Exclusive: MediaNama has learned from multiple, reliable sources that Rohit Sharma, CEO (Digital) for Reliance Entertainment has put in his papers, and that January 20th will be his last day at the company. Sharma was not available for comment since he is currently in the US (or so we believe), and expected back in India later today, and we're awaiting an official confirmation from Reliance Entertainment. According to our sources, Sharma's planning a startup, though we haven't been able to ascertain which segment he will focus on. Sharma has been with Reliance Entertainment since its early days, joining the company as the Business Head of Zapak in March 2006 to launch the gaming business Zapak in November 2006. Prior to joining Zapak, he was with Indiatimes* for six years, and was involved in several verticals, its events division Indiatimes Mindscale, its e-commerce business, and online alliances. He leaves at a time when there are significant changes afoot in the way Reliance Entertainment has been operating: over the last many months, the company has rolled out a premium subscriptions model for its online streaming service BigFlix and key gaming business Zapak, and BigFlix's physical retail business was shuttered. In November, Zapak's merchandise business was merged with Reliance Home Video. BigAdda, Reliance Entertainment's social networking business, was also converted into an e-commerce venture. Disclosure: Indiatmes is an advertiser with MediaNama
