Faculty

Aarti Beetigeri has been a television journalist with the Australian government’s two broadcasters: SBS and ABC. Apart from teaching, she currently contributes to a number of outlets globally, including the UK-based current affairs and style magazine Monocle, CNN publications, ABC radio and various travel magazines.

Anish Dasgupta has nearly a decade of experience in the field of communications. He has worked as a consultant with brands like the Kotak Mahindra Group, Microsoft, IBM, and Cleartrip. He is the recipient of a Silver Addy Award (awarded by the Amercian Advertising Association), and in 2008, The Economic Times hailed his in-house cost-savings program titled ‘Kill Bill’ as one of the most effective in the country. Before joining SACAC he was an Associate Faculty at MICA.

Ben Arnoldy covers India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan as the South Asia bureau chief for The Christian Science Monitor. Ben started his professional journalism career in 1999 as a news producer for the Monitor’s website - csmonitor.com. In 2002, he won Best Feature from the Online News Association and the Columbia School of Journalism for an interactive project on the future of American railways. He became the first online reporter to be embedded with the US military during the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Ben has also served as the Monitor’s Asia editor and Northern California bureau chief.

BV Rao has 25 years of experience in print and broadcast journalism. He has held several key positions in newspapers across the country, such as DNA, Times of India, and Indian Express. His portfolio includes magazines, weeklies, tabloids and broadsheets, and two major news channels. He writes a weekly column on the Indian media and is a consulting editor withMoneyLife, a fortnightly magazine.

Eric Saranovitz has a broad and diverse background in international media, journalism, and communication-both as a scholar and a practitioner. He earned his PhD. in Media Studies from the New York University, and has worked as an Instructor of Media Studies at NYU. He was also an Assistant Professor in International Communication at Denison University in Ohio. Eric has taught courses in expository writing and has worked as a writing consultant in New York City. He is a recipient of the Fulbright Fellowship.

Hitesh Manocha is an alumnus of IIM Ahmedabad. With over 15 years of experience in marketing and sales, he has been a freelance consultant & trainer for over 12 years.

Inga Butefisch is an experienced newspaper editor. Inga was, for seven years, the head of media relations at Australia’s seventh-biggest public agency, the Western Australian Department of Education and Training. Her role included managing the many high-profile criticial incidents that arose in the State’s schools, as well as devising and running large-group, interactive media training sessions for agency executives, district superintendents and school headmasters. Inga has also served as press secretary to the West Australian Cabinet, representing the Minister for Industrial Relations and the Minister for Prisons. She has worked for two years in India for local public relations agencies.

Mala Bhargava is a psychologist-turned-media professional. She is perhaps best known for her popular personal technology column, “That’s IT” in Businessworld magazine. She has been an Editorial Director at Mindworks Global Media Services, a pioneer in the outsourcing of editorial services. She was also the founder editor of the country’s first home computing magazine, Computer@Home. Mala has extensive experience in training editorial teams. At Mindworks, she has formulated and implemented perhaps the most in-depth copydesk training programme in the country.

Margot Bigg had her first story published at the age of 15 and never turned back. She began her career as a university writing tutor before becoming and editor and later, a features writer focusing on music, travel and fine arts. Her work has appeared in Rolling Stone, Outlook Traveller, Lonely Planet, The Oregonian and The Caravan. She also served as the Deputy Editor of Time Out Jaipur in 2008-09. She holds an MA in European Politics from the University of Bath (UK) and Sciences Po Paris (France).

Rahul Dhawan has over thirty five years of experience. His career spans leading Multinationals and Indian corporations where he has covered diverse experiences - Public Affairs, Image and Perception Management, Media Relations, Marketing Support Services & Advertising, Crisis Management, Investor Relations, Consumer Relations, Community and Rural Welfare Programs. He is currently Head of Strategy and Planning - DTA Consulting. He was Vice President: Corporate Communications – Nigeria, for the Mittal’s of the ISPAT Group and has also served as Director External Affairs & Corporate Communications-Coca-Cola India Inc.

Richa Pant has been working as a broadcast journalist for fifteen years. She started her career with NDTV in India before moving on to work with the BBC World Service in London. She has also freelanced for SBS TV(Australia), Deutche Welle, and a few Indian television channels. Richa has wide experience of reporting and producing current affairs programmes including business and entertainment. She has extensive field reporting experience – including reporting from a war zone. She was awarded the Commonwealth Broadcasting Association- Chevening Fellowship to do her Masters in International Journalism from the University of Westminster (UK) and is a LEAD (Leadership in Environment and Development) fellow.

Sanjib Dey has nearly 18 years of experience in advertising and marketing, and is the COO of Law & Kenneth. He was the Commander-in-Chief of Saatchi’s Delhi & Bangalore operations. A dynamic, charged-up, restless leader, Sanjib believes in constantly challenging himself and his team to raise the bar on strategic thoroughness and creative excellence. Sanjib is an active partner to the agency’s clients, working closely with them to arrive at effective communication and marketing solutions.

