Niret Alva
Encyclopedia
Niret Alva is an India
n television producer and anchor. He co-founded Miditech
, a Rs 50-crore television software company, along with his brother Nikhil Alva in 1992, which is currently one of Asia's leading independent production companies. It is most known for producing reality-singing competition, Indian Idol
(Season 1 to 4).
Starting in the documentaries genre, Miditech first made a series on the environment, Living on the Edge for Doordarshan
, and went on to make documentaries for the BBC, Discovery and National Geographic, before entering the entertainment genre around 2004, with Indian Idol
(2004–2009), Galli Galli Sim Sim
(Sesame Street
) (2006), Wheels (1998) (BBC World
). He is also a world-class television presenter having anchored travel( Great Escape), automobile (Wheels) and environment (Living on the Edge and Earth Report) shows over the course of his career. He has won an Asian Television Award for Best anchor for “Wheels” for BBC World and has been a runner up twice for the same show. In 2007, he was awarded the Indian National Award for Excellence in Science based Communication in the Visual Medium.
- the first child of lawyers Niranjan and Margaret Alva
. Niret has two brothers, Nikhil and Nivedith, and a sister, Manira, with whom he manages Miditech. His name is actually a portmanteau word, wherein the first two letters are from his father Niranjan, and the last three from his mother, Margaret Alva. The family moved to Delhi in 1974 when his mother was elected to the Rajya Sabha
(the upper house of India's parliament). She went on to serve as minister of state in Rajiv Gandhi
and Narasimha Rao
's governments. A prominent parliamentarian, she served four consecutive terms in the Rajya Sabha and one in the Lok Sabha
. She is currently Governor of the north Indian state of Uttarakhand
.
Niret is a graduate in History from St. Stephen’s College, Delhi, has a post graduate diploma in journalism, from the Indian Institute of Mass Communication
(IIMC), Delhi, is a recipient of a certificate from the Radio Netherlands Training Centre in Hilversum (Holland) for a News and Current Affairs course in Television and earned a law degree (LLB) from Mumbai University.
, Television, as a Trainee Reporter/Scriptwriter , in January 1988. Beginning his career when television was still government controlled in the late 1980s he moved on to become a Correspondent with Eyewitness, a monthly independent video newsmagazine, owned by Hindustan Times
Television in 1990. He learned the ropes reporting from all the troubled spots in country and covering subjects as diverse as Indian attitudes to sex, caste violence, the dangers of the civilian use of the army and the bungled capture of Rajiv Gandhi’s assassin. From documentaries to news stories, youth based programmes and business shows to a soft feature on Aamir Khan.
In 1992, he co-founded Miditech, a television software production company, along with his brother Nikhil . The two brothers produce series and programming that is judged popular and innovative. Miditech's program, Living on the Edge, India's first comprehensive Environment series, won a Panda award at Wildscreen in Bristol in 1996 - an award that is popularly hailed as the Green Oscar.
Niret has scripted, directed and been associated with several international, award winning documentaries, including The Great Descent - a river rafting journey down the Brahmaputra after the massive flood of 2000, and Operation Hot Pursuit - an undercover documentary on the illegal ivory trade
between India and Japan.
, author of The Zoya Factor
(2008) and an advertising person. They first met in 1989, during the production of a play in Delhi, they both were involved in, eventually they got married in 1994. Today they have three children, Niharika Margaret, Nayantara Violet, and Daivik John.
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
n television producer and anchor. He co-founded Miditech
Miditech
Miditech Pvt. Ltd. is a Indian film and television production company headquartered in Gurgaon, Haryana, India. It was founded in 1992 by brothers, Niret Alva and Nikhil Alva and is today a Rs 50-crore television software company, and one of Asia's leading independent production companies.The...
, a Rs 50-crore television software company, along with his brother Nikhil Alva in 1992, which is currently one of Asia's leading independent production companies. It is most known for producing reality-singing competition, Indian Idol
Indian Idol
Indian Idol is an adaptation of the Pop Idol format. It started airing in India with the first season in 2004-2005 and followed that with second , third and fourth seasons...
(Season 1 to 4).
