W-Power 2025: How Rohini Iyer Brought Professionalism To The Entertainment Industry

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Rohini Iyer, Founder and director, Rain Reign Group Image: Mexy Xavier; Makeup: Saba Khan; Hair: Krishna KamiRohini Iyer, Founder and director, Rain Reign Group
Image: Mexy Xavier; Makeup: Saba Khan; Hair: Krishna Kami

Cinema is woven into the very fabric of Rohini Iyer’s being—it’s not just her passion, it’s her essence. At just 16, while studying mass communication, Iyer dove into internships across various companies, eager to grasp the intricacies of the entertainment industry. She seized every opportunity—from TV production to journalism—that could accelerate her journey. Fuelled by relentless ambition, she embraced the motto, “I like to dream impossible dreams.” Even at that age, she was determined to carve a path towards her goal of making a mark in the entertainment industry.

In the early 2000s, Bollywood had no clear publicity or management structure—everything was handled informally, mostly by secretaries. Iyer saw an opportunity to bring organisation and professionalism to the industry. She began discussing ideas with her friend Rahila Mirza (filmmaker Aziz Mirza’s daughter), eager to build something of their own.

Then came their breakthrough: Farah Khan, transitioning from choreographer to director, entrusted them with the marketing and publicity for her debut film, Main Hoon Na. “We literally registered the company after getting confirmation that we’d be working on the film,” Iyer recalls. The moment was serendipitous—she was driving through the rain when she turned to Mirza and said, “Let’s call it Raindrop Media”. And just like that, their journey began.

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Following the success of Main Hoon Na, work continued to pour in—from Mani Ratnam’s Yuva (2004) to MF Husain’s Meenaxi (2004), and many more that followed. A year after co-founding the company, Mirza decided to step away, leaving Iyer to take full charge. Over the past two decades, Raindrop Media has grown into one of the most influential publicity firms in Bollywood. Reflecting on the journey, Iyer says, “There’s nobody in the industry we haven’t worked with.” From Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Katrina Kaif to Anil Kapoor and Shahid Kapoor, Raindrop has worked with all A-listers. “She is not someone who can be pulled down. She can go toe to toe with anyone in the industry,” said Chopra Jonas, about Iyer in the book Changemakers: Twenty Women Transforming Bollywood Behind The Scenes by Gayatri Rangachari Shah and Mallika Kapur.

Also read: Bhansali Productions’ Prerna Singh: Counting on stories

Her journey wasn’t easy—especially as one of the few women in a male-dominated industry. There were moments of doubt, times she wondered, “How will I get through this?” But quitting was never an option. She pushed forward, relentless and unshaken. “Nothing can make me quit. I started as a nobody, raised by a single mother, with no favours handed to me. I remind myself—if I’ve come this far on my own, no one is going to pull me down,” she says. Audacity and unshakable faith in herself have been her greatest strengths. While she admits that failure stings, she refuses to let setbacks define her. “I know I can’t control the outcome, but I can control what I do and what I bring to the table—and that is always my best.”

Over the last few years, Iyer has been fast expanding with a group of companies under the Rain Reign Group. She says, “I’m never happy, I’m perpetually greedy, and I’m always working towards my next goal. For me, 24 hours in a day are less, I’m perpetually at it—my mind doesn’t shut down.” There are four companies under the group, catering to reputation and brand management, digital content and brand strategy, nurturing and launching new talent, advisory for emerging celebrity-led fashion and lifestyle brands. Iyer adds, “Raindrop built brands. Rain Reign is building empires.”

Through her latest venture, Rain Reign Talent, Iyer aims to create more global opportunities for homegrown talent. Expanding her vision further, she is set to launch her own OTT and film production company, focussed on bringing Indian storytelling to a worldwide audience. “I hate the word Bollywood—I prefer calling it the Indian film industry,” she asserts, believing the term oversimplifies the richness of Indian cinema. To her, “Bollywood” conjures stereotypical images of song-and-dance routines and dramatic fight sequences, failing to capture the industry’s depth, diversity, and artistic excellence—which she hopes to amplify through her new projects.  Her vision for her company is crystal clear: “I want to be a global change-maker in the world of entertainment, and put India on the map.”

(This story appears in the 18 April, 2025 issue
of Forbes India. To visit our Archives, click here.)



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