​​WAVES 2025 wasn’t just a summit, but a content renaissance in motion

Mumbai: May 1 to May 4, 2025, boxed what can be called as a siren’s call to every content creator, brand marketer, tech tinkerer, media maven, and curious souls, including yours truly, in Mumbai’s sweltering embrace.

World Audio Visual and Entertainment Summit (WAVES) 2025 was, in the truest sense, a content centrifuge. Ideas and conversations rippled in the contemporary vernacular called the Jio World Convention Centre (JWCC) nestled in Bandra Kurla Complex. 

Being the flagship stroke on the large canvas of content, WAVES 2025 emerged as a boisterous attempt by the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting to bring together the “glocal” drivers of media and entertainment. 

Bollywood bling and political prowess

Reaching the JWCC, you could practically taste anticipation and rush mixed intricately with the ocean humid. Upon panning an observant eye across the space, one could easily see people getting drawn towards the centre like metallic specks are drawn towards a magnet.

The magnet, in this context, was the Bollywood's glitterati and the political flair that dominated the opening credits of the event. A well-concocted mixture of glam and gravitas. The lineup could easily rival any red carpet.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi cut the ribbon for the summit, saying it was the right time for “create in India, create for world” when the world is looking for new ways of storytelling, while India has so much more to offer. Modi batted for creative responsibility, saying technology is playing an increasingly important role in people's lives and extra effort is needed to maintain human sensitivity.

Ashwini Vaishnaw, Devendra Fadnavis, Eknath Shinde, and L. Murugan registered their attendance with diligence and flaunted the synergy that the government of India and the government of Maharashtra forged to foster WAVES 2025. Orchestrating this synergy was the MIB secretary, Sanjay Jaju, who carefully fine-tuned the nuts and bolts of this large carnival of content. 

The political presence on Day 1 was unmistakable. It sent a clear message: content isn’t just entertainment—it’s diplomacy, culture, and industry rolled into one.

Sessions featured moguls such as Reliance’s Mukesh Ambani, YouTube’s Neal Mohan, WPP’s Mark Read, and Adobe’s Shantanu Narayen, who brought their business acumen to the centre stage. But the real pull was generated by big screen royalty such as Shah Rukh Khan, Karan Johar, Deepika Padukone, Aamir Khan, Hema Malini, Allu Arjun, Anil Kapoor, among others. 

Media without borders 

If Day 1 was glitz, Day 2 was geopolitics with a press badge. The focus shifted dramatically to international cooperation, as representatives of 77 countries participated in the Global Media Dialogue. This full-day diplomatic extravaganza culminated in the signing of a declaration aimed at fostering cross-border collaboration, content safety, and ethical AI deployment.

Led by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, the 13-point declaration stated that the participants aim to prevent the spread of misinformation and disinformation, promote media integrity, fact-based journalism and responsible advertising towards enlightened public discourse.

While the global dialogue held the star status the entire day, the sessions brewing in various halls of the JWCC had alluring discourses. But simultaneous tracks omitted eternal FOMO (Fear of Missing Out). Making tough choices became the norm for journalists covering the event. To attend one was to let go of one. But somehow, it still felt fulfilling.

Bazaar buzz and policy pizzazz

Day 3 can be easily called kinetic. What went out of focus for many, came into the limelight on the third day. The pavilion was home to some of the most innovative startups in the media space, and WAVES Bazaar attempted to fuel life into these budding businesses. 

In the entirety, WAVES Bazaar facilitated 1,328 crore in business. But the interesting part is that this Bazaar was not just a four-day razzmatazz. WAVES Bazaar will continue as a digital portal fostering buyer-seller relationships across the calendar. 

The WAVEX Accelerator attracted over 1,000 entries and facilitated investment discussions worth Rs 50 crore. Investors, including Lumikai, Jio, and WarmUp Ventures, showed keen interest in next-gen ideas from Tier 1 and Tier 2 cities. The summit also formalised plans for incubators and mentorship programs dedicated to nurturing creative entrepreneurs.

On the policy front, India launched five knowledge reports, including BCG’s ‘From Content to Commerce’—which valued India’s creator economy at $350 billion in annual influence—and Ernst & Young’s ‘A Studio Called India,’ which projected the country as a cost-effective content hub. The unveiling of the Indian Institute of Creative Technology (IICT) further cemented India’s intent to become the “IIT of M&E education,” with industry partnerships from Meta, Adobe, Google, and Microsoft.

The parting WAVE

By Day 4, the mood mellowed, but the ideas remained punchy. This was less about selling and more about soul-searching. Upon searching, what one finds is that WAVES 2025 was not perfect. 

But it did something few conferences manage—it mirrored the content world’s chaos without losing its compass. Each day spotlighted a different face of the industry—from Bollywood’s soft power and diplomatic media diplomacy to the raw hustle of startups and the overdue inclusion of unheard voices.

In an attempt to do this, WAVES 2025 set quite a high benchmark for itself. Slated to be organised annually, the flagship success might undergo the good ‘ol ‘flair or fluke?’ test. It will be interesting to see at what scale the following summits come to life. 

Another thing to focus on is the duration. Four days may seem fit for the flagship event, but for what will follow need not be four days long. WAVES Bazaar, as per the government plans, will be live round the clock. Hence, in my opinion, a four-day conglomeration every year will be a bit too much. Let’s try halving it, maybe?
WAVES witnessed collisions of ideas, of ambition, of ethics and execution. And if content is the new oil, WAVES 2025 showed the fraternity the refinery, the spillage, and maybe—just maybe—the blueprint for a cleaner burn.
See you at the next one.