Starting in the documentaries genre, Miditech first made a series on the environment, Living on the Edge for Doordarshan
DoorDarshan
Doordarshan is an Indian public service broadcaster, a division of Prasar Bharati. It is one of the largest broadcasting organizations in India in terms of the infrastructure of studios and transmitters. Recently, it has also started Digital Terrestrial Transmitters. On September 15, 2009,...
, and went on to make documentaries for the BBC, Discovery and National Geographic, before entering the entertainment genre around 2004, with Indian Idol
Indian Idol
Indian Idol is an adaptation of the Pop Idol format. It started airing in India with the first season in 2004-2005 and followed that with second , third and fourth seasons...
(2004–2009), Galli Galli Sim Sim
Galli Galli Sim Sim
Galli Galli Sim Sim is the Hindi language adaptation of the American children's television series Sesame Street , for India. It is co-produced by Sesame Workshop and Turner Broadcasting, through Miditech...
(Sesame Street
Sesame Street
Sesame Street has undergone significant changes in its history. According to writer Michael Davis, by the mid-1970s the show had become "an American institution". The cast and crew expanded during this time, including the hiring of women in the crew and additional minorities in the cast. The...
) (2006), Wheels (1998) (BBC World
BBC World
BBC World News is the BBC's international news and current affairs television channel. It has the largest audience of any BBC channel in the world...
). He is also a world-class television presenter having anchored travel( Great Escape), automobile (Wheels) and environment (Living on the Edge and Earth Report) shows over the course of his career. He has won an Asian Television Award for Best anchor for “Wheels” for BBC World and has been a runner up twice for the same show. In 2007, he was awarded the Indian National Award for Excellence in Science based Communication in the Visual Medium.
Early Life and education
Niret was born in BangaloreBangalore
Bengaluru , formerly called Bengaluru is the capital of the Indian state of Karnataka. Bangalore is nicknamed the Garden City and was once called a pensioner's paradise. Located on the Deccan Plateau in the south-eastern part of Karnataka, Bangalore is India's third most populous city and...
- the first child of lawyers Niranjan and Margaret Alva
Margaret Alva
Margaret Alva is the Governor of the Indian state of Uttarakhand. Alva became Uttarakhand's first woman governor in July 2009...
. Niret has two brothers, Nikhil and Nivedith, and a sister, Manira, with whom he manages Miditech. His name is actually a portmanteau word, wherein the first two letters are from his father Niranjan, and the last three from his mother, Margaret Alva. The family moved to Delhi in 1974 when his mother was elected to the Rajya Sabha
Rajya Sabha
The Rajya Sabha or Council of States is the upper house of the Parliament of India. Rajya means "state," and Sabha means "assembly hall" in Sanskrit. Membership is limited to 250 members, 12 of whom are chosen by the President of India for their expertise in specific fields of art, literature,...
(the upper house of India's parliament). She went on to serve as minister of state in Rajiv Gandhi
Rajiv Gandhi
Rajiv Ratna Gandhi was the sixth Prime Minister of India . He took office after his mother's assassination on 31 October 1984; he himself was assassinated on 21 May 1991. He became the youngest Prime Minister of India when he took office at the age of 40.Rajiv Gandhi was the elder son of Indira...
and Narasimha Rao
Narasimha Rao
Narasimha Rao or Narasimharao is one of the Indian names.* Pamulaparthi Venkata Narasimha Rao served as the 10th Prime Minister of India.* Modireddy Venkat Narasimha Rao, is a former Indian cricketer....
's governments. A prominent parliamentarian, she served four consecutive terms in the Rajya Sabha and one in the Lok Sabha
Lok Sabha
The Lok Sabha or House of the People is the lower house of the Parliament of India. Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by direct election under universal adult suffrage. As of 2009, there have been fifteen Lok Sabhas elected by the people of India...
. She is currently Governor of the north Indian state of Uttarakhand
Uttarakhand
Uttarakhand , formerly Uttaranchal, is a state in the northern part of India. It is often referred to as the Land of Gods due to the many holy Hindu temples and cities found throughout the state, some of which are among Hinduism's most spiritual and auspicious places of pilgrimage and worship...
.
Niret is a graduate in History from St. Stephen’s College, Delhi, has a post graduate diploma in journalism, from the Indian Institute of Mass Communication
Indian Institute of Mass Communication
The Indian Institute of Mass Communication is India's premier media school funded and promoted by the Government of India. IIMC is an autonomous society under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. The institution was established on August 17, 1965 with support from UNESCO.-The...
