Ronnie Screwvala
Ronnie Screwvala | |
---|---|
Born | Mumbai, Maharashtra, India |
Nationality | Indian |
Occupation(s) | Founder UTV Group (Now Walt Disney India), Founder Trustee of Swades Foundation, Founder of Unilazer Ventures, Board of Advisor AIESEC India |
Years active | 1981- Present |
Spouse | Zarina Mehta[1] |
Children | Trishya Screwvala |
Rohinton Soli "Ronnie" Screwvala is a first generation Indian entrepreneur and philanthropist.
He has been named on Esquire's List of the 75 Most Influential People of the 21 st Century[2] and ranked 78 among the 100 most influential people in the world on the Time 100 (compiled by Time Magazine, 2009).[3] He was also listed amongst 25 Asia’s Most Powerful people by Fortune Magazine.[4] and titled the Jack Warner of India by Newsweek.[5]
Based in Mumbai, India, Ronnie pioneered Cable TV , built a Media and Entertainment conglomerate (UTV Software Communications) that partnered with News Corp, 20th Century Fox, The Walt Disney Company and Bloomberg and later in 2012 he divested the company to Disney for an enterprise value of US$ 1.4 billion.[6]
From 2013 onwards he and his wife scaled their Non Profit The Swades Foundation whose goal is to work with a million people in rural India, empower them and move them out of poverty every 6-7 years and then move to another geography.[7] Has co-founded UpGrad which is into Online Education in the higher education and specialization sector[8], built a Sports company (U Sports) spanning Football / E Sports and Kabaddi[9], re-entered the media content space to build a creative content company in Movies and Digital Content (RSVP),[10] authored a Book titled Dream with Your Eyes Open[11] and through his investment company Unilazer Ventures he has been a significant private equity investor in Indian start ups with early stage investment and significant minority stakes.[12]
Early life and education
Screwvala was born in Mumbai into a Parsi family. His father was an executive at the British firm J L Morrison and Smith & Nephew. Screwvala schooled and colleged in Mumbai at Cathedral and John Connon School and Sydenham College.[6] Screwvala had a keen interest in theatre while in school and acted in professional plays with Bombay theatre as a hobby. He played notable roles in Shakespeare’s Othello and Death of a Salesman.[13]
Personal life
Screwvala is married to Zarina Mehta, his second marriage. Zarina has been a co-founder in the media company UTV they founded, and now is the co-Trustee of their Philanthropic foundation; The Swades Foundation.[14] They live in Breach Candy, South Mumbai.[15] His first wife, Manjula Nanavati and Screwvala have one daughter, Trishya Screwvala, who runs her own Not For Profit, The Lighthouse Project,[16] and who is married to Sports Commentator Suhail Chandhok.[17]
Early days
Screwvala’s first venture (in 1981) pioneered Cable TV in India at a time when there was a single terrestrial channel (Doordarshan) and grew that to multiple cities and most of the hotel chains in India.[6] Opportunistic in the early days of his entrepreneurship, he also founded a toothbrush manufacturing company.[14]
United Television (UTV) 1990-2012
Screwvala founded the UTV Group in 1990 providing television content to broadcasters. In a span of less than 2 decades, UTV expanded into broadcasting, gaming, film and other businesses. The first film produced by his company was Dil Ke Jharoke Main. He also launched the Hungama Channel in 2004 which was highly successful and become one of the leading children's television channels in India UTV group became listed on the Indian Stock Exchange in 2005.[14] In February 2012, The Walt Disney Co. took over UTV and Screwvala stayed on as MD of the Walt Disney Company India. In October 2013, Screwvala handed over the reins to protégé Siddharth Roy Kapur and exited the company he had founded.
