 I got the honour of announcing the Influencer of the Year 2019 is Mr. Sanjay Gupta, Country Manager, Star in Disney. Congratulations to you Mr. Sanjay Gupta. It gives me immense pleasure for sharing the stage with the Influencer of the Year awardee Sanjay Gupta and all the dignitaries and can we the AV please. Sanjay Gupta, Country Manager, Star in Disney India has spearheaded Star's growth through innovations in branded entertainment and introduction of new content genres across regions. He has been instrumental in expanding traditional television content through digital content platforms through Hotstar and overseeing the adoption of HD channels to create India's first media company powered by technology. Sanjay has also been committed to building the channels sports business through acquisition of rights for market content like IPL, ICC and PCCI and the reinvention of sports with the launch of Kabaddi and Football Leagues. A postgraduate from IIM Calcutta, he brings in over 20 years of experience across categories. To the man with such remarkable achievements, Exchange for Media takes immense pride in conferring the title of Influencer of the Year 2019. Now let me just put this up front. Sanjay is by far the best executive and leader that the Indian media and entertainment industry has currently got, no exceptions for Star and for the media industry but when it comes to Star, I don't think Sanjay gets enough credit for what he has done. Most of what I have achieved today would have been impossible without Sanjay to achieve. The only way I can describe him and his and my relationship is like two batsmen playing together at two different ends and they have had a great partnership over these long years. His cool and his execution bandwidth is really commendable. He couldn't do it with ease and mission that is one of the best colleges I have seen him. Sanjay is my colleague. Heartfelt congratulations to Sanjay Gupta on winning this most deserving award of Influencer of the Year. I've known Sanjay for very many years and we've had a very successful lucrative and a solid relationship. Sanjay now is going to play such a solid part in the Star Disney Alliance. He's going to play such an integral part where these two powerhouses will come together and he will of course be the fulcrum of that solid association. E4M could not have found a better person than Sanjay for the Influencer of the Year award. The BCCI and Star India have an extremely extremely strong and deep relationship and Sanjay is one of the axes of that relationship. We are proud of our association with Sanjay and I personally am proud to be known as one of Sanjay's friends. Sanjay ji aapka ek baal bade yahi humari kamna hai. One of the first things that Sanjay did when he came to Star India is he worked on the repositioning and relaunch of Star Plus. The idea that became rishita soch nahi and one big inspiration point there was that we felt that a new idea of Star Plus needed to be articulated. There was a saying that he had in his room when he first started working at Star which read life is tough but I am tougher and I think that is Sanjay. I have a 4S framework for Sanjay. The first S is Socratic. Sanjay will challenge you on every assumption. He will begin every strategy discussion with what are we solving for and it is through his challenge that you really get to the heart of the matter. At times it can be really tough. You can walk in and you know he can completely rubbish your plans but through it you really realize clarity as well as conviction. The second S is stamina and not just normal stamina but superhuman stamina. Sanjay is always the first to walk into office and the last to leave and he has these rather long meetings. You know sometimes they could last for five hours. The third S is scale. You know Sanjay really challenges all of us to think big and to think beyond and he is never excited unless it is dramatic impact. Billion dollars huge scale. The fourth S is perhaps the one that is least known. Sanjay you know beneath that gruff and often challenging exterior. Sanjay is quite a softy. He has a sentimental heart that really cares for people and cares for society and the impact we make as a media company. I am delighted to hear that Sanjay Gupta has been chosen as the influencer of the year. Sanjay is a fantastic business professional also a very very dear friend. He has been working very silently behind the scenes to drive change transformation at start. He's extremely deeply rooted in his knowledge of the consumer or the viewer and that really has benefited his organization and those of us who work closely with him realize that he's a professional who is extremely fair in all his dealings and it's been a real pleasure working with you all these years. Sanjay look forward to many more and all the very best congrats again. Congratulations first of all Sanjay on winning this award many more I'm sure on the way. I have known Sanjay for many years now we have worked together in different capacities different roles but it has always been a very professional relationship. He's not only very thorough but he's very insightful. He's done repeatedly. He's been breakthrough work they've always taken forward-looking step beach in their programming and I really