(IIMC), Delhi, is a recipient of a certificate from the Radio Netherlands Training Centre in Hilversum (Holland) for a News and Current Affairs course in Television and earned a law degree (LLB) from Mumbai University.
Career
Niret joined the Press Trust of IndiaPress Trust of India
Press Trust of India is the largest news agency in India. It is headquartered in Delhi and is a nonprofit cooperative among more than 450 Indian newspapers and has a staff of about 2,000 writers spread across 150 offices nationwide...
, Television, as a Trainee Reporter/Scriptwriter , in January 1988. Beginning his career when television was still government controlled in the late 1980s he moved on to become a Correspondent with Eyewitness, a monthly independent video newsmagazine, owned by Hindustan Times
Hindustan Times
Hindustan Times is an Indian English-language daily newspaper founded in 1924 with roots in the Indian independence movement of the period ....
Television in 1990. He learned the ropes reporting from all the troubled spots in country and covering subjects as diverse as Indian attitudes to sex, caste violence, the dangers of the civilian use of the army and the bungled capture of Rajiv Gandhi’s assassin. From documentaries to news stories, youth based programmes and business shows to a soft feature on Aamir Khan.
In 1992, he co-founded Miditech, a television software production company, along with his brother Nikhil . The two brothers produce series and programming that is judged popular and innovative. Miditech's program, Living on the Edge, India's first comprehensive Environment series, won a Panda award at Wildscreen in Bristol in 1996 - an award that is popularly hailed as the Green Oscar.
Niret has scripted, directed and been associated with several international, award winning documentaries, including The Great Descent - a river rafting journey down the Brahmaputra after the massive flood of 2000, and Operation Hot Pursuit - an undercover documentary on the illegal ivory trade
Ivory trade
The ivory trade is the commercial, often illegal trade in the ivory tusks of the hippopotamus, walrus, narwhal, mammoth, and most commonly, Asian and African elephants....
between India and Japan.
Personal life
Niret is married to Indian author and ad-woman turned writer, Anuja ChauhanAnuja Chauhan
Anuja Chauhan is an Indian author and advertiser. She worked in the advertising agency, JWT India, for over 17 years, eventually becoming vice president and executive creative director, before resigning in 2010 to pursue a full-time literary career...
, author of The Zoya Factor
The Zoya Factor
The Zoya Factor is a novel written by Anuja Chauhan, published by HarperCollins India in 2008. It is about a Rajput girl named Zoya Singh Solanki who meets the Indian Cricket Team through her job as an executive in an advertising agency and ends up becoming a lucky charm for the team for the 2010...
(2008) and an advertising person. They first met in 1989, during the production of a play in Delhi, they both were involved in, eventually they got married in 1994. Today they have three children, Niharika Margaret, Nayantara Violet, and Daivik John.
Filmography
| Title | Year | Role |
|---|---|---|
| Wheels (TV series) | 1998 | |Host/Executive Producer |
| Indian Idol Indian Idol Indian Idol is an adaptation of the Pop Idol format. It started airing in India with the first season in 2004-2005 and followed that with second , third and fourth seasons... (Reality-singing competition) |
(2004–2009) | |Executive Producer |
| Galli Galli Sim Sim Galli Galli Sim Sim Galli Galli Sim Sim is the Hindi language adaptation of the American children's television series Sesame Street , for India. It is co-produced by Sesame Workshop and Turner Broadcasting, through Miditech... |
2006 | |Executive Producer |
| Parrivaar Parrivaar Parrivaar - Kartavya Ki Pariksha is a Hindi serial that aired on Zee TV channel from April 9, 2007 until December 5, 2008. Though the actors are fresh the characters are real and believable and in the clutter of the rich glamorous families this show has a look which is different and a plotting that... (TV series) |
( 2007–2008) | |Executive Producer |
| cell | cell | | |
External links
- MidiTech, Official website
- Interview with Miditech president Niret Alva
- http://www.dnaindia.com/lifestyle/report_niret-alva-is-not-content-yet_1391756
- http://www.mediamughals.com/Common-News/2/10
- http://dst.gov.in/ncstc-awardees-profile.pdf
- http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/life/2004/07/30/stories/2004073000130400.htm