MUMBAI: The inaugural edition of the World Audio Visual and Entertainment Summit (WAVES 2025) concluded today at the Jio World Convention Centre in Mumbai, delivering a landmark moment for India’s media and entertainment sector.
Drawing an enthusiastic response from across the globe, the four-day mega summit served as a melting pot of creativity, commerce, and culture — firmly positioning India as a rising global powerhouse in storytelling, content creation, and digital innovation.
Inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the event opened with a powerful message: “WAVES is not just an acronym, it is a wave of culture, creativity and universal connectivity.” Calling WAVES the dawn of India’s “Orange Economy”, PM Modi urged creators worldwide to tell their stories, investors to back talent over platforms, and Indian youth to bring their billion untold stories to the global stage.
High-Calibre Participation and Thought Leadership
Over the course of four days, WAVES 2025 witnessed unmatched participation from policymakers, celebrated artists, tech pioneers, corporate leaders, and aspiring creators. The summit featured over 140 high-impact knowledge sessions, bringing together 100+ international speakers, with packed audiences across eight halls.
Plenary sessions spotlighted voices like Mukesh Ambani, Ted Sarandos, Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Neal Mohan, Mark Read, and Adam Mosseri, alongside icons from Indian cinema such as Shah Rukh Khan, Deepika Padukone, Chiranjeevi, Akshay Kumar, and Hema Malini. These discussions explored cutting-edge themes, from AI-driven storytelling and OTT content evolution to the future of virtual production.
Complementing the plenaries were 40 immersive masterclasses, including “The Art of Acting” by Aamir Khan, “Craft of Direction” by Farhan Akhtar, and an exclusive session on filmmaking by Michael Lehmann. These sessions offered industry-ready insights to professionals and aspiring creators.
Additionally, 55 breakout sessions deep-dived into verticals like gaming, news, digital music, comics, and AI, featuring senior executives from Meta, Netflix, Google, Spotify, Snap, NVIDIA, and other top global firms.
Landmark Deals and Investments at WAVES Bazaar
The WAVES Bazaar emerged as a significant platform for international collaboration and B2B engagements, recording business transactions worth ₹1,328 crores, with ₹971 crores from B2B meetings alone. Over 3,000 meetings took place between buyers and sellers across film, music, radio, VFX, and animation industries.
Key announcements included:
A multi-year content distribution partnership between Prime Video and CJ ENM for Korean content.
India’s first official Indo-UK co-production ‘Devi Chowdhurani’.
A proposed Indian Film Festival in New Zealand, jointly by Film India Screen Collective and Screen Canterbury NZ.
Early MoU talks between Only Much Louder and Gazprom Media for comedy and music co-productions.
The Government of Maharashtra further boosted the summit’s impact by signing MoUs worth ₹8,000 crores, including major deals with University of York, University of Western Australia, Prime Focus, and Godrej.
Global Media Dialogue and ‘WAVES Declaration’
WAVES 2025 hosted the Global Media Dialogue, which saw participation from 77 countries. Culminating in the adoption of the WAVES Declaration, the summit set the tone for future international collaboration in media and entertainment, emphasizing the role of content in bridging cultures, promoting peace, and addressing the digital divide.
Union Ministers Dr. S. Jaishankar and Ashwini Vaishnaw stressed the synergy between tradition and technology, calling for empowered youth participation and global content partnerships under the “Create in India” initiative.
WAVEX: Fueling the M&E Start-up Revolution
The WAVEX Start-Up Accelerator saw 30 start-ups pitch to investors like Lumikai, Jio, CABIL, and WarmUp Ventures, sparking investment talks worth ₹50 crore. More than 100 start-ups exhibited their ideas, and a dedicated incubator network is being launched to mentor and fund high-potential ideas, even those without tangible products.
Start-ups from Tier 1 and Tier 2 cities emerged as key highlights, demonstrating the depth and diversity of India’s creative innovation landscape.
Key Reports Unveiled at the Summit
Union Minister Dr. L. Murugan released five significant reports, offering data-driven insights into India’s media sector:
Statistical Handbook on Media & Entertainment 2024–25 (Ministry of I&B)
‘From Content to Commerce’ (BCG) on India’s growing creator economy
‘A Studio Called India’ (EY), highlighting India’s cost advantage in VFX and OTT
Legal Handbook (Khaitan & Co.) addressing influencer marketing and compliance
Live Events Industry White Paper, advocating for better infrastructure and licensing
Establishment of Indian Institute of Creative Technology (IICT)
A National Centre of Excellence, the Indian Institute of Creative Technology (IICT) was officially launched during the summit. Designed to rival IITs and IIMs in prestige within the creative domain, the institute is backed by global leaders like Adobe, Meta, Google, NVIDIA, Microsoft, YouTube, and Wacom. Focused on AVGC-XR, IICT will offer world-class education and training to equip India’s youth for the creative economy.
Create in India Challenge & CreatoSphere
The Create in India Challenge (CIC) became a cultural phenomenon, drawing nearly one lakh participants from 60+ countries, and culminating in the CreatoSphere — an innovation zone where 750+ finalists, including 1100+ international creators, showcased futuristic projects across animation, AI, XR, music, and storytelling.
Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, in his closing remarks, emphasized, “The journey has just begun,” as the initiative plans to expand into 25 languages and deepen its global footprint.
Community Media and Cultural Heritage Celebrated
The 8th National Community Radio Sammelan, held under WAVES, honoured 12 outstanding stations from the network of 531 CR stations across India. Minister Dr. L. Murugan praised the role of community radio in grassroots innovation and inclusivity.
The Bharat Pavilion, themed “From Kala to Code”, wowed audiences with an immersive experience of India’s storytelling evolution — from oral traditions to AI-driven narratives. It attracted massive footfall and visits from PM Modi, Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis, and other dignitaries, becoming a centerpiece of the summit.
A New Era for the Creative Economy
WAVES 2025 concluded with a profound promise: to steer the world’s creative economy towards an inclusive, sustainable, and digitally empowered future. With groundbreaking deals, visionary initiatives, and international solidarity, the summit laid the foundation for an annual movement that celebrates, nurtures, and elevates creative voices globally.
As the curtains fall on this historic maiden edition, one message resonates loud and clear — India is not just telling its story; it is shaping the story of the world.
