Ravikant is an Indian intermedia historian, archivist, translator, and writer whose scholarship explores the intersections of language, media, cinema, and music in South Asia. He is a Professor at the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS), New Delhi, where he directs the Indian Languages Programme and edits the peer-reviewed journal Pratiman.

A co-founder of the CSDS Sarai Programme, he has played a pioneering role in developing digital archives, language technologies, and research initiatives on popular culture and media history.

His work on the social history of Hindi cinema, radio, and film music has established him as an important voice in Indian music and media studies. Through archival projects on Hindi-Urdu print culture, folk traditions, and early cinema, he has helped preserve significant aspects of India's musical heritage.

Ravikant is the author of Media ki Bhasha-leela and has co-edited several influential books, including Translating Partition and the Deewan-e-Sarai series. His research continues to illuminate the historical relationship between music, broadcasting, cinema, and language, making him a respected scholar of India's cultural and sonic history. He is editor of Pratiman, a peer reviewed journal on culture and society.

Ketan Anand is an Indian film director and producer, son of filmmaker Chetan Anand and actress Uma Anand, and cousin of director Shekhar Kapur. As a child, he appeared with his brother Vivek Anand in a song from Funtoosh (1956) alongside Dev Anand and Sheila Ramani.

He later assisted his father as associate producer on Heer Raanjha (1970) and worked as assistant director on Tere Mere Sapne (1971), experiences that shaped his early understanding of filmmaking.

He made his directorial debut with Toote Khilone (1978) and followed it the same year with Trishala Ka Laal (1978), establishing himself as a filmmaker in social and mythological drama.

In the 1980s, he co-directed Hum Rahe Na Hum (1984) with his father, directed Shart (1986), and appeared in acting roles in Raavan (1984) and Sheeshay Ka Ghar (1984). The 1990s saw him direct Aaja Meri Jaan (1993) and Agnichakra (1997), expanding into commercial cinema.

In 2007, he co-authored the book Chetan Anand: The Poetics of Film and in 2008 revived his father's banner Himalaya Films, also directing the tribute documentary Chetan Anand: The Poetics of Film (2008). Later credits include the Irish-Indian horror film Hexing (2017) and a supporting role in Bhagyavidhata (2020).

Anand was arrested in connection with the 2000 death of actress Priya Rajvansh alongside his brother Vivek Anand and others. He was later convicted in 2002, granted bail the same year, and subsequently acquitted on appeal in 2013 by the Delhi High Court.

His career spans more than five decades across mainstream and parallel Indian cinema work and cinematic practice.

Amit Khanna (1 March 1951) is an Indian film producer, director, writer, lyricist, journalist, and media entrepreneur whose work has played a defining role in shaping the modern Indian entertainment industry. Widely regarded as one of the architects of Indiaâs contemporary media culture, Khanna has contributed significantly to cinema, television, music, publishing, and corporate entertainment over a career spanning more than five decades. He is the founder chairman of Reliance Entertainment, former president of the Producers Guild of India, and founder trustee of the Mumbai Academy of the Moving Image. He is also frequently credited with popularising the term Bollywood in international media discourse. As a producer and lyricist, he has received three National Film Awards, reflecting the breadth of his artistic and institutional contributions.

Internationally, Khanna has been recognised by Time, Newsweek, Variety, and The Hollywood Reporter among the influential global figures in film and television. His academic engagements have included guest lectures at New York University and University of Southern California. He served three times on the Indian Panorama jury representing western India and became the first Indian invited to serve on the jury of the International Emmy Awards, marking an important moment in the international recognition of Indian media professionals.

Born in New Delhi to Hem Khanna and Jawaharlal Khanna, Amit Khanna received his schooling at St. Columba's School before graduating from St. Stephenâs College. His early years were deeply shaped by literature, theatre, radio, and journalism. He began writing poetry in Hindi at the age of fourteen and actively participated in student theatre productions and radio broadcasts, including childrenâs programming for All India Radio. These formative experiences cultivated both his literary sensibility and his understanding of mass communication, eventually leading him to Bombayâs expanding film industry in the early 1970s.

Khanna entered the film world in 1971 as an executive producer with Navketan Films, the banner founded by Dev Anand. During his tenure there, he worked on films such as Shareef Budmaash (1973), Ishq Ishq Ishq (1974), Des Pardes (1978), and Lootmaar (1980). He later made his independent debut as a producer with Man Pasand (1980) and subsequently produced films including Sheeshay Ka Ghar (1984) and Shesh (1988). Alongside filmmaking, he established himself as a prolific lyricist and writer, authoring more than 400 film and non-film songs as well as numerous screenplays and journalistic essays.

