Tony D'Silva, the Zee Network's former head of international operations, took charge today as rival Star India's head of distribution.

D'Silva's appointment as executive vice-president, distribution, is effective today and he will be operating out of Mumbai. D'Silva's coming on board Star may well mean that aside from consolidating domestic distribution, there could also be a renewed thrust in international operations into new areas like the US and Canada.

D'Silva joined Zee in December 1999 from Modi Entertainment Networks where he was CEO. Before his stint at Modi, D'Silva was with tobacco major Godfrey Phillips.

Star has been without a distribution head since December when executive vice-president Arun Mohan, who headed the network's distribution in India for eight-odd years, put in his papers.

Akhtar Javed, who headed the distribution team in the north during Mohan's tenure, has been handling things since Mohan's departure.