and a host of fruitful partnerships with major buyers and partners worldwide. In this new phase for the business, he will now focus on unlocking and aligning other strategic growth avenues to put Banijay in a dominating position, in India as well as Asia.”
Over the last few years, Banijay Asia has delivered scripted adaptations like The Night Manager, Call My Agent Bollywood, Hostages and Fall, and originals including Dahan, Matsya Kaand, Undekhi and Tribhangas.
On the non-scripted front, Banijay titles include The Kapil Sharma Show, MTV Roadies, The Voice, The Big Picture, Into The Wild with Bear Grylls, Case Toh Banta Hai and Nach Baliye. The content studio’s upcoming shows include Survivor and Temptation Island.
