Ronnie Screwvala

Ronnie Screwvala
Born	Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
Nationality	Indian
Occupation	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(s)	Zarina Mehta[1]
Children	Trishya Screwvala

Rohinton Soli "Ronnie" Screwvala is an Indian entrepreneur and philanthropist. He was the founder and CEO of UTV Group (UTV Software Communications, Bloomberg UTV, and UTV Motion Pictures), which was founded in the year 1990. Screwvala was the Managing Director of Disney- UTV India, Managing Trustee of the Swades Foundation and Founder & Advisor: at Unilazer Ventures Ltd., (a privately held PE/VC & Business Company). He has also founded UpGrad (UEducation Pvt. Ltd.), an online education company.

In January 2014, Ronnie exited the company he founded and in the process he also exited media and entertainment sector.

He has been named on Esquire's List of the 75 Most Influential People of the 21st Century (September 2008) and ranked 78 among the 100 most influential people in the world on the Time 100 (complied by Time Magazine, 2009).^[2] He was also listed amongst 25 Asia’s Most Powerful by Fortune Magazine, titled the Jack Warner of India by Newsweek,^[3] and named Entrepreneur of the year by Ernst & Young.

Early life and education

Screwvala was born in Mumbai in a Parsi family. His father was an executive at the British firms J L Morrison and Smith & Nephew. Screwvala studied at Cathedral and John Connon School and Sydenham College.

Screwvala also had a keen interest in theatre while in school and acted in professional plays with Bombay theatre greats like Pearl and Alyque Padamsee. He portrayed the roles of Harold ‘Happy’ Loman in Death of a Salesman and Cassio in Othello. Screwvala’s theatre career ended when he stopped going for rehearsals to start his own toothbrush business.^[4]

Personal life

Screwvala is married to Zarina Mehta, his second marriage.^[5] They live in Breach Candy, South Mumbai.^[6] His first wife's father was Suresh Nanavati, Chairman of Nanavati Hospital in Mumbai and owner of Western Outdoor Advertising which at the time was one of India's largest post-production studios.^[4]

As of 2015, Ronnie Screwvala is also authoring his book. He announced its title named Dream With Your Eyes Open. Pre-Orders for the book begin in March with an eventual release date of April 2. In an interview with Livemint, Screwvala also mentioned the possibility of a TV Show following the release of the book.^[7]

Career

Network

Screwvala started off as a local cable TV operator in Mumbai under the company Network in 1981.^[4] At the time when there was only Doordarshan, the state television provider, Network offered a three-hour video channel showing movies to some homes in Maker Towers in the affluent Cuffe Parade area of Mumbai.^[8] He also started producing advertisements and content for Doordarshan with serials like Lifeline and Shanti.^[9]

United Television videos (UTV)

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.^[9]

UMumba

In 2014, Ronnie Screwvala became the owner of U Mumba - the Mumbai Kabaddi that plays in the Pro Kabaddi League. They were the runners up in this First year and winner of Pro Kabaddi League 2015 and Kabaddi has become the second most watched sport in India on TV after cricket.^[10]

Arré

In January 2016, Screwvala promoted an online entertainment content platform called Arré along with B. Sai Kumar, Ajay Chacko, and Sanjay Ray Chaudhary through their joint-venture digital media company, UDigital.^[11][12] The subscription- and branded content-based startup produces and publishes videos, audio series, web series, documentaries, and doodles through its online channel.^[13] However, in April 2016, Screwvala left the venture after which Enam Group acquired his stake.^[14]

Current ventures

In February 2012, The Walt Disney Co. took over UTV and Ronnie Screwvala stayed on as MD of the Walt Disney Company India. Then in October 2013, he handed over the reins to protégé Siddharth Roy Kapur and exited the company he had founded, thereby exiting the media and entertainment sector completely. He is now focusing on private equity on strategic investments and philanthropy. He already holds a 40 percent stake in INI farms and aims to produce premium farm products. His e-commerce ventures include zivame.com, a lingerie e-store and lenskart (lenskart.com) an eyewear shopping portal and he is in the process of developing an e-shopping website for furniture as well. He has also forayed into online education with UpGrad, an online education platform offering new ages courses to working professionals.^[15]

Philanthropy

Swades

Screwvala laid the foundation of Society to Heal Aid Restore Educate (SHARE) for rural development in Maharashtra.^[16]

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.^[17]

On 30 September 2014, Screwvala was awarded the GQ Philanthropist of the Year for his work with Swades Foundation. ^[18]

Unilazer Ventures Ltd

Screwvala owns a private equity business called Unilazer Ventures Ltd.^[19] Unilazer has invested in Dogspot, Zivame, Lenskart, Shopclues among others.^{[20][21][22][23]}

Filmography

The following is a list of films produced/ co-produced by Screwvala^[24]

Awards

References