Creativity must move to the centre of policy: SPNI CEO Gaurav Banerjee’s big ask at FICCI FRAMES

Mumbai: Delivering the keynote at FICCI Frames 2025, Gaurav Banerjee, Managing Director and CEO, Sony Pictures Networks India, said India must build the institutional backbone and talent pipelines that can birth globally scaled content out of Indian stories. 

He argued that creative industries should move from the periphery to the centre of national strategy.

“This is truly a difficult and challenging time,” Banerjee said, pointing to slipping globalisation, constrained cross-border access, fragile supply chains and regulations that extend beyond the control of any one company or person. 

He noted that India’s media and entertainment sector is worth almost 30 billion, contributes around 0.7% of GDP and is projected to grow 7 to 8% annually, but that most of this is driven by domestic demand.

Two provocations for hyper-scale growth

Banerjee posed two questions to the industry and policymakers. “What is it that is stopping us from birthing, at scale, something truly global in its quality and scale but birthed in India, anchored in our stories.” 

He also asked how India could “build an institutional framework that scales private investments into content in an unprecedented way,” similar to how other sectors like pharma and IT services unlocked capital and capability. “Simply put, how is it that we can create a Silicon Valley of creativity in India?”

Three inflection points, and a decade-long wait for the next one

Looking back at the last 25 years, Banerjee identified three inflection points. “KBC launched at the turn of the century, the Indian Premier League in 2008, which turned cricket into family entertainment, and the rise of pan-India television and films, anchored in shows like Satyamev Jayate and Anupama and films like Baahubali. “The last of these big, noteworthy innovations happened 10 years ago,” he said, adding that the industry has been waiting too long for the next wave of mass-scale innovation.

IPL as a model for aggregating human capital

Banerjee said the next leap depends on aggregating human capital. Citing Enrico Moretti’s The New Geography of Jobs, he argued that regions prosper when they attract and retain skilled workers, research activity and knowledge-based firms. “The closest Indian model that I can think of, where truly human capital has been aggregated and a centre of excellence has got created, is the Indian Premier League,” he said, pointing to the IPL’s year-round scouting, local and state leagues and under-19 systems that continually surface new talent. “This is the kind of ecosystem we need that will reach the most rooted, most authentic storytellers and enable them to craft stories that are good enough for the world.”

“As a nation of 1.4 billion people possessing the world’s deepest, most vibrant and diverse cultural reservoir, our films, our music and our digital creators should be watched, shared and celebrated globally,” he said. “We don’t have to wait decades for the next Lagaan or for the next Baahubali. It should be happening every year.”

Malayalam cinema as a live case study

Banerjee pointed to the Malayalam industry as evidence of what strong creative ecosystems can deliver. “Just this last weekend, I had the privilege of watching Lokah Chapter One. No film has enthralled me as much as this film did after Baahubali,” he said, adding that he was told the movie cost less than 30 crore and has already done over 300 crore at the box office. 

He referenced recent successes such as Aavesham, 2018 and Manjummel Boys as part of a run that shows how two or three standout films each year can compound into a durable ecosystem.

What must change now?

Banerjee outlined two immediate steps. “First, we need to build creative institutions and centres of excellence that nurture talent. This means building institutions, recruitment pipelines and scouting organisations that bring the best of the best, and some effort has been started by the government in this direction, which is fantastic.”

“Second, we need to be building creative firms in close collaboration with these centres. There needs to be a continuous dialogue and a lot of deep participation between great centres of academic excellence and great businesses. If there is Stanford University, that has to be built first, and Silicon Valley will follow. In India, we need to be building these connections very, very strongly.”

Call to action

“To summarise, creative industries are no longer peripheral. They need to be central. They generate jobs, they fuel innovation, and they export identity and imagination. And they amplify India’s soft power,” Banerjee said. “If India has to write the next chapter of global leadership, we must rely on creativity and technology both. We invest in creativity with the same boldness and vision that we are now beginning to invest in new technologies.”

He closed with an appeal to the ecosystem. “I invite you, policymakers, media leaders and creators, to champion this agenda, to push boldly for reform, and to be experimental and open-minded around regulation. And let’s think truly global in ambition. Let us together ensure that India’s creator economy does not sit at the margins of policy but stands as the very heart of our world story.”