Veteran media executive Anu Sikka has joined Jio Studios as Head of Animation after ending her two-decade association with Viacom18 and JioStar.

Veteran media executive Anu Sikka has joined Jio Studios. |

Mumbai: has joined Jio Studios as Head of Animation, marking her next professional move after leaving JioStar, according to an exchange4media report citing sources close to the development.

Sikka recently stepped down as Executive Vice President and Business Head – Kids Entertainment and Infotainment at JioStar. Her departure concluded an association of more than two decades with Viacom18, which became part of JioStar after the merger of Reliance Industries’ and Walt Disney Company’s media businesses in India.

New Role At Jio Studios

At , Sikka is expected to draw upon her extensive experience in animation, children’s entertainment, content development and intellectual property creation. However, the company has yet to officially disclose the scope of her mandate.

Sikka joined Viacom18 in 2006 and played an instrumental role in developing and expanding its children’s entertainment portfolio. Her work helped deepen the market for home-grown animation and character-driven programming in India.

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Building Popular Indian Characters

She was closely involved in creating and developing several popular Indian animated properties, including Motu Patlu, Shiva, Gattu Battu, Rudra, Keymon Ache and Pakdam Pakdai.

Under her leadership, the children’s entertainment cluster produced more than 650 hours of locally developed original programming. She also supervised the acquisition and localisation of international properties, including Ninja Hattori, Oggy and the Cockroaches and Doraemon.

Sikka was also associated with bringing Nickelodeon’s Kids’ Choice Awards to India and establishing it as an annual network property.

Two Decades Across Media

Across her tenure, Sikka managed content strategy, programming, scheduling, commissioning, acquisitions, budgets, marketing and consumer products.

She began her career in current affairs programming with Newstrack, the predecessor of Aaj Tak. She later worked with BITV and Tara Punjabi before heading SAB TV’s Delhi bureau. Sikka subsequently served as Creative Director at Hungama Kids Channel before joining Viacom18 and building a career in children’s broadcasting.

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