Saavn Names President, COO

NEW YORK: Former HBO executive Rishi Malhotra has been appointed as the president and COO of Saavn, a digital distributor of Bollywood entertainment, where he will oversee programming, distribution and strategic development.

Saavn packages Bollywood movies, music and TV shows for digital platforms including cable VOD, Internet and mobile, and its partner roster includes iTunes, Time Warner Cable, Cablevision, Amazon, Netflix and YouTube. Malhotra joins the venture after several years at HBO, where he was the VP of multiplatform program marketing. He joins a senior team that includes co-founder and managing director, Paramdeep Singh, and co-founder and CEO, Vin Bhat.

"While Slumdog Millionaire has been a tipping point for Indian entertainment worldwide, bringing this programming to larger audiences on multiple platforms is a true global opportunity," said Malhotra. "I’m honored to join such a talented team at this very exciting time in the industry. We’re working closely with our partners to grow digital distribution plans and are involved with a number of new programming projects. We continue to see amazing collaboration with some of the best entertainment brands in the business."

Malhotra will be based in Saavn’s New York City office.