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Vinod Bhanushali Announces His Exit From T-Series; Says 'Excited To Start Something Of My Own'
Vinod Bhanushali, who played a pivotal role in establishing T-Series (Super Cassettes Industries Pvt. Ltd.) as India's biggest music company, has stepped down as the President - Global Media, Marketing, Publishing and Music Acquisition after 27 glorious years.
From leading the marketing and promotion for over 1,000 movies to being instrumental in making T-Series India's largest music company, the largest motion picture studio and the world's biggest YouTube channel, Bhanushali has been the catalyst at the company.
Post his exit from T-Series, Bhanushali has decided to give wings to his entrepreneurial dreams and will be launching a production house (boutique content company) which focusses on creating new age content.
Speaking about his new journey, Vinod Bhanushali said in an official statement, "Having literally started my career at T-Series, it's an emotional moment for me as I leave the company. Whatever I know about music and films, I have learnt it all during my sole long innings in this company. I'll forever be obliged to my mentor, Shri Gulshan Kumar Ji (my saab) and Bhushan Kumar. Saab, for giving me a platform at T-Series and directing me to perform and grow from strength to strength along with the company, and Bhushan Kumar for leading the company and backing me after saabs untimely departure. But, with every goodbye comes a new beginning. I've always worked like an entrepreneur, taking all decisions which were good for business, growth of the company and also for the people who work there. And BK (Bhushan Kumar) supported all my decisions. I'm excited to start something of my own, which I will announce very soon."
Talking about Bhanushali's humble beginnings, he started his career as a clearing and forwarding agent at the Mumbai Customs Docks, before shifting to the entertainment business by joining Sahara Studios as Associate Junior Worker. A chance meeting with music baron Gulshan Kumar in November 1994 proved to be a turning point in his life. The latter saw potential in him and offered him an opportunity to join T-Series.
From thereon, there was no turning back for Vinod Bhanushali. He learnt everything on the job under the guidance of Gulshan Kumar and ventured into marketing in 1996. His big break was getting the first exclusive film song to play on Channel V - Salman Khan's 'Oh Oh Jaane Jaana', thus diversifying T-Series' portfolio from folk, devotional and regional music.
A year later, when the company's marketing head quit, Gulshan Kumar entrusted Vinod Bhanushali with the responsibility. When he expressed his apprehensions about taking up the offer due to his lack of experience in marketing, Gulshan Kumar encouraged him by saying, "Jo banata hai, usse bechna bhi aana chahiye (The one who creates should also be able to market the product). I take the responsibility of grooming you. Now, we will not hire anyone from outside, you're our homegrown guy and you have the knack and passion to do this."
Together, they started expanding the Hindi music catalogue and identified and acquired the music of some of Hindi cinema's landmark films. Post Gulshan Kumar's demise on August 12, 1997, his son Bhushan Kumar, then 19, took over the company. Under his leadership and Vinod Bhanushali's learnings and execution over the years, the duo started rebuilding the company to realise late Gulshan Kumar's vision.
With the advent of a digital revolution, T-Series ventured into licencing and publishing music under the marketing expertise of Vinod Bhanushali.
So, at T-Series, Vinod Bhanushali has been the driving force of two cycles of music. The first was in the cassettes and CDs era with Sonu Nigam's 'Deewana' and Adnan Sami's 'Tera Chehra', and then in the digital era with singers like Guru Randhawa, Jubin Nautiyal and Dhvani Bhanushali.
Today, the YouTube channel of T-Series has nearly 19 crore subscribers and over 15,000 song uploads, which are enjoyed by music lovers across the globe.
"We know Gulshan Ji is proud to see T-Series as the No. 1 channel on YouTube today and also the premiere film studio in the country," reminisced Bhanushali, who has been an integral part of this memorable journey.
With changing times, Vinod Bhanushali also turned his attention towards the movie production business of T-Series. He was the co-producer on several blockbuster films like Kabir Singh, Batla House, Saaho, Thappad and Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior.
Vinod Bhanushali will begin his entrepreneurial journey by venturing into film production.