The rise of Indian television in the 1980s opened a new phase in Khannaâs career. In 1989, he helped establish Plus Channel, Indiaâs first integrated entertainment conglomerate, where he served as Managing Director and Group Editor. Under his leadership, the company expanded into television production, cinema, music, publishing, and event management, becoming one of the countryâs most influential independent media enterprises. Plus Channel also pioneered several innovations in Indian broadcasting, including some of Indiaâs earliest audiobooks and business news programming on television.

As a producer during this period, Khanna backed several critically acclaimed films, including Papa Kehte Hain (1996), Sardari Begum (1996), Gudia (1997), Do Rahain (1997), and Saaz (1998). At the 44th National Film Awards, he received two National Awards as producer for Gudia, which won Best Hindi Feature Film, and Sardari Begum, which won Best Urdu Feature Film. He also won the National Film Award for Best Lyrics for Bhairavi, further establishing his reputation as a creative figure capable of moving between artistic and managerial domains.

In 2000, Khanna left Plus Channel to join Reliance Entertainment, where he served as chairman for nearly fifteen years. Under his leadership, the company expanded into a major global entertainment enterprise with significant investments in Hollywood. In 2008, Reliance Entertainment entered into partnerships with internationally recognised actors including Tom Hanks, Brad Pitt, George Clooney, Jim Carrey, and Nicolas Cage. The same year, the company formed a landmark joint venture with Steven Spielbergâs DreamWorks Studios, followed by a major production and distribution agreement that consolidated Reliance Entertainmentâs international position.

Khanna later expanded into directing, working across cinema and digital media. His directorial projects include the romantic comedies Tutiya Dil (2012) and Badmashiyaan (2015), the award-winning short film An Untold Story of Paper Boats (2016), and the LGBTQ-themed crossover feature Friends in Law (2018). In the digital sphere, he created and directed All About Section 377 (2016), considered among Indiaâs earliest LGBTQ-focused web series, followed by Still About Section 377 (2018).

Beyond filmmaking, Khanna has served on the Central Board of Film Certification and committees associated with the Indian Broadcasting Foundation, Indian Music Industry, and the Film Federation of India. Notably, he remains the only permanent member of the Council of Management of the Producers Guild of India after V. Shantaram and Raj Kapoor, a distinction that underscores his enduring influence on Indian media and cultural institutions.

Juhi Saklani A Delhi-based writer, editor, and photographer known for her work at the intersection of visual storytelling, ecology, and cultural writing. She began her career as a travel writer for a national magazine, a trajectory that gradually led her into photography, where she found a more sustained creative practice.

Her photographic work is distinguished by its focus on the fragile relationship between nature and urban development. Through long-term projects, she has documented trees growing through buildings, walls, and abandoned urban spaces, using these images to reflect on environmental loss and the rapid transformation of Indian cities. Her acclaimed series Human/Nature, exhibited under the India Habitat Centreâs Photosphere Fellowship, explores deforestation, redevelopment, and the disappearing green cover in Delhiâs colonies, particularly Sarojini Nagar and Netaji Nagar.

Alongside photography, Saklani has an established career as a writer on art, cinema, music, travel, and contemporary culture. She has contributed essays and reportage to several major publications and has also served as an editor, including work on volumes related to Satyajit Ray and Somnath Hore. Her editorial practice reflects a sustained engagement with Indian modern art and intellectual history. Saklaniâs interdisciplinary practice bridges text and image. Her work often treats photography not as documentation alone but as a narrative and archival form, blending memoir, observation, and environmental critique. She has also received recognition through fellowships such as the India Habitat Centre Photosphere programme.

Across both writing and photography, her work is marked by a consistent attention to place, memory, and ecological consciousness, positioning her as a distinctive voice in contemporary Indian documentary and cultural practice.

Shikha Jhingan She is an Indian scholar of cinema and sound studies, currently associated with the School of Arts and Aesthetics at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi. Her academic work sits at the intersection of film, performance, and media studies, with a particular focus on the cultural and technological histories of sound in Indian cinema.

