It’s sort of a homecoming for Sajith Sivanandan, named on Tuesday by Disney as the new head of Disney+Hotstar, as he had started his media career with Star TV in the mid-1990s, responsible for certain regional markets for music channel Channel V, which was shuttered by Star in 2018.

The Walt Disney Company said it has appointed Sivanandan as EVP and Head of Disney+Star,  reporting to Disney’s International Content and Operations Group Chairperson Rebecca Campbell and Disney Star President K Madhavan.

Sivanandan comes to Disney+Hotstar from Google and will take up his new responsibilities from October, responsible for the overall and stretigic growth of Disney+Hotstar, which is the biggest streaming service in terms of susbcribers in India. He will also work closely with local leadership in international markets as well as with the Disney+ team in the US.

“I am delighted to have Sajith join our executive team and lead the innovative team at Disney+ Hotstar. His deep experience in the region, combined with his strong leadership and business management skills will greatly benefit Disney+ Hotstar as the platform embarks on its next phase of growth,” Campbell said in a statement.

Sivanandan, who spent over 14 years at Google, most recently serving as managing director and business head of Google Pay and Next Billion User Initiatives for APAC region, on his part expressed his happiness at homecoming and the newer challenges.

“The opportunity to come back home to where I started my career and to work alongside a very talented team to serve Disney+ Hotstar users in India and in emerging countries is one that is both a privilege and an honour,” he added in a startement.