The inaugural day of WAVES 2025 at the Jio World Convention Centre, Mumbai, featured a compelling panel discussion titled “Indian M&E @100: Reimagining the Future of Media and Entertainment.” The session brought together leading voices from the industry to reflect on its growth and the road ahead as India moves towards 2047. The discussion was moderated by Vanita Kohli Khandekar, Contributing Editor, Business Standard.
Opening the session, Vanita Kohli Khandekar recalled how the media and entertainment sector, valued at just ₹500 crore around the year 2000, has now grown into a ₹70,000 crore industry. She pointed to two policy decisions that played a critical role in fuelling this growth—the granting of industry status to filmmaking and the initial tax exemptions granted to multiplexes. She also posed an important question on the ability of AI not just to improve content quality, but also to aid in its monetisation. Emphasizing the country’s cultural and linguistic diversity, she underlined that scaling must be inclusive and sensitive to India’s varied audience.
Vinit Karnik, Managing Director, GroupM, noted that 60% of the advertising revenue in the M&E sector today comes from digital platforms. He observed that the sector has undergone significant disruptions over the last few years, which have fundamentally reshaped how content is consumed and marketed. While acknowledging AI as a strong enabler, he emphasised that content must remain humanised—especially at a time when culture itself is being shaped by mobile technology. He highlighted the need to use technology constructively to enhance storytelling and informed the audience about Mumbai University’s new course on prompt engineering aimed at equipping future professionals.
Rajan Navani, Founder and CEO of JetSynthesys, focused on the future of content delivery, which he believes will evolve into cross-platform interactive experiences. He stated that India holds just 2–3% of the global M&E market, and to further increase this share by 2047, it is imperative to invest in talent and enhance the country’s investment capacity. He noted that entertainment is becoming increasingly dynamic and will require different technologies for different formats. Addressing Vanita’s concerns on monetization, he pointed out the relatively low disposable income in India compared to developed markets, but expressed optimism that sustained economic growth will boost consumer spending. He cited the example of the Global e-Cricket Premier League, where audiences are already engaging in individualized consumption and payments.
Vikram Tanna, CEO of Eros Now, called for India to aspire to become a global hub for AI innovation in media. He argued that AI would transform both the creation and delivery of content, enabling new ways for users to become creators. According to him, the digital age will present numerous inflection points, and strategic interventions are required to ensure that India remains competitive. He emphasized that simplifying new technologies—making them as accessible as the internet—will naturally expand the business. He concluded the session by noting that, in this evolving environment, it is crucial for the industry to understand how to engage with machines and harness the vast content landscape for advertising and audience engagement.
The session offered a forward-looking view of India’s M&E sector, underscoring the interplay of policy, technology, talent, and cultural relevance in shaping its future. WAVES 2025 continues at Jio World Centre till May 4, with sessions highlighting global trends in audio-visual and entertainment industries.
WAVES AN IMPORTANT PLATFORM FOR ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY: SHAH RUKH KHAN
Actor and filmmaker Shah Rukh Khan has expressed his gratitude on behalf of the film industry to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi for conceptualising and bringing together the WAVE Summit that has the potential to further strengthen the entertainment industry. He mentioned how relevant this platform is for the industry and that it will provide much-needed synergy and support from the government on various fronts.
Speaking about the immense possibility India holds as a film-shooting destination, Khan shared how India could be the next destination for international filmmakers to ‘Shoot in India.’ Further, he emphasised on how various forms of agreements with international film bodies and industries could go a long way in shaping and strengthening India’s entertainment industry.
Khan also stressed upon making the Indian cinema more affordable for the viewers of tier-2 and tier-3 cities. He ideated on bringing single-screen cinema experience to these cities which would help films to reach a larger audience.
Actor Deepika Padukone also shared the view in terms of importance of WAVES and called it a timely intervention bringing together various mediums of media and entertainment industry. She said the various verticals of the sector were so far working in silos with less convergence while WAVES has a wider scope and has possibilities of weaving together films, OTT, Animation, AI, and other immersive technologies.
While speaking on the sidelines of the Day-1 of WAVE Summit, actors Shah Rukh Khan and Deepika Padukone had an immersive interaction with filmmaker Karan Johar in a jampacked session named ‘The Journey: From Outsider to Ruler.’ They contemplated on their journey in the film industry and on how they carved out a niche for themselves. Shah Rukh Khan shared his views on the ‘outsider-insider’ tags and called the youth to treat the film industry as any other profession where hard work and perseverance has no substitute.
Talking of the changing dynamics of the entertainment industry in the time of social media and image management, Khan suggested the newcomers to focus on their skills rather than merely focusing on their image. Padukone added that the time is to distinguish oneself through their unique strengths and abilities.
In his concluding remarks, filmmaker Karan Johar called India a soft power which is poised to take the next leap with WAVES in the years to come.
