Hires & Promotions: Shemaroo, Shoppers Stop, Zee Media, Mswipe Technologies

Quick look at new hirings, promotions and people movements this week

Shemaroo appoints Mohan Gopinath as Business Head-Bollywood

Shemaroo Entertainment today has appointed Mohan  Gopinath as its Business Head – Bollywood. In his new role, Mohan will be responsible for driving the Bollywood business of Shemaroo, which is celebrating 60 years of entertaining India.  

Mohan comes with 25 years of rich experience in the media and broadcasting space across various functions. Mohan was with Zee Entertainment for almost two decades and then he co-founded the  Bengali Movie Channel “Aamar Cinema” and Hindi GEC, “Azaad TV”. He was an advisor on the launch of Viacom’s movie channel – Rishtey Cineplex as well. 

Shemaroo is synonymous with Bollywood and has one of the largest repositories of content (Premiere and Classic). Over the years, the brand has owned rights to several iconic movies which include Amar  Akbar Anthony, Hunter, Jab We Met, Beta, amongst others. Recently Shemaroo FilmiGaane YouTube channel crossed a mega milestone of 60 million subscribers. According to the data by influenex.com,  the channel ranks 3rd amongst the most popular music YouTube channels in India. It has a monthly viewership of 500+ million and it attracts around 15+ million views per day. 

Hiren Gada, CEO, Shemaroo Entertainment commented, “We are elated to have Mohan join the Shemaroo family. We have ambitious growth plans to expand and monetise our Bollywood content and therefore Mohan’s expertise and seasoned business acumen would strengthen our foothold in the market while scaling the business. Mohan’s appointment is aptly timed as we are getting ready  for the leap to lead the exciting digital future of entertainment.”  

Mohan Gopinath, Business Head – Bollywood, Shemaroo Entertainment added, “Bollywood has always been an integral part of Shemaroo. We all have fond memories of watching some of the iconic Bollywood movies on various Shemaroo platforms. I am thrilled to take this role as I look forward to working with this dynamic team to steer the expansion of this category using my expertise.” 

Mohan holds an MBA degree from Mumbai University and some of his core competencies include  Capital raising, company management, product development, Budget management, New Business  Development, Strategic alliances, and negotiations, amongst others.  


Shoppers Stop appoints Sandeep Jabbal as Customer Care Associate and Chief Digital Transformation and Information Officer 

Shoppers Stop has named Sandeep Jabbal as Customer Care Associate and Chief Digital Transformation and Information Officer with effect from 23rd May 2022. He will be responsible for providing strong leadership and support in digital transformation initiatives led by the brand.

Sandeep has more than 18 years of extensive experience in developing IT strategies and designing and delivering the IT roadmap for large organisations with a focus on digital transformation for enhancing customer experience. Sandeep’s expertise lies in Strategic IT Leadership, IT Operations, Program Management and Digital Transformation. Prior to joining Shoppers Stop, Sandeep has served as Vice-President-IT at Jubilant Foodworks Ltd and as Head of IT at Marks & Spencer Reliance India Pvt Ltd. He has also worked as a Project Manager with Birlasoft Ltd and has delivered large IT projects in diversified domains including FMCG, Retail, Finance and Manufacturing, in his earlier stint.

Speaking on the appointment, Venu Nair, Managing Director, and Chief Executive Officer said, “Digitalisation is reinventing businesses and capturing unique competitive advantages. Today, digital transformation is not an option; it is necessary to escape the comfort zone, reinvent and compete in this world overrun by technological advances. We need to offer best in class experience for our customers and stakeholders. Technology plays a critical role in driving business and building brand authority. With digital strategy as our core focus and its importance for our organization, we are confident that Sandeep Jabbal is the right fit in helping us achieve this transformation.”

Speaking on his appointment, Sandeep Jabbal, Customer Care Associate & Chief Digital Transformation & Information Officer said, “I am honored to join Shoppers Stop at this exciting stage in their digital transformation journey. The brand has truly evolved with the changing consumer dynamics! The retail industry is gearing up with hi-tech advancements and Shoppers Stop is leading the change with its distinct offerings and consumer-friendly digital platforms. I am happy to be a part of this glorious journey and looking forward to working with the stellar team.”

Sandeep holds an MBA degree from Symbiosis Institute of Business Management, Pune and he is also an accomplished mechanical engineer from VNIT, Nagpur.


Partha Sarthi Kuila quits Zee Media, set to join a soon-to-launch news channel

Zee Media's Branch Head - West Partha Sarthi Kuil has quit the company. Parth joined the company in February 2022. He is expected to join a soon-to-launch news channel in a senior ad sales position.

