Ronnie Screwvala


Rohinton Soli Screwvala, known professionally as Ronnie Screwvala, is an Indian entrepreneur, investor and film producer.
He has been named on Esquire's List of the 75 Most Influential People of the 21st Century in 2008 and ranked 78 among the 100 most influential people in the world on the Time 100. He was also listed amongst 25 Asia's Most Powerful people by Fortune Magazine.
Based in Mumbai, India, Ronnie pioneered cable television, built a media and entertainment conglomerate that partnered with News Corp, 20th Century Fox, The Walt Disney Company, and Bloomberg, and later in 2012, he divested the company to Disney for an enterprise value of US$1.4 billion.
From 2013 onward, he and his wife scaled their non-profit, The Swades Foundation, whose goal is to work with a million people in rural India, empower them, and move them out of poverty every 6-7 years before moving onto another geography.
He co-founded UpGrad, which is into online education in the higher education and specialization sector, founded a sports company—U Sports—spanning football, e-sports, and kabaddi, and through his investment company, Unilazer Ventures, has been a significant private equity investor in Indian start-ups with early stage investment and significant minority stakes. After his entrepreneurial period, he re-entered the media content industry to build a creative content company—RSVP—in movies and digital content and authored a book titled Dream with Your Eyes Open.
In his bid to expand, upGrad submitted a bid to buy assets of Byju's parent company, Think & Learn, signaling a major potential consolidation in India's edtech sector. He has also launched a personal $50 million fund to invest in early-stage AI, deeptech, and space-tech startups.

Early life and education

Screwvala was born in Bombay into a Parsi family. His father was an executive at the British firm J L Morrison and Smith & Nephew. Screwvala schooled and went to college in Mumbai at Cathedral and John Connon School and Sydenham College. Screwvala had a keen interest in theatre while in school and acted in professional plays with Bombay theatre as a hobby. He played notable roles in Shakespeare’s Othello and Death of a Salesman.

Personal life

Screwvala is married to Zarina Mehta, his second marriage. Zarina has been a co-founder in the media company UTV they founded, and now is the co-Trustee of their Philanthropic foundation; The Swades Foundation. They live in Breach Candy, South Mumbai. His first wife, Manjula Nanavati and Screwvala have one daughter, Trishya Screwvala, who runs her own Not For Profit, The Lighthouse Project, and who is married to sports commentator Suhail Chandhok.

Early days

Opportunistic in the early days of his entrepreneurship, Screwvala founded a toothbrush manufacturing company. Screwvala's is also credited with pioneering Cable TV in India at a time when there was a single terrestrial channel and grew that to multiple cities and most of the hotel chains in India.
He hosted a quiz show Mashoor Mahal in Doordarshan in 1985.

United Television (UTV) 1990-2012

Screwvala founded UTV and over the period grew it into a media conglomerate spanning a leading movie studio, a Games Studio and creative content company that went public and listed on stock exchanges in 2005 and into which Disney gradually took a substantial stake until he divested the whole company to them in 2012.

2013 onwards

The Swades Foundation

Along with his wife Zarina, Ronnie has founded The Swades Foundation, named after the acclaimed film he produced, whose goal is to lift a million people out of poverty.
Presently, Swades is active in Raigad district in the state of Maharashtra in two thousand villages and involving half a million people. It is working on Water, Sanitation, Health, Education and the main focus is on Livelihood opportunities.

upGrad

Screwvala co-founded upGrad, which is one of the largest Online Education companies in India - focused on the higher Education and Specialization sector. They focus majorly on Digital Marketing, Data Analytics, Digital Technology Management, Data Driven Management and Product Management. upGrad has tie-ups with several colleges including MICA.

USports

Screwvala co-founded U Sports with a focus on three sports, Kabaddi a popular sport in India and around Asia, E Sports and in Football where under the brand U Dreams the focus is to train and manage talent under various years of age for a sustained duration, and then manage their careers for the long term to play professionally in India and globally.

RSVP Movies

is Screwvala's re-entry into the media and entertainment industry. This time is focussed on developing its own scripts and screenplays and working with directors that share the common vision of storytelling.

Unilazer

Unilazer was incorporated by Screwvala as a public equity company that has made investments in the Indian new economy companies with early stage investments with significant minority stake as also bringing with him his entrepreneurial experience to the founders. The sectors in which Unilazer has invested range from e commerce to a leading online eyewear company in India, and from AI and Bots to Agriculture to Microhousing Finance.

Filmography

Films

The following is a list of films produced / co-produced by Screwvala
YearTitle
1997Dil Ke Jharoke Main
2000Fiza
2004Lakshya
2004Swades
2005D
2005Main, Meri Patni Aur Woh
2005The Blue Umbrella
2006Rang De Basanti
2006Chup Chup Ke
2006The Namesake
2006Khosla Ka Ghosla
2007I Think I Love My Wife
2007Hattrick
2007Life in a Metro
2007Dhan Dhana Dhan Goal
2008Phir Kabhi
2008Jodhaa Akbar
2008Aamir
2008The Happening
2008A Wednesday
2008Poi Solla Porom
2008Welcome to Sajjanpur
2008Fashion
2008Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye!
2009Dev D
2009Delhi-6
2009Dhoondte Reh Jaaoge
2009ExTerminators
2009Harishchandrachi Factory
2009Agyaat: The Unknown
2009Kaminey: The Scoundrels
2009Aagey Se Right
2009What's Your Raashee?
2009Main Aurr Mrs Khanna
2010Chance Pe Dance
2010Peepli Live
2010Udaan
2010I Hate Luv Storys
2010Phillum City
2010Paan Singh Tomar
2010Guzaarish
2010Tees Maar Khan
2011No One Killed Jessica
20117 Khoon Maaf
2011Thank You
2011Delhi Belly
2011Chillar Party
2011Deiva Thirumagal
2011Muran
2011My Friend Pinto
2012Vettai
2012Vazhakku Enn 18/9
2012Grandmaster
2012Arjun: The Warrior Prince
2012Rowdy Rathore
2012Mugamoodi
2012Barfi!
2012Heroine
2012Husbands in Goa
2012Thaandavam
2013ABCD
2013Kai Po Che!
2013Himmatwala
2013Settai
2013Ghanchakkar
2013Chennai Express
2013Satyagraha
2014Naan Sigappu Manithan
2014Sigaram Thodu
2014Peter Gaya Kaam Se
2015Yatchan
2018Love per Square Foot
2018Lust Stories
2018Karwaan
2018Pihu
2018Kedarnath
2019Uri: The Surgical Strike
2019Sonchiriya
2019Mard Ko Dard Nahi Hota
2019The Sky Is Pink
2019Bhangra Paa Le
2019Raat Akeli Hai
2020Ghost Stories
2020Mismatched
2021Pitta Kathalu
2021Dhamaka
2023Mission Majnu
2023Lust Stories 2
2023Tarla
2023Tumse Na Ho Payega
2023Tejas
2024Pippa
2024Sam Bahadur
2024Ullozhukku
2025Azaad