Team Behind IPRS

Vikram has been the Managing Director of Saregama India Limited since October 2014. He is also the current Chairman of the Indian Music Industry, the apex body representing music companies in India. Vikram did B.E. in Computer Science & Technology from IIT Roorkee and Post Graduate in Management from IIM Lucknow. As a TAS officer, he had successful stints at several Tata Group organizations, including Tata Motors and TCS. Prior to joining Saregama, he worked as a Chief Commercial Officer and Chief Marketing Officer at Tata Sky for 10 years. He has also worked at Star as Vice President for 4 years spearheading Star’s foray into DTH and cable services.

Bhushan Kumar, Chairman and Managing Director, T-Series, is one of the Hindi film industry’s top, young and dynamic producers, leading the long-established company’s music production, licensing, film production and distribution business. A quiet yet perceptive leader, Bhushan Kumar is one of the few film producers who combine an inherent passion for music and movies with keen business acumen, experience and vision. He is a rare exception of a head honcho of a music company and a film studio head who is also the content and creative head of his company. He is hands-on with the finer nitty-gritty in the creative process of making music and films.

Sushil serves as the Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of Ultra Distributors Pvt. Ltd. He started his career in the year 1979-80, by setting up a unit, manufacturing Agrochemicals. His quest for excellence and his pioneering attitude made him discover various opportunities. With a strong belief that every successful business has a well-defined vision, Mr. Agrawal, applying his gut feel and sharp business acumen, ventured into Video Cassettes manufacturing in the year 1985. He serves as the Chairman of Pranavaditya Spinning Mills Limited and has been its Independent Non-Executive Director since June 25, 2009. He serves as a Director of Ultra Distributors Pvt. Ltd.

Harris Jayaraj is a renowned Music Composer, Music Producer, Song Writer, and Managing Director of Studio H (the largest recording facility in Asia). He has been in the music business for 21 years and has written background music for more than 80 films (in Tamil, Telugu, and Hindi). He has received several awards throughout the years, including four State Awards, seven Filmfare Awards, four International Awards, and many more such accolades. He has completed his Honorary Doctorate in Arts from MGR University, Chennai. He has been honoured as Kalaimamani by the Tamil Nadu government, and the late governor, Rosiah Naidu, awarded him with the Lifetime Achievement Award.

Aditya Gupta is a young entrepreneur, leading South India’s No.1 music label Aditya Music India Pvt. Ltd. He has played a key role in bringing global recognition to the South Indian music industry by taking up many initiatives that were first in the industry and writing many success stories. Having vast experience of 12 years in the media & entertainment industry, he has gained in-depth knowledge across the areas of the music business, copyright, licensing, marketing, publishing & distribution across digital, online, mobile, TV and Radio. With his Long-sighted vision, dedication and passion, he is successfully driving the family business of Aditya Music Group and is responsible for the transformation of the organization in this fast-paced & constantly evolving industry. He has been actively serving the industry & is a member of the Executive Committee of IMI.

Mandar Thakur is the COO of Times Music, one of India’s leading record labels and music publishers. Times Music is a division of South Asia’s largest diversified media conglomerate – The Times of India group. Mandar’s run began in the early ’90s in Hong Kong with then Asian concert promoter, The Entertainment Co. Group. Subsequently, Mandar was on the management team that set up and ran NewsCorp owned Channel [V], a revolutionary 24×7 music television for the Asian/Indian market. As one of the founding members of Soundbuzz- Asia/India’s first digital music distribution company, Mandar helped pioneer the evolution of the digital music landscape in Asia & India. Soundbuzz was acquired by Motorola, in early 2008. Mandar also chairs the board of PPL India, is on the board of IPRS and the industry association IMI.

Neeraj Kalyan comes with over 33 years of experience with the last 27+ years spent in the Music & Film Industry holding key leadership positions. Currently heading the entire digital vertical, music publishing & copyright management operations for T-Series, world’s largest South Asian music label & publisher. He is known to be a tough negotiator, an exemplary business partner and one of the best music executives in the country. An incredible deal maker, but equally a true partner who believes in building and sustaining relationships, Neeraj is an asset not only to T-Series but the entire Indian music industry. Over the years, Neeraj and his team have been true innovators on the digital platforms and an inspiration to many other in the industry all around the world. His key functional area expertise includes Relationship Management, Digital Content Management, Music Publishing, Copyright Licensing, Legal & Corporate Strategy

Sameer Anjaan is the son of renowned poet and lyricist Anjaan and has himself written more than 4500 thousand songs for more than 640 films. He has to his credit several awards like Guinness World Records, 3 Filmfare Awards, Awadh Ratna Award, Sunday Observer Screen Award. He was also awarded the Shaheed Bhagat Singh Award by the Prime Minister of India and the Hindi Urdu Sahitya Award among others. He has also been mentioned in the Limca Book of Records in 2008 for his prolific writing skills.

