Anant Rangaswami passes away

Anant Rangaswami, a leading journalist and advertising professional, passed away on Tuesday morning in Bengaluru. He was unwell for a little over a month and died of kidney failure and other complications in the early hours of the day. He was 61.

Industry executives who have known him as a professional and a journalist describe Rangaswami as a voice of reason in the industry, an honest critic, and an advertising maven.

He was the Editor of Melt, an advertising and marketing news website and magazine. Prior to this he served as the Editor of CNBC TV 18’s Storyboard from 2013 to 2017. He was the founding editor of Campaign India and a senior editor at Firstpost. Before his journalism stint, Rangaswami was VP at TBWA between 1999 and 2004. He was also an executive at media companies including STAR TV, Sony’s SET and BCCL’s Times Television and Times FM.

Most recently, he co-authored Open House, a book chronicling Piyush Pandey’s work, thought process, and more along with Pandey.