thought getting into IPL both Hotstar and TV broadcast was really a big bold cut-sea move. His ability to get sharper his ability to you know look at things not just sharper but also from a lateral perspective these are two aspects which has always been interesting but if I were to look at from a unique perspective I think you know he also always challenges status quo. Through all the phases of all the shows with the Sir I admire and cherish the moments that when you personally meet and then you give a memento like recently we did a historical we crossed 3000 episodes which is the first time in Hindi GC any show has you know done more than 3000 episodes. I remember the great lunch we had and how you appreciated and the beautiful memento you gave so these things really really matter and motivates you and thank you so much sir and wishing the very very best always. May I request Mr Raj Naik to kindly read out the award citation please. I'm very happy congratulations Sanjay you deserve it more than anybody else and your contribution to the industry is something that will be remembered for a long time. Let me read the citation Sanjay Gupta country manager the exchange for media influence of the award 2019 is confirmed upon Mr Sanjay Gupta country manager star and Disney India. Sanjay just told me it should be reading star and Walt Disney Company India right. A media professional of international repute Mr Gupta is an inspiration for many. He is known for his vision his determination and his ability to take risks. Taking over the mantle from stalwart Mr Uday Shankar Mr Gupta has taken star to new heights in a very short span of time the veteran has been the driver of the network's growth journey in India innovating entertainment and introducing new content genres across regions. He is focused on creating impactful and enduring stories and making them available across linear and digital platforms thereby ensuring maximum reach. Mr Gupta has been instrumental in is in introducing multiple platforms for content delivery by expanding the traditional television content to digital platforms through hot star and overseeing adoption of HD channels. He is credited with creating India's first media company powered by technology. He has also been deeply involved in building the sports business of the network through acquisition of rights for marquee events such as IPL, ICC and BCCI tournaments and launch of leagues for cup of tea and football. In the process he has brought about a change in the very mindset of the country towards sports other than cricket. Exchange for media is happy to elaborate sorry exchange for media is happy to celebrate the achievements of the man who believes in challenging the status quo in everything he does. We wish him all the very best for his journey ahead. Anurag Bhattra Chairman Editor-in-Chief Exchange for Media Group September 24 2019 Mumbai. Thank you. Good evening everyone. It's an honor to receive this award and from all the dignitaries on the on the stage thank you so much to all of you. It's an overwhelming moment for me personally and thank you Anurag Nawal the exchange for media team the jury and all the dignitaries here. I'm both humbled and delighted with this recognition. I received this award on behalf of team star and actually team star makes me look good it's not me who is good it's the team a star which makes me look so good. I personally feel I'm blessed to be in a business where our stories have the power to challenge status quo our stories have the power to create change in society and our stories have the power to inspire a billion imaginations. At star we have believed that we create business value by challenging ourselves and actually disrupting ourselves all the time. Our stories and I'm reminded as I heard a lot of people speak of our star plus characters beat earlier or Pratigya or today of Naira who have constantly challenged the pseudo types and orthodox orthodoxy that is stood in the way of progress of our women. If I look back and reflect back our rustic and rural sport like Kabadi has captured the imaginations of billions of people in this country nobody could have we couldn't have imagined and today it is the number two sport in this country the most loved sport number two sport in this country a country which was dismissed as data dark till around five years back this year saw 300 million people come and watch a game of IPL on their mobile screens and and I think all these themes when I reflect back and look at and hear all the all the things which are set for me it's is not for me but it is the big bold move star makes because star and the belief in star is anchored that either we disrupt ourselves or others will disrupt us that belief and that commitment is what drives all of us at star. I heard Uday say a lot of good words about me about being a great partner and a great batsman and a lot of other people here on the stage say good thing about me I think it is not me who deserves the credit it is the achievements of star are actually the achievements of the team which dreams big which executes brilliantly and I think which is comfortable with the idea of disrupting itself so I feel proud to lead this talented and passionate team thank you steam star and thank you exchange for media