WAVES 2025 to Spotlight India’s Creative Might at Global M&E Summit

WAVES 2025 is more than just a conference—it’s a multi-faceted industry celebration promoting India as a one-stop destination for global media production, investment, collaboration, and distribution.

India’s growing stature as a hub for cultural innovation and cinematic creativity is set to receive a powerful boost as it prepares to host the inaugural World Audio Visual & Entertainment Summit (WAVES) from May 1st to 4th, 2025, at the iconic Jio World Centre, Mumbai. Designed to champion India as a premier destination for content creation and media investment, WAVES 2025 is poised to redefine global perceptions of the Indian Media & Entertainment (M&E) industry.

India’s Cultural Wealth Meets Global Ambitions

With a rich tradition of storytelling and a vast pool of talent spread across its geographies, India holds a unique position in the global media landscape. WAVES 2025 is more than just a conference—it’s a multi-faceted industry celebration promoting India as a one-stop destination for global media production, investment, collaboration, and distribution.

The summit aims to advance the ‘Create in India’ movement, blending domestic expertise with international outreach. This strategic positioning seeks to not only promote Indian content globally but also attract international projects to be ideated, developed, and produced within India.

Introducing WAVES Bazaar: The Global M&E Marketplace

At the heart of the summit is WAVES Bazaar, a premier platform for buyers, sellers, producers, distributors, and creatives. It is designed to foster professional networking, forge distribution deals, and spotlight new voices in film, television, and digital content. The Bazaar will host interactions between investors, film festival curators, content platforms, and artists eager to collaborate across borders.

The Viewing Room: A Global Showcase of Storytelling

A central attraction of WAVES Bazaar is The Viewing Room—a dedicated physical library showcasing 100 curated films and in-progress projects from eight countries: India, USA, Sri Lanka, Switzerland, Bulgaria, Germany, Mauritius, and UAE. This space allows industry professionals to view and evaluate films seeking festival slots, sales representation, distribution partnerships, or post-production funding.

Among the highlights are:

• 18 films produced or co-produced by the National Film Development Corporation (NFDC)

• 8 restored cinematic classics from the National Film Archive of India (NFAI)

• 19 student films from prestigious institutes like FTII (Pune) and SRFTI (Kolkata)

WAVES Bazaar Top Selects: 15 Projects, One Pitch Stage

A curated lineup of 15 standout projects has been selected for the WAVES Bazaar Top Selects 2025. These include 9 feature films, 2 documentaries, 2 short films, and 2 web series. These projects will be pitched to potential buyers, festival directors, and co-producers on May 2nd, in an open session that offers a rare opportunity to secure international exposure and investment.

WAVES Bazaar Top Selects 2025: Project Lineup

Fiction Features:

• The Wage Collector (Tamil, India) — Dir. Infant Soosai | Prod. Bagavathi Perumal

• Putul (Hindi, India) — Dir. Radheshyam Pipalwa | Prod. Sharad Mittal

• Doosra Byaah (Levir) (Haryanvi, Hindi, India) — Dir. Bhagat Singh Saini | Prod. Parveen Saini

• Pankhudiyaan (Petals in the Wind) (Hindi, India) — Dir. Abdul Aziz | Prods. Abdul Aziz, Jyotsana Rajpurohit

• Khidki Gaav (If on a Winter's Night) (Malayalam, India) — Dir. Sanju Surendran | Prod. Dr. Surendran M N

• Suchana - The Beginning (Bangla, India) — Dir. Pausali Sengupta | Prod. Avinanda Sengupta

• Swaha In the Name of Fire (Magahi, India) — Dir. Abhilash Sharma | Prod. Vikash Sharma

• Achappa's Album (Grampa's Album) (Malayalam, India) — Dir. Deepti Pillay Sivan | Prod. NFDC

• Duniya Na Mane (The Unexpected) (Hindi, India) — Dir./Prod. V. Shantaram

Documentaries:

• Gotipua - Beyond Borders (English, Hindi, Odia) — Dir./Prod. Chintan Parekh

• From India (English, USA) — Dir./Prod. Mandar Apte

Short Films:

• Third Floor (Hindi, India) — Dir./Prod. Amandeep Singh

• Jahaan (Hindi, India) — Dir./Prod. Rahul Shetty

Web-Series/TV Shows:

• Planet India (English, Hindi, India) — Dir. Colin Butfield | Prod. Tamseel Hussain

• Bharti Aur Bibo (Hindi, India) — Dir. Sneha Ravishankar | Prods. NFDC, Puppetica Media Pvt. Ltd

A Platform for the Future

WAVES 2025 will not only be a platform for current content creators but also a blueprint for future industry collaborations. By bringing together film commissions, studios, talent agencies, streaming platforms, and young creators, the summit aspires to nurture a thriving creative economy that integrates India's cultural diversity with global media innovation.

With a diverse programming schedule, high-level participation, and international vision, WAVES 2025 promises to be a groundbreaking chapter in the global media and entertainment story.