~ Instrumental in building the Branded Content and Content Marketing advertising vertical to the leadership position it upholds today ~

Content industry expert, Sooraj Bhalla to step down as the Founder & CEO of MATES, the entertainment specialist unit of leading media agency, Madison World. Bhalla founded and helped build MATES into a renowned content agency. Under his leadership of over a decadal experience spanning from content marketing, branded content, film marketing, celebrity solutions, he led MATES to establish a strong hold in the industry across verticals. He was responsible for steering the company towards gaining industry leadership position and post his 17-year journey with the organization, he sets to complete his term on December 31st, 2021.

Having started his career as an assistant director to Rajkumar Santoshi, he worked on blockbuster projects like Andaz Apna, Damini, Ghatak and Barsaat. Further he was the Executive Producer of Hindi feature film – Shararat starring Abhishek Bachchan, Amrish Puri etc. After procuring prolific experience in content production and direction, his first independent venture – TeamWorks eventually bought out by Sam Balsara to create MATES and he’s taken the agency to greater heights with his unrivalled work on more than 100 films from the country’s top producers and studios, thus being instrumental to delivering breakthrough communication with engaging content formats. Holding testimony to his estimable contribution, Bhalla has won over 17 accolades in the advertising and media industry.

“So far, my focus has been to work towards driving impact for clients and touch an emotive chord with consumers with the power of content and communication. In this next chapter of my professional life, I am looking forward to taking these years of rewarding experience with MATES and continue delivering value through the various channels of communication in the content space,” says Bhalla.

An alumnus of Jamnabai Narsee School, sharing his passion for content and films, Bhalla will continue with his contribution to the content industry.