India Unleashes Creative WAVES

By Pickle August 10, 2025

From billion-rupee business deals and cross-border collaborations to grassroots innovation and global policy shifts, WAVES 2025 proved that India’s creative surge is unstoppable — and the world is taking notice.

When the curtains fell on the inaugural World Audio Visual and Entertainment Summit (WAVES 2025) in Mumbai, it wasn’t just the end of a four-day event — it felt like the beginning of a cultural and economic tide set to sweep across the world.

The significance of the event was underlined by the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting in the WAVES Outcome Report and WAVEX Outcome Report released in July, 2025, documenting the summit’s achievements, investments, and global partnerships — a tangible record of how the first edition set the tone for India’s creative economy in the years ahead.

With more than Rs 1,328 crore in business deals, 3,000+ B2B meetings, landmark policy announcements, and an unprecedented gathering of global creative forces, WAVES firmly planted India’s flag as a rising powerhouse in the media and entertainment (M&E) industry.

From film icons to tech giants, start-up innovators to policymakers, the summit was a melting pot where creativity met commerce — and the chemistry was electric.

A Vision Set in Motion

The summit began with Prime Minister Narendra Modi setting the tone at the glittering inauguration in the Jio World Convention Centre. His message was both a call to action and a declaration of intent: WAVES, he said, was more than an acronym — it was a wave of culture, creativity, and universal connectivity. He envisioned India as a global creative hub, urging the youth to tell the “one billion untold stories” of India and heralding the dawn of the nation’s Orange Economy.

Ideas That Shaped the Future

Over the next four days, WAVES 2025 became a crucible of ideas, hosting 140+ sessions, 100+ international speakers, and packed auditoriums. The conference track brought together a star-studded roster of voices, from Mukesh Ambani and Ted Sarandos to Shah Rukh Khan and Deepika Padukone, dissecting everything from AI in filmmaking to the economics of streaming.

Masterclasses were a particular hit — Aamir Khan on acting, Farhan Akhtar on direction, and Michael Lehmann on filmmaking were more than talks; they were immersive lessons in craft. The breakout sessions delved deep into specialised domains like gaming, OTT, and virtual production, creating cross-sector dialogues that are set to influence strategy for years to come.

The Marketplace That Delivered

While the knowledge sessions sparked ideas, WAVES Bazaar turned them into business. In its very first outing, it recorded Rs 1,328 crore worth of deals, with the Maharashtra government adding its weight through MoUs worth Rs 8,000 crore in the M&E sector.

The Bazaar was a hotbed of global collaboration: from the Prime Video & CJ ENM multi-year Korean content partnership to the first-ever Indian Film Festival in New Zealand, and Indo-UK co-productions like Devi Chowdhurani. These weren’t just contracts; they were cultural bridges.

Global Dialogue, Global Impact

One of the summit’s most significant outcomes was the adoption of the WAVES Declaration at the Global Media Dialogue by 77 nations. The document underscored the role of media in promoting peace, bridging the digital divide, and celebrating diversity. Leaders like Dr. S. Jaishankar and Ashwini Vaishnaw called for a synergy of tradition and technology, with special focus on skilling and empowering creators.

Start-Ups Get Their Spotlight

If the creative economy needs fresh fuel, WAVES provided it in the form of WAVEX, the start-up accelerator for the M&E sector. Out of 1,000+ applications, 30 promising ventures pitched to heavyweight investors like Lumikai and Jio, with Rs 50 crore in investments already in the pipeline. The start-up pavilion buzzed with prototypes, ideas, and raw talent from across Tier-1 and Tier-2 cities — proof that the next big disruption in media could come from anywhere.

Knowledge for the Long Game

Policy and investment may drive the present, but data drives the future. WAVES saw the release of five key reports, including BCG’s “From Content to Commerce”, which projects India’s creator economy to influence over $1 trillion in spending by 2030, and Ernst & Young’s “A Studio Called India”, envisioning the nation as a global content hub with a 40–60% cost advantage in animation and VFX.

These insights, paired with legal frameworks and live events industry analysis, give the sector a roadmap grounded in evidence and opportunity.

Building the Future: IICT

One of the most ambitious announcements was the launch of the Indian Institute of Creative Technology (IICT) in Mumbai — a national centre of excellence dedicated to the AVGC-XR sector. With partnerships from JioStar, Adobe, Meta, Microsoft, and NVIDIA, IICT aims to become for creative industries what IITs and IIMs are for technology and management.

Creativity Without Borders

The Create in India Challenge (CIC) was perhaps the most human and heart-stirring element of WAVES. With one lakh participants from over 60 countries, the competition spanned 32 challenges in animation, gaming, AI, filmmaking, and more. The youngest finalist was 12, the oldest 66, and the diversity — across geography, gender, and medium — was staggering.

The finalists showcased their innovations at Creatosphere, a vibrant zone where tradition met technology, and where grassroots innovation shared the stage with cutting-edge generative AI.

A Pavilion That Told a Nation’s Story

No less impactful was the Bharat Pavilion, themed From Kala to Code, tracing India’s storytelling from oral traditions to AR, VR, and immersive experiences. It wasn’t just an exhibit — it was a declaration that India’s cultural depth is not a relic of the past, but a foundation for future creativity.

Beyond the Event

From the 8th National Community Radio Sammelan honouring 12 outstanding stations, to the cross-cultural deals signed in the WAVES Bazaar, to the international commitments in the WAVES Declaration — every strand of the summit’s tapestry pointed to the same truth: India is not just participating in the global creative economy, it’s shaping it.

The Next Chapter

WAVES 2025 ended with the promise of more — more collaboration, more innovation, and more opportunities for creators. As Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw put it during the CIC awards, “The journey has just begun.”

And if the first edition is anything to go by, that journey will be nothing short of transformative — for India, and for the world.