Popular Culture in South Asia: Identities, Media and Everyday Life
An interdisciplinary gathering exploring how popular culture shapes identity, community, and everyday life across South Asia, including music, cinema, digital media, and beyond.
This conference explores the diverse and evolving forms of popular culture across South Asia and their role in shaping identities, communities, social interactions, and everyday experiences.
It provides an interdisciplinary platform for scholars, researchers, educators, artists, media practitioners, and students to engage in critical discussion on contemporary developments in culture, media, technology, and society.
Popular Culture in South Asia: Identities, Media and Everyday Life
Palash Ghosh
Palash Ghosh is a media professional, educator, and film studies practitioner with over 15 years of experience across television, OTT, film, and animation industries. He holds an MA in Film Studies from Jadavpur University, Kolkata, and has worked extensively across visual storytelling, promo production, digital media strategy, content development, and post-production. He has held key industry positions with leading media organizations including Zee Entertainment Enterprises, Viacom18, JioStar, and ZEE5, contributing to promotional campaigns, branding, OTT content, audience engagement, and digital storytelling. His professional experience also includes animation production management and coordination of multidisciplinary creative teams.
Alongside his industry career, Palash has significant academic and teaching experience. As Associate Faculty at the Institute of Creative Excellence (Balaji Motion Pictures), he taught Film Theory, Screenwriting, and Film Production and mentored students in filmmaking and storytelling. He is currently associated with NIF Global as Guest Faculty, where he teaches areas including Costume Design in Film and Visual Storytelling. His research experience includes work with the University of Otago, New Zealand, and the University of Queensland, Australia, focusing on cinema audience behaviour, changing viewing patterns, multiplex culture, and evolving media consumption habits.
Rajesh Kumar Dash
Rajesh Kumar Dash is a practice-led marketing academic, business consultant, author, and PhD Scholar whose interdisciplinary work explores the intersections of media, markets, consumption, identity, and popular culture. A postgraduate in Mass Communication from the Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC), New Delhi, he began his professional career in media promotion with Zee Telefilms (Zee News) and subsequently built over 25 years of leadership experience across product strategy, digital commerce, brand development, and omnichannel retail.
He is currently pursuing his PhD in Marketing at Presidency University, Bengaluru, where his research examines virtual-reality retail environments, consumer trust, immersive commerce, and the ways digitally mediated experiences reshape consumption, aspiration, and identity. His broader scholarly interests include diaspora consumption, transnational cultural flows, and the movement of South Asian identities through brands, media, and digital platforms.
Author of LEAD WITH SOUL: Build Purpose, Clarity & Momentum — Without Burning Out. Rajesh is committed reader and writer. He holds abiding interests in literature, cinema, music, and the performing arts as living forms of popular culture — alongside a growing scholarly interest in diaspora consumption, transnational cultural flows, and how South Asian identity travels through brands, media, and digital platforms, shaped by years leading marketing across India and the MEA region. He teaches as visiting faculty at Symbiosis ( SCMS), Bengaluru, ISB&M Pune, XIME Bengaluru, Presidency University, and RVIM Bengaluru, and is a Gallup Certified Strengths Coach and certified career coach (CCSP, NCDA USA; ICCC–Master Level).
Selected papers undergo peer review and may be considered for publication, based on editorial review, originality, and adherence to publication standards.