MUMBAI: A score of years of relationship with a company is not something that many a senior executive in media can boast of. But Sumantra Dutta (or Sumo as he is fondly called) had that with the News Corp owned Star India. And in his twentieth year of employment with India's leading broadcast network, Sumo has said sayonara. He was Star Middle East, Pakistan and Africa country head, at the time of leaving.

Star India CEO Uday Shankar said, “Sumantra has had a long and fruitful career marked by strong performance across diverse portfolios at STAR. His leadership has helped STAR establish itself as a leading network in the Middle East, Pakistan and Africa. Sumantra has always demonstrated sound judgement and a willingness to take on risk in everything he did, and has contributed significantly to Star's success.”

Dutta said, “I have spent most of my professional life so far at Star, and it has been  a truly enriching and fulfilling experience. I am grateful to Uday and the great team at Star for the belief, passion and support, and I wish them all the very best. I shall always remain a brand ambassador of this great network.”

Dutta joined Star India as ad sales manager in Kolkata in 1994, after which he moved to Delhi  in 1996 and Mumbai in 1999, where he grew to finally head ad sales and marketing as EVP in 2000. A year later, as Radio City COO, he was part of the team that successfully launched the FM network, which he went on to head as CEO in 2003. In October 2008, Dutta moved to Dubai to spearhead STAR’s expansion in the Middle East, Pakistan and Africa as Country Manager.

Prior to joining Star India, Dutta worked with brands like Nestle, Times of India and Mudra.