Shibasish Sarkar has been unanimously elected as president of the Producers Guild of India (PGI) at the first meeting of its newly constituted guild council of management.
Sarkar is currently the chair and CEO of International Media Acquisition Corp (IMAC), a special purpose acquisition company targeting the Indian media industry. His last stint was as group CEO at Reliance Entertainment, a part of the Reliance ADA group . He previously held senior positions at Viacom18 and UTV Disney.
Sarkar replaces prolific producer and former Disney India chief Siddharth Roy Kapur, who was in the position for six years and successfully weathered many storms during his tenure, including providing for industry workers during COVID-19, leading the industry against defamation of Bollywood by some Indian TV channels and pitching to India’s Ministry of Information and Broadcasting making a strong case for soft-touch regulation with an emphasis on self-regulation by the industry rather than an external censorship regime.
Roy Kapur, said: “It has been a pleasure and an honor serving the production fraternity and I am delighted to pass the baton on to the able hands of Shibasish. I am sure he will do a stellar job and add further lustre to the guild’s reputation of spearheading the industry’s interests.”
Sarkar added: “In his six years as guild president, Siddharth has been a tireless, passionate and committed champion for our industry at a time of unprecedented challenges. I look forward to building on what he has accomplished and working alongside my colleagues to help address the challenges and build on the opportunities we have before us as an industry.”
The PGI’s leadership team for 2022-2023 also includes VPs Manish Goswami, Apoorva Mehta, Sunjoy Waddhwa, Madhu Bhojwani and Ambika Khurana, and treasurers Ashim Samanta and Fazila Allana.