The most influential women media executives

The Indian entertainment sector is today a globally recognised business. And women have played a vital role to make the media and entertainment industry the huge success that it is.

Women have contributed much to bridge the East-West divide and their continuing efforts will benefit all in the entertainment and media for years to come, states a study by Korn/Ferry International in consultation with the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles (IFFLA).

Prominent ladies like Jhumpa Lahiri, Deepa Mehta, Mira Nair, Indu Jain, Ekta Kapoor have been listed as the 'Most Influential South Asian Women Executives' in the media and entertainment industry. Their unrelenting passion in bringing the best in entertainment and media to the global marketplace has helped the Indian entertainment succeed, says the study.

Christina Marouda, executive director of IFFLA, and Arnold Peter, chair of the board and IFFLA's General Counsel, observed that this year was particularly significant because of the rising number of South Asian women executives in all aspects of media and entertainment.

The achievements will have continuing impact on the growing success of Indian entertainment throughout the globe, Marouda said.

Meet the 'Most Influential South Asian Women Executives' in the media and entertainment industry. . .

Mira Nair

A successful film director, writer and producer, Mira Nair was born in India and educated at Delhi University and Harvard.

She began her film career as an actor and then turned to directing documentaries. Her first feature film, Salaam Bombay was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 1988; it won the Camera D'Or (for best first feature) and the Prix du Publique (for most popular entry) at the Cannes Film Festival and 25 other international awards.

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Deepa Mehta

Deepa Mehta is one of the finest film directors. Her films Fire, Earth and Water, received rave reviews and international acclaim. 

She was born in Amritsar, Punjab, before she migrated to Canada in 1973.  She has a degree in philosophy from the University of Delhi.

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Jhumpa Lahiri

Jhumpa Lahiri is an author and Member of President's Committee on Arts and Humanities. Jhumpa Lahiri was born in London and raised in Rhode Island. She is the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship.

Her debut collection of stories, Interpreter of Maladies, was awarded the Pulitzer Prize, the PEN/Hemingway Award and The New Yorker Debut of the Year.

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Indu Jain

Chairperson of the The Times Group, Indu Jain is also a spiritualist, an educationalist and a patron of art and culture. She has been instrumental in the growth of the Times Group.

Under her leadership, the Times Foundation organizes community services, helps people in distress. She also supports women's rights and encourages women entrepreneurs.

She is also ranked as the second richest woman in India.

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Ekta Kapoor

Ekta J Kapoor is the creative head and joint managing director of Balaji Telefilms. Daughter of Hindi film actors Jeetendra and Shobha Kapoor, Ekta Kapoor has produced and co-produced numerous soap operas, television series and movies.

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Shibani Joshi

Shibani Joshi joined FOX Business Network (FBN) in September 2007 as a reporter. Joshi began her career as an investment banking analyst at Morgan Stanley, where she worked on merger, acquisition and corporate finance deals in the real estate sector.

Joshi left the corporate world to pursue journalism as a news production assistant at CNNfn where she contributed to Lou Dobbs Moneyline and CNN Money Morning. She has also worked as a producer in New York at Reuters Television and Times Now, the joint venture news channel with The Times of India, where she was responsible for producing news packages and interviews broadcast all over India.

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Farah K Ahmed

Farah K Ahmed is the Assistant General Counsel of Personal Care Products Council.

The Personal Care Products Council (formerly the Cosmetic, Toiletry and Fragrance Association) is the leading national trade association for the cosmetic and personal care products industry.

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Vishakha N Desai

President of the Asia Society, Desai is committed to leading global organization committed to strengthening partnerships among the people, leaders, and institutions of Asia and the United States.

Founded by John D. Rockefeller III in 1956, Asia Society is the premier organisation with a unique focus on three-dimensional engagement -- combining culture, commerce, and current affairs -- with more than 35 countries in Asia.

Desai is responsible for the Society's diverse sets of programs ranging from major US-Asia policy initiatives and national educational partnerships for global learning to path-breaking art exhibitions and innovative Asian American performances.

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Sujata Murthy

Sujata Murthy is senior vice president, public and artist relations, Universal Music Enterprises. Prior to joining the company, she performed many similar duties at EMI Music Distribution and Capitol Records. Murthy is for overseeing all publicity campaigns as well as artist relations for UMe projects.

Superna Kalle

Superna Kalle is senior vice president, Sony Pictures Television. She oversees all channels in India to ensure profitability and establish overall business priorities and new initiatives for the channels in the region. Kalle also works on expanding the portfolio of Indian channels and content across multiple distribution platforms in the United States.

Roma Khanna

Roma Khanna is president, global networks and digital initiatives, NBC Universal International. Khanna is responsible for generating growth through geographical expansion, local and pan-regional partnerships, and new channel creation, with a focus on strengthening the content and identity of the Sci-Fi, 13th Street and Universal Channel brands internationally.

Vandana Malik

Vandana Malik is Head, Studio 18.  She acts as a creative advisor. In 2006, Network 18, the holding company of the TV 18 Group, launched Studio 18, to foucs on the motion picture business. The looks at acquisition, production, syndication and distribution of full-length feature films.

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Aparna Pande

Aparna Pande is general manager at Disney Publishing Worldwide responsible for FamilyFun, Wondertime, and Disney en Familia magazines and oversees editorial, consumer marketing, production, advertising sales, and marketing efforts for the US Consumer Magazine division.

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Zarina Mehta

Zarina Mehta is co-founder and chief creative officer, UTV Networks. Over the last 15 years, Zarina has been responsible for the start-up and creation of some of UTV's major divisions and has produced over 3500 hours of high TRP, award-winning television programming in multiple languages. Zarina is also a multi-award-winning director of corporate documentaries with a passion for children's television.

Latha Sundaram

Latha Sundaram is executive vice president and global account director Starcom Worldwide. She manages the advertising approach for Oracle in 26 countries. She loves working with intelligent, fun-loving, inspiring people who act with integrity.

Selina Tobaccowala

Selina Tobaccowala is vice president, product and engineering, Survey Monkey. Selina joined Survey Monkey in October 2009. Previously Selina was Senior Vice President of Product and Technology at Ticketmaster's Europe division, where she managed the 200-person Product, Technology and Operations team.

Deborah Tellis

Deborah Tellis is senior vice president, International Distribution Summit Entertainment. The company operates as a theatrical motion picture development, financing, production, and distribution studio in the United States.

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Saijal Patel

Saijal Patel is an analyst and commentator, Asia Squawk Box and Market Watch CNBC. She is a certified general accountant and holds a Chartered Financial Analyst designation.