Savyasaachi Jain is a media trainer and practitioner with experience in broadcast and print journalism. He has produced hundreds of hours of current affairs and documentary programming for radio and television, and more than 50 international radio/TV documentary co-productions. Saachi was an international trainer with Thomson Foundation, a UK-based media development organization. An alumnus of the prestigious IIT, Kanpur, he was awarded the Commonwealth Vision Award 2002 by the Royal Commonwealth Society, London.

Shailaja Manocha is a PGDBM from IMT Ghaziabad. She has worked in the area of marketing and sales with organizations like Dabur and NIIT. Since 1998, she has been working as a consultant/trainer and teacher. Her areas of specialization are marketing and communication.

Shailee Thaper has been a Corporate Communication practitioner for over 14 years. She has worked with companies like HSBC, Aricent Technologies, and CMC (a subsidiary of Tata Consultancy Services). She has a Masters in Management from IIM-Calcutta, and a Masters in Mass Communication from IIMC.

Simrat Gulati is an alumnus of IIMC , New Delhi. After working in advertising, research, and PR, and a Masters each in Management and Communication, she moved into consultancy and teaching. With over 17 years of experience, she interacts with students in the areas of advertising management, consumer behavior and communication. She is associated with several leading institutes of management and mass communication as visiting faculty and academic advisor. Apart from teaching, she actively contributes her efforts, experience, and proficiency for issues like breast cancer, the girl child and AIDS.

A.F.Mathew, Associate Professor, MICA has been teaching Cultural Studies and Film Studies, for the last 15 years. He has published papers in many refereed journals. He is visiting faculty at Sri Aurobindo Centre for Arts and Communication, IIM (Kozhikode) and National Institute of Design (NID). He is presently Associate Professor at MICA, Ahmedabad.

Anugyan Nag has a Masters Degree from the first batch of Asian School of Media Studies, Noida ASMS in Cinema. He pursued his second masters in Fiction Film Production from Salford University U.K. Post his degree he was involved in teaching at various media colleges and institutions. Anugyan is presently pursuing his M.Phil in Cinema Studies from Jawaharlal Nehru University.

Anupama Srinivasan is a freelance filmmaker based in Delhi. She studied non-fiction filmmaking and still photography as a part of her undergraduate studies at Harvard University. She went on to complete the three year course in Film Direction from FTII, Pune in 2000. Her documentaries and short films have been screened at various film festivals. Apart from making films, she enjoys conducting workshops for children, teaching Mathematics and learning Japanese.

Avijit Mukul Kishore is a film maker and cinematographer based in Mumbai. After completing cinematography at the Film and Television Training Institute in Pune (India) in 1995, he came to Mumbai. In a short span of time, he has worked as cinematographer for a number of documentary films, most of which have been shown at International Film Festivals and won critical acclaim. He also teaches documentary film-making and works for television.

Carlos Izquierdo Tobías is an alumnus of the Film and Television Department at SACAC in Direction. He has worked in several short films in Germany and India. He is currently pursuing MPhil in Cinema Studies at Jawaharlal Nehru University. He also teaches film appreciation in the Department of Film and Television.

Dadi Pudumjee, leading puppeteer in India is a leading puppeteer in India. In 1980, he founded the Sutradhar Puppet Theatre at the puppetry division at the Shri Ram Centre for Performing Arts in New Delhi and was its artistic director until 1986, after which he set up his own puppet company, The Ishara Puppet Theatre Trust. He is the President of UNIMA and past member of the General Council of the Sangeet Natak Akademi. He was awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1992.

Gargi Sen is a documentary filmmaker, distributor, curator of film festivals and a teacher of mass communication theory and research. She heads Magic Lantern Foundation (MLF), a media arts and human rights organization and Under Construction, a not-for-profit distribution centre that aims to distribute and disseminate independent films. Her interest lie at the cross roads of culture, communication, cinema and academia. Recently she curated Persistence Resistance, an international film festival of contemporary political films aimed at locating the new and emerging documentary language. Ms. Sen teaches mass communication theory and research at the AJK Mass Communication Research Centre, Jamia Milia Islamia, New Delhi and leads the MA research for the institute.

Gaurav Chintamani is a trained sound engineer from SAE, Chennai, Gaurav owns Quarter Note Studios (New Delhi) since 2007. He has been composing and producing music / audio for various projects, ranging from documentaries, ad-jingles, corporate and short films, and theatre. He has worked with NDTV, BBC World Service Trust, Micromax Mobiles, and Discovery India among others. In addition, he has worked with numerous bands at his studio as a producer and engineer.

K. Hariharan is an accomplished film maker and distinguished scholar. He is a graduate from FTII, Pune. The National Award Winning Tamil Film, Ezavathu Manithan, earned him international acclaim, featuring in Mascow and other Film Festivals. He has also directed many Documentaries, Short Features and Children’s films. He is a Visiting Faculty member at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia and other Universities in India and abroad. Currently is the Director of L.V. Prasad Film & TV Academy at Chennai and heads the Department of Direction.