Mayur Puri is a professional storyteller, screenwriter, lyricist & filmmaker working in the Mumbai film industry for more than 2 decades now. He has written over 100 songs, and scripts for many movies including blockbusters like Om Shanti Om (2007) and ABCD (2014). He has written Hindi dialogues for several Disney, Marvel and Pixar movies including The Jungle Book (2016), Avengers: InfinityWar (2018), Avengers: Endgame (2019) and The Lion King (2019). Mayur’s short film Firdaws (2017) has been doing the festival rounds and as of now has been the official selection in 36 international festivals and has won 16 awards. In 2010, he co-founded Story Circus – an institution dedicated to fostering the art of storytelling, which now functions as a full-fledged Theater Group.

An entrepreneurial, creative leader with extensive experience across the media and entertainment business in multiple geographic and functions. Has a proven track record in delivering strategic and commercial objectives in media & entertainment with domain expertise in the music business of more than 25 years.

Kanukuntla Subhash Chandrabose, a luminary in Telugu cinema, is an esteemed lyricist and playback singer whose lyrical genius has graced over 860 films with more than 3600 songs across a remarkable 29-year career. His accolades, including an Academy Award and Golden Globe for the soul-stirring “Naatu Naatu” from ‘RRR,’ solidify his mastery. Received Critics’ Choice Movie Award and Hollywood Critics Association(HCA) for Best Song “Naatu Naatu” in RRR Movie. The ‘National Best Lyricist Award’ for “Dham Dham Dham” in ‘Konda Polam’ exemplifies his profound artistry. Notably, his prominence extends beyond music, with a tenure of 15 years judging Telugu reality singing shows. The invitation to join the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences and receiving the Excellence Award from the Parliament of Victoria in Australia further embellish his illustrious journey.

Dinraj Shetty is Managing Director at Sony Music Publishing (India ) which is the world’s No. 1 music publishing company and prides itself on housing the greatest collection of songs in the world. Dinraj is responsible for managing all aspects of the company’s India office, such as promoting the Sony Music Publishing catalogue, bringing in global best practices, developing & signing Indian songwriters, and fostering relationships with industry partners including collection societies. Dinraj has been with Sony Music Entertainment for over two decades with functional experience in driving revenues and setting up various business verticals. An experienced individual and has a deep understanding of media /music content across multiple platforms, genres, and various aspects of intellectual property in the ever-changing scenario of entertainment ecosystem.

A musician who comes from a lineage of music , Sameer Sen’s journey in music is nothing short of exemplary. From being awarded the title of ‘ Talmani’ by Sur Singer Samsad at a young age to working with the legends of the music, Sameer Sen has been scaling the industry ever since. From debuting as a musician to becoming a music director in the movie Soorma Bhopali, Aina Yeh Dilagi to his upcoming Romeo, his work has echoed through generations. Further, in his career, he began collaborating with his uncle Dilip Sen and was famously recognised as the Dilip Sen Sameer Sen duo in the industry. A family so deeply embedded in the world of music that they have been producing music for years, from veteran musicians like Jamal Sen, Shambhu Sen , Sameer Sen, and Sohail Sen to young aspiring musicians like Samar Sen and Subhaan Sen following their family’s legacy.

Sagarika Ajit Bam has led the Sagarika label for 25 years, successfully developing and marketing over 10,000 tracks across various Indian languages and genres. She expanded the label’s revenue streams by incorporating live concert production, television content, and video production, which helped sustain the business during challenging times in the music industry. Sagarika’s diverse roles include music production, publishing, distribution, and artist management, where she has launched over 25 artists and earned recognition for her strategic guidance.

Sneha Khanwalkar has played a significant role in changing perceptions of Hindi film music by digitally mixing disparate noises, sounds of local instruments and voices to produce a track. Thriving on taking the composition of music beyond the studio, Sneha conceptualised and hosted the MTV mini-series ‘Sound Trippin’. Some of her key projects include Gangs of Wasseypur, Khoobsurat, Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye!, Love Sex aur Dhoka in her repertoire.

Syed Ahmed ventured into the Bollywood film industry in the late nineties. He is a Singer, Music Director, and as a lawyer also has broad knowledge of Indian Constitution, Copyright and other branches of Indian and International law. He was born and brought up in a remote village named Jhilu in the district of Burdwan in the state of West Bengal. Right from his childhood, he was fond of music and learnt Indian Classical as well as Western genre of music. He has composed many songs for feature films and private albums in Hindi, Bengali, Tamil and Telugu language for which he has drawn accolades from his audience and critics.