There was no comment from Zee Media at the time of filing this report.

At Zee Media, he was responsible for ad sales revenue of Cluster 2 and 3 channels including Zee Hindustan, Zee 24 Taas, Zee 24 Ghanta, Zee Uttar Pradesh/Uttarakhand, Zee Bihar/Jharkhand, Zee Rajasthan, Zee Madhya Pradesh/Chhattisgarh, Zee Kalak, Zee Punjab/Haryana/Himachal, and Zee Salam.

Prior to Zee Media, he was Associate Vice President at SAB TV Network. In his almost two-decade-old career, Partha had stints at Network18, 9X Media, Star India, and 93.5 Red FM.


Mswipe Technologies strengthens Senior Management with Key Appointments

Mswipe Technologies has announced key senior executive appointments to bolster their business and digital partnership teams this week. 

Rohit Agrawal, the Chief Executive Officer of MCapital has been appointed as the Chief Finance Officer for Mswipe Technologies in addition to his current role. MCapital is the lending arm and a fully owned subsidiary of Mswipe Technologies and provides unsecured loans to merchants. He will spearhead the expansion of their core payments business by building a merchant financing and small loans vertical through Mcapital. Rohit will focus on the creation of new credit products for small and medium enterprises and accelerate the existing business of providing small merchants with quick and easy access to formal credit. A chartered accountant by profession, he brings to the table a robust experience of 16 years in corporate banking and specializes in e-commerce and new-age business. Before joining MCapital, Rohit was associated with Kotak Mahindra Bank.

Nayantara Bhargava is the head of the banking and digital partnership. In her current role, she will focus on strengthening relationships with banks and brands and providing them with payment solutions for merchants, enabling the expansion of the payment digital footprint across the country. She comes in with a rich experience in driving alliances and has contributed to the revenue and growth of financial products in the industry. Prior to this, Nayantara was with CASHe and has also worked with Kotak Mahindra Bank in the wholesale banking division. At Kotak, she was responsible for growth and partnerships for treasury and trade structured products.

Along with this, they have announced the appointment of Harita Desai Jani as the head of marketing. Harita brings over 17 years of versatile experience in branding, marketing, and communications across a range of products and segments in the B2C and B2B space. She will be responsible for driving marketing campaigns to accelerate the pace of customer acquisition, engagement and growth. She will also look into developing a unique brand identity, driving marketing outreach programs and boosting creative output for the business. Kick-starting her career in advertising, Harita moved to HBSC, followed by 14 years at Kotak Mahindra Bank. In her previous role, she was responsible for enhancing visibility and brand influence effectively through advertising, digital marketing and brand alliances.

Sachin B Shettigar has been appointed as the Chief Risk Officer for Mswipe Technologies. He will be looking into the risk and compliance adherence at the time of merchant boarding and transaction monitoring. Along with that will also be looking into payments, settlement and dispute handling which will be critical for merchant satisfaction and also ensuring that there are zero liabilities for the company from financial as well as regulatory aspects including law enforcement matters. He has a robust experience of over 20 years in digital payments and banking. He specializes in both acquiring and issuing business of digital payments from an overall backend operations perspective apart from him being a branch manager in Axis bank for a good number of years. Before joining Mswipe, Sachin was working for 15 years in Axis bank and was part of the journey of it being UTI bank to Axis bank and was involved in practically every new digital payment product/service launched by the bank during that period.

Yogesh Verma is appointed as the Chief Business Officer at MCapital, the lending arm of Mswipe Technologies, a fully-owned subsidiary. His goal is to scale lending business by engaging with more like-minded merchant partners and go more granular while expanding the existing business. Prior to this, Yogesh was heading  MQR, BNPL & distribution channel business for Mswipe Technologies. He brings in 17 years of expertise in digital banking, payment products, Issuance, Acquiring, Transaction Banking and e-commerce businesses. In the past, he has co-founded Payso fintech which was acquihired by Mswipe and has been associated with Standard Chartered Bank, HDFC Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank.

Ketan Patel, CEO at Mswipe Technologies said “Mswipe's leadership announcement is a strategic step to build our company's transformational journey. Our aim is to enable digitisation of merchants across India in this dynamic digital payment space and ensure we can support their fast-changing needs. The objective is to create a more agile team that is focused on strategic initiatives, customer obsession, innovation and growth. Also, with the introduction of Nayantara and Harita in the leadership team, we are moving towards the commitment to achieving gender equality in our workforce. This will add to diverse mindsets coming together to achieve the ultimate goal.”

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