Kavita Nayyar, Painter, Mixed Media Artist obtained her bachelors degree from Shantiniketan in West Bengal which was followed by masters in Delhi College of Art. She has been working in this field over the past two and a half decades and has held solo shows in New York, Oxford University, Mauritius, Delhi, Kolkata and Mumbai. She has traveled and worked in countries like France, England, Sweden, Hungary, Luxembourg, and Mauritius to name a few. Her works are in collection with Prime Minister House in India, Ministry of Civil Aviation in New Delhi, National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi, National Bibliotheque, Paris and in many important academies and corporate houses in India and abroad.

Nitin Rai is a freelance photographer with 25 years of experience. Starting at an early age of 13 as an apprentice to celebrated photographer Raghu Rai, Nitin Rai worked as photo editor with leading magazines and news agencies. His work has been featured in international publications such as Time, Der Spiegel, Stern, Figaro, Facts, Tatler, The Sunday Telegraph and The Independent. Today, Nitin specializes in diverse fields of industrial and corporate, Interiors, Fashion, Beauti, Portfolios and portraits. Food, Photo Stories and Documentary photography.

P.K. Nair is the founder-director of the National Film Archive of India and closely associated with Marie Seton, Vijaya Mulay and Satish Bahadur. Nair is often referred to as Henri Langlois because of his lifelong work and dedication to preservation of Indian film heritage along with building a great film collection at the Pune Archive.

Paromita Vohra, Filmmaker & Scriptwriter is a documentary filmmaker and screenwriter based in Mumbai. Her films explore issues of gender and feminism. Some of her celebrated films are 'Q2P', 'Un-limited Girls', 'Annapurna', 'A Woman's Place' and 'A Short Film About Time'. She teaches scriptwriting as visiting faculty at Sri Aurobindo Centre for Arts and Communication, Sophia Polytechnic and is a PUKAR Associate.

R.V.Ramani, Filmmaker & Cinematographer is one of the leading documentary filmmakers in India, who has established a unique style of his own, making independent impressionistic documentaries, which have found recognition both in India and abroad. He has traveled widely with his films and his Retrospectives have been presented in many International Film Festivals.

Rajender Singh is an inventor, recording engineer and a technocrat to the core. Armed with a study in Audio Design & Technology from the University of London, he has designed audio mixers, amplifiers and the highest quality condenser microphones. He has recorded location sound for many documentaries, serials and films. A keen interest in ethnomusicology has him recording and archiving Rajasthani and Punjabi folk. From recording on spools in early eighties to the present all digital and hybrid domains, records audio at present using analog mixers married to Protools DAW.

Rakhi Basu is a designer, working primarily with textiles and graphics. She uses her education in fine arts, social media and craft design to bring a multi-disciplinary approach to her work, which have included stints in advertising, education, design and art.

Reena Mohan is a graduate of the Film and Television Institute of India and is the editor of a number of acclaimed non-fiction films. Her first directorial work was 'Kamlabai', based on the life of the first actress of Indian cinema. This film won the National Award and the Best Film by a Debutante Director Award in MIFF.

Shankhajeet De is an Independent Film maker and has been a freelance script writer for the last 15 years. He also has directed and scripted documentation projects for agencies of the United Nations and Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts, IGNCA. He takes keen interest in interpreting the ideals of Integral Education in media education and also teaches script writing and production in the Film & TV Production Department. He is also the programmer for Twilight, a festival of Short films organised by SACAC.

Shantanu Bhattacharyya, Vocalist, Music Composer, Hindustani Music Scholar A Calcutta University Graduate with Honours in Economics, Shantanu is an 'A' graded artiste of All India Radio and Doordarshan and has performed at the National Programme. A winner of several music competitions, including the A.I.R music competition, where in 1989 he topped both in khayal and .thumri, he has performed at most of the major music festivals in the country. He has also toured USA, UK, France, Germany and Finland, and has several CD & cassette releases of khayal, thumri and bhajan, as well as his own music compositions on Yoga & Meditation.

Shyamal Karmakar, Filmmaker, HOD –Editing, SRFTI, Kolkata is a filmmaker based in Kolkata. He passed out from FTII Pune in 1990 in editing. He had assisted Sayeed Mirza and Kundan Shah. He has worked as chief associate editor for Vidhu Vinod Chopra in 'Parinda'. His directorial debut 'Ranu' has won him many awards and accolades in various international film festivals. After that he made films like 'Where is Home', 'Colour is Black', 'I, Ranu Gayen' and 'Baba Black Beard'. Now he is the Head of the Department, Editing in SRFTI, Kolkata.

Siddharth Srinivasan, Filmmaker & Scriptwriter An Economics graduate from St. Stephen's College, Delhi University, Sidharth Srinivasan began his career by assisting the renowned Indian filmmaker Kumar Shahani. His debut short film Swamohita (The Tightrope Walker), made at the age of 23, premiered in-competition at the Venice Film Festival 2000. In true independent spirit, he followed this up with Divya Drishti (The Divine Vision), which swept the awards at the KaraFilm Festival 2002 and Pairon Talle (Soul of Sand) which was premiered at The Toronto International Film Festival 2010. Sidharth has also directed numerous documentaries for bodies such as UNESCO and Greha and has done extensive documentation work for Delhi Government.