The Ad Club has appointed Rajdeepak Das, Chief Creative Officer, Publicis Groupe, South Asia and Chairman, Leo Burnett, South Asia, Ashish Khazanchi, Managing Partner of Enormous, and Anupama Ramaswamy, Managing Director and Chief Creative Officer, Havas Creative India as Jury Chairs respectively for AV Film (TV), AV Film (Digital & OTT), and Direct categories.
Rajdeepak Das, Chief Creative Officer, Publicis Groupe, South Asia and Chairman, Leo Burnett, South Asia has been appointed Jury Chair at Abby Awards 2026 Powered by The One Club | The One Show in the AV Film (TV) Category.
“Creativity has the power to change Human behaviour” and that is the philosophy Das lives by every day. He is redefining the industry by using creativity with design and technology to find human solutions for the biggest brands, because what’s good for people is good for brands. His body of work reflects his vision for creativity. His work for Whisper “Touch the Pickle” was one of the first social movement to break the taboo around periods around the sub-continent.
His work for P&G Whisper – Missing Chapter won him a Grand Prix in Sustainable Development Goals at Cannes Lions 2022 – an award which is very close to his heart as it makes a real difference by getting a chapter on Periods in School books and by breaking period taboos and helping 23 million girls stay in school.
He and his team gave every Indian a piece of national treasure, by building Bajaj motor bikes out of the legendary warship INS Vikrant. With collaboration with India’s biggest petroleum brand and government of India, they innovated the world’s first anti-collision road management system to reduce road accidents on Himalayan Roads.
Das is also the only creative in advertising to have an episode featured on him in the Netflix Docuseries – Creative Indians Season 4 – a series which showcases the most talented Indians from Oscar winners to Bollywood Stars and artists to Grammy Awards winning musicians.
On the way, while creating Humankind work which is impactful and change oriented, he has also won multiple Grand Prix and metals at Cannes, One Show, D&AD and Spikes Asia. But he believes his biggest creation till date is Apollo 11 a specialised division of Leo Burnett India, consisting of what he calls ‘the mutant creatives’. Team of young people in their 20’s with backgrounds like aerospace engineering, product designers, data analyst and environment scientists solving human and brand problems with him.
The last few years, under Das’ leadership, Leo has been Creative Agency of the Year at Abby Goafest three years in a row, Effie Agency of the Year and APAC Agency of the Year at Spikes Asia.
Ashish Khazanchi, Managing Partner of Enormous has been appointed Jury Chair in Abby Awards 2026 Powered by The One Club | The One Show in the AV Film (Digital & OTT) category.
Khazanchi has taken Enormous from a startup to one of the leading independent creative agencies in the country. Enormous became the first independent agency to win a Grand Effie Prior to this, Ashish was the National Creative Director, Publicis Ambience.
Khazanchi has been the creator of several iconic campaigns, including the Jingalala campaign for Tata Sky. His expertise has contributed to the success of several start-up brands, such as Rapido, Lahori Zeera, Lenskart, ShopClues, etc. Through his career, he has received over 300 national and 50 international awards, including Abby Creative Agency of the Year in 2025.
Anupama Ramaswamy, Managing Director & Chief Creative Officer, Havas Creative India, has been appointed Jury Chair at Abby Awards 2026 Powered by The One Club | The One Show in the Direct category.
Widely regarded as one of the most influential creative leaders in the country. Ramaswamy is known for her clutter-breaking thinking and deep belief in pure-play creativity. She has consistently delivered work that shapes culture and drives impact.
In 2025, Ramaswamy and her team achieved global acclaim with Ink of Democracy, a powerful, culturally resonant idea that became one of the most awarded campaigns of the year. The campaign won 42 metals, including a Cannes Gold and 2 Bronzes, multiple Clio Golds, and Grand Prix at both ADFEST and Spikes Asia, along with top honours at The One Show, LIA, Montreux, and ABBYs.
The scale of these wins helped elevate India’s position on the WARC Creative rankings, pushing the country up by four places. Over the course of her career, she has partnered with leading agencies and marquee brands including Maruti Suzuki, Reckitt, IKEA, Vivo, Paytm, Subway, Tata Tea, Samsung, Airtel, Dabur and Lacoste, among others.
Her body of work has earned recognition at every major global award show, with campaigns like Paytm Divide and Chotu winning at The One Show, Spikes Asia and New York Festivals.
Ramaswamy’s work for Fujifilm was featured in the prestigious Gunn Report as one of the world’s top 20 most awarded print campaigns. She has served as a juror at Cannes Lions, Spikes Asia and The One Show, New York, and is also a coach at LIAsons, contributing to the next generation of creative talent. She has further been appointed Jury President for the Direct and Outdoor categories at Spikes Asia 2026, reinforcing her standing as a global creative leader.
With a rare ability to fuse creative excellence with business impact, Anupama represents a new generation of leadership, where ideas don’t just win awards, but define progress.