She holds a PhD in Cinema Studies from JNU and an MFA in Performance Studies (Film) from the University of WisconsinâMilwaukee. She also earned an MA in Mass Communication from the A.J.K. Mass Communication Research Centre, Jamia Millia Islamia, and a BA (Hons) in Political Science from Lady Shri Ram College, University of Delhi. This interdisciplinary training informs her research approach, which combines textual analysis, media history, and performance theory.

Jhinganâs scholarship centres on voice, music, and technology in Hindi cinema, with a focus on playback singing and sound culture. Her work traces the movement of film music across radio, gramophone, cassette, television, and digital platforms, examining how these shifts reshape notions of stardom, gender, and spectatorship.

Prior to her academic career, she worked as a documentary filmmaker and was a founding member of Mediastorm, a womenâs film collective active in independent media practice. Her films explored themes of gender, labour, and representation.

She has published widely in academic journals and edited volumes. Her book The Female Playback in Bombay Cinema: Voice, Body, Technology (2025) reflects her sustained engagement with the politics of the female singing voice in Indian cinema.

Madan Gopal Singh A multifaceted Indian composer, singer, lyricist, actor, screenwriter, film theorist, editor, and polyglot whose work spans music, cinema, and cultural scholarship, he currently serves as Senior Fellow at the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, New Delhi, and is on leave from Satyawati College (Evening Classes), where he taught English literature.

Born into a literary family as the son of noted Punjabi poet Harbhajan Singh, he has built an interdisciplinary career shaped by both academic inquiry and artistic experimentation. Singh has written and lectured extensively on cinema, visual culture, and cultural history, while also performing internationally as the lead voice of his ensemble Chaar Yaar, known for blending Sufi poetry with contemporary musical expression.

In film, he has contributed as a screenwriter, lyricist, and dialogue writer to several critically acclaimed projects. His work includes the award-winning short film Rasayatra, based on Hindustani classical vocalist Mallikarjun Mansur, and Ekti Nadir Naam (The Name of a River), a feature exploring the life and legacy of filmmaker Ritwik Ghatak. He also wrote lyrics and adaptations for Mira Nairâs Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love, and dialogues for Kaya Taran, which examines the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.

Singhâs musical practice draws deeply on Sufi and classical traditions, composing and performing poetry by Rumi, Bulle Shah, Shah Hussain, and Sultan Bahu, while also translating global voices such as Brecht, Lorca, and John Lennon into Hindustani. He has collaborated widely in India and abroad, composed for films and documentaries, and performed at major international festivals, establishing himself as a significant bridge between South Asian literary heritage and global contemporary arts.

Neville Tuli (born 24 April 1964, London, UK) is a distinguished art collector, cultural historian, author, curator, and archivist of Indian origin, widely recognised for his pioneering contributions to the preservation and promotion of India's artistic and cinematic heritage. Educated in economics and developmental theory at the London School of Economics and St Catherine's College, Oxford, Tuli returned to India after nearly twenty-five years abroad and embarked upon extensive travels across the country, documenting its visual arts, cinema, architecture, and material culture. In 1996, he published The Flamed Mosaic: Indian Contemporary Painting, an influential study exploring the aesthetics and historical evolution of modern and contemporary Indian art.

Since relocating to India in 1993, Tuli has devoted over three decades to documenting, conserving, and interpreting the nation's cultural legacy while fostering broader public engagement through scholarship, exhibitions, education, and digital initiatives. He has assembled one of the world's most comprehensive archives of Indian fine art, cinema memorabilia, manuscripts, photographs, and cultural artefacts, comprising more than 400,000 objects. Tuli has curated more than forty landmark auctions-cum-exhibitions that went beyond modern and contemporary Indian art to encompass cinema memorabilia, popular culture, sports collectibles and international works, achieving global visibility and recognition.

Driven by his lifelong vision of cultural self-discovery through India's artistic and intellectual heritage and guided by values of cultural stewardship, intellectual inquiry, and resilience, he has created enduring institutions dedicated to its study and dissemination.

The Tuli Research Centre for India Studies (TRIS) was established in 2023. Through its website tuliresearchcentre.org TRIS makes its unparalleled archives, library, and research resources accessible for students, scholars and lifelong learners across the areas of modern and contemporary fine arts, Indian and world cinema, ecology, animal welfare, the social sciences and the humanities.

The Tuli Research Centre for India Studies (TRIS) remains an independent, non-political institution dedicated to advancing interdisciplinary research, fostering a deeper understanding of India's cultural past while inspiring informed dialogue about its future.