Exclusive: Who's who of global media join WAVES 2025 subcommittees

New Delhi: As the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting puts the final touches on WAVES 2025 (World Audio Video and Entertainment Summit), the scale and ambition of the mega initiative are evident in the names featured across its various subcommittees.

BestMediaInfo.com has exclusively accessed the full list of members appointed to the subcommittees of the WAVES 2025.

The subcommittees include a diverse range of stalwarts — from news industry legend and top executives of global streaming giants to film stars, cultural thought leaders, tech innovators, and entrepreneurs.

The subcommittees have been categorized under eight key verticals: Outreach & Management, Bharat Pavilion, WAVES Bazaar, WaveXcelerator, Media and Publicity, Creatosphere, WAVES Cultural, and Commerce of Entertainment, with each domain featuring a powerful mix of stakeholders, thought leaders, and executives from top companies.

Here is the full list of subcommittee members, which was exclusively obtained by BestMediaInfo.com.

Outreach and Management

Convened by Joyce Philip, OSD (WAVES), and Shilpa Rao Tangula, Director (Films), this panel comprises 22 distinguished figures, including:

• Uday Shankar (Jio Star), Gaurav Banerjee (Sony)
• Anand Mahindra, Adar Poonawalla, Anil Kapoor, Anupam Kher
• Karan Johar, Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, Namit Malhotra
• Shahrukh Khan, Shekhar Kapur, Ajay Bijli
• Tech and streaming stalwarts like Gaurav Gandhi (Amazon Prime), Monika Shergill (Netflix)
• Senior corporate executives such as Preeti Lobana (Google), Puneet Chandok (Microsoft)
• Legal and media experts like Lillesh Jain, Shivnath Thukral (Meta), Mukhil Bhagat (Nascent Info), Pooja Shetty, Anupama Chopra

Bharat Pavilion

Convened by Nitesh Jha, Director (CBC), this group represents both creative and publishing segments, including:

• Nagarjuna Akkineni, Shekhar Kapur
• Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, Amish Tripathi (Author)
• Prasoon Joshi (McCann)
• Ericksson India, Rajkumar Hirani (Film Director)

WAVES Bazaar

Sreerag M., OSD (Films), as the convenor, this subcomittee boasts:

• Industry titans like Sanjiv Goenka, Gaurav Banerjee (Sony), Bhushan Kumar, Ekta Kapoor
• Filmmaker Karan Johar, streaming heads Monika Shergill (Netflix), Gaurav Gandhi (Amazon Prime)
• Music giant Devraj Sanyal (Universal Music), Sanjay Gaikwad (UFO)
• Arjun Nohwar (Warner Bros. Discovery)

WaveXcelerator

Focused on innovation and startups, and convened by Ashutosh Mohle, Dy. Press Registrar, PRGI, this team includes:

• Supriya Yarlagadda, Sanjiv Goenka, Kavita Vinod Khanna, Mithun Chakraborty
• Startup influencers like Prashanth Prakash (Accel India), Naveen Tiwari (InMobi), Nikhil Kamath (Zerodha), Salone Sehgal (Lumikai), Shashwat Sharma (Bharti Airtel)

Media and Publicity

Convened by Dhirendra Ojha, Principal Director General (PIB), this team comprises:

• India Today Group chairman and Editor-in-Chief Aroon Purie
• Celebrities like Akshay Kumar, Bhushan Kumar, Ekta Kapoor, Amitabh Bachchan
• Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, SS Rajamouli
• Digital media voice Naveen Tewari (InMobi)

Creatosphere

An artistic powerhouse overseen by Anubhav Singh, OSD (BC), this panel includes:

• Aamir Khan, Anand Mahindra, Bhushan Kumar, Ekta Kapoor
• Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, Nikhil Madhok (Nominated by Mike Hopkins, Senior Vice President of Prime Video & Amazon Studios at Amazon)
• Amala Akkineni (Nominated by Nagarjuna), Shekhar Kapur, Preeti Lobana (Nominated by Sundar Pichai), Amitabh Bachchan
• Nitesh Mittersain (Nazara Technologies Ltd.), Harsh Jain (Dream11)

WAVES Cultural

Convened by Prithul Kumar, Joint Secretary (Broadcasting-II), this creative wing is composed of:

• Govind Asrani (Nominated by Mike Hopkins), Preeti Lobana, Hema Malini
• Branding veterans like Prasoon Joshi (McCann), Devraj Sanyal (Universal Music India & South Asia)
• Music and tech innovators like Amarjit Singh Batra (Spotify India), Ashish Hemrajani (BookMyShow), Ajay Vidyasagar (YouTube)
• Legal expert Hitesh Jain

Commerce of Entertainment

Convened by Ajay Nagabhushan, Joint Secretary, this subcommittee blends corporate and creative leaders:

• Ajay Bijli, Sonali Bendre (Nominated by Mike Hopkins), Aamir Khan, Shivnath Thukral (Meta)
• Nitesh Mittersain, Nazara Technologies Ltd.
• Arjun Nohwar, Warner Bros. Discovery
• Sidharth Jain, INOX