2013 onwards
The Swades Foundation
Along with his wife Zarina, who is full time engaged with the Foundation, the Swades Foundation is committed to empower and lift out of poverty a million people.[7]
Screwvala laid the foundation of Society to Heal Aid Restore Educate (SHARE) for rural development in Maharashtra.[18] Swades, under his former brand name SHARE, in the last five years has provided 39,000 people in 139 villages in rural Maharashtra with drinking water. Through Swades, Screwvala sees empowering communities with choices for themselves and their families, the capability of transforming their own lives.[19]
On 30 September 2014, Screwvala was awarded the GQ Philanthropist of the Year for his work with Swades Foundation. [20]
UpGrad
Screwvala co-founded UpGrad, which is one of the largest Online Education companies in India - focused on the higher Education and Specialization sector.[8]
USports
Screwvala co-founded U Sports with a focus on three sports, Kabaddi a popular sport in India and around Asia (his team U Mumba is one of the top teams in the 12 team ProKabaddi League), E Sports and in Football where under the brand U Dreams the focus is to train and manage talent under various years of age for a sustained duration, and then manage their careers for the long term to play professionally in India and globally.[21]
RSVP
RSVP is Screwvala’s re-entry into the media and entertainment industry. This time is focussed on developing its own scripts and screenplays and working with directors that share the common vision of storytelling.[10]
Unilazer
Unilazer was incorporated by Screwvala as a private equity company that has made investments in the Indian new economy companies and start-ups, with early stage investments with significant minority stake as also bringing with him his entrepreneurial experience to the founders. The sectors in which Unilazer has invested range from e commerce to a leading online eyewear company in India, and from AI and Bots to Agriculture to Microhousing Finance.[22][23]
Filmography
The following is a list of films produced/ co-produced by Screwvala[24]
Awards
Year | Award | Category | Film |
---|---|---|---|
2007 | National Film Awards | Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment | Rang De Basanti |
2007 | Filmfare Awards | Best Film | |
2009 | Jodhaa Akbar | ||
2013 | Barfi! | ||
2007 | IIFA Awards | Best Film | Rang De Basanti |
2009 | Jodhaa Akbar | ||
2013 | Barfi |
References
- ^ Humaira Ansari (27 September 2010). "This Parsi cook's secret lies in her grandma's recipes". DNA India. Retrieved 8 March 2013.
- ^ "Tata, Ambani, Mittal among most influential of 21st century". The Economic Times. 18 September 2008. Retrieved 12 May 2018.
- ^ "Moot world's most influential; Sonia, Tata in top 100: Report". The Economic Times. 27 April 2009. Retrieved 12 May 2018.
- ^ Lall, Pawan (5 May 2011). "Bollywood's disruptor". Retrieved 12 May 2018.
- ^ "Bollywood takes on Hollywood: Newsweek". Hindustan Times. 5 September 2007. Retrieved 12 May 2018.
- ^ a b c Subramanian, Anusha (8 December 2011). "Behind Ronnie Screwvala's Rs 2,000-cr Walt Disney deal". Business Today. Retrieved 12 May 2018.
- ^ a b Garfinkel, Perry (30 December 2016). "After Building a Media Empire, What's Next? Lifting One Million From Poverty". The New York Times. Retrieved 12 May 2018.
- ^ a b Bansal, Varsha (4 July 2017). "Ronnie Screwvala to infuse Rs 100 crore in UpGrad's B2B segment". The Economic Times. Retrieved 12 May 2018.
- ^ Pal, Shubhodeep (12 January 2018). "How eSports got screen time in India". The Hindu. Retrieved 12 May 2018.
- ^ a b Laghate, Gaurav (1 December 2017). "Former UTV boss, Ronnie Screwvala back in action with new film studio RSVP, keen to build creative team in-house". The Economic Times. Retrieved 12 May 2018.
- ^ Kazmin, Amy (20 October 2017). "India's tycoons and a new breed of family office". Financial Times. Retrieved 12 May 2018.
- ^ Bhatia, Rahul (1 June 2012). "The Interpreter". Caravan Magazine. Retrieved 12 May 2018.
- ^ a b c James Crabtree (28 June 2013). "At home: Ronnie Screwvala". Financial Times. Retrieved 12 May 2015.
- ^ Shirin Kumaana-Wadia (25 June 2008). "Ronnie Screwvala: Bollywood to Hollywood". Parsi Khabar. Retrieved 8 March 2013.
- ^ VENKATRAMAN, ARUN (26 April 2015). "Lighthouse full of hope". https://www.deccanchronicle.com/. Retrieved 12 May 2018.
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- ^ "Trishya Screwvala to tie the knot with beau Suhail Chandok - Times of India". The Times of India. 29 January 2017. Retrieved 12 May 2018.
- ^ Sreelatha Menon (8 December 2012). "Come home to the Village". Business Standard. Retrieved 8 March 2013.
- ^ "Society to Heal Aid Restore Educate". Swades Foundation. Retrieved 8 March 2013.
- ^ http://www.gqindia.com/gq-initiatives/men-year/2014-gq-men-year-awards-winners
- ^ Sikdar, Shubhomoy (3 September 2015). "15 boys fulfil dream, to train with German football clubs". The Hindu. Retrieved 12 May 2018.
- ^ "Ronnie Screwvala's Unilazer Ventures hikes stake in online insurance comparison platform Easypolicy". The Financial Express. 9 May 2018. Retrieved 12 May 2018.
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at position 89 (help) - ^ Vignesh, J. (20 May 2016). "Ratan Tata, Ronnie Screwvala invest in artificial intelligence startup Niki". The Economic Times. Retrieved 12 May 2018.
- ^ Ronnie Screwvala imdb