Mumbai: At the heart of the prestigious WAVES Summit 2025, a landmark Roundtable titled ‘OTT & Digital-Driven Democratisation of Content Creation and Consumption’ took place at the Jio World Convention Centre, Mumbai. Curated by Primus Partners, AWS, and Rolling Stone India, the event brought together over 100 leading figures from cinema, tech, policy, and venture capital—spotlighting India’s ascent as a global force in digital entertainment.
The Roundtable commenced with the release of a pivotal industry report, “Press Play – India’s OTT Story Goes Global”, launched by Shri Ashish Shelar, Hon’ble Minister of Culture, Heritage & IT, Government of Maharashtra. Jointly authored by AWS, Primus Partners, and Rolling Stone India, the report captures India’s digital content journey and its growing international footprint. Shri Shelar emphasized the evolving scope of OTT platforms beyond entertainment, including gaming, education, and immersive experiences. He also announced plans for a dedicated Marathi OTT platform and applauded initiatives like WAVES OTT for preserving nostalgic content while delivering contemporary programming.
Divided into three insightful sessions, the Roundtable explored:
Public–Private Collaborations & Hyper-Localisation of Content
Scaling Indian Media Content for Global Markets & Monetisation Models
The Role of Emerging Technologies & AVGC in OTT
These sessions tackled India’s potential as a multilingual storytelling powerhouse, the future of hybrid monetisation and international co-productions, and how technologies like AI, AR/VR, cloud, and immersive media are transforming content ecosystems. Job creation, youth skilling, and the need for future-ready infrastructure were key takeaways.
In a powerful keynote, Shri Gaurav Dwivedi, CEO of Prasar Bharati, traced the evolution of Indian broadcasting—from Binaca Geet Mala to Ramayan—emphasizing how WAVES OTT aims to democratize content creation by removing the limitations of linear broadcasting. “This isn’t just entertainment,” he said, “it’s empowerment—amplifying voices from every corner of India.”
The Roundtable featured a diverse mix of influential voices from Hollywood, Bollywood, and the wider creative-tech world including Avinash Pandey, Sajan Raj Kurup, David Unger, William Pfeiffer, Amala Akkineni, Sandeep Marwah, Sachin Pilgaonkar, Amish Tripathi, Mahima Kaul (Netflix), Sameer Nair (Applause Entertainment), Kriti Kharbanda, Isha Talwar, and many more. Notable insights included Sachin Pilgaonkar’s call to eliminate the “regional” label from Indian OTTs, and Amala Akkineni’s advocacy for institutional mentoring and vernacular content funding.
A major highlight was the signing of a strategic MoU between the Government of Andhra Pradesh and Creativeland Asia to establish Creatorland—India’s first Transmedia Entertainment City. Envisioned as a hub for AI-driven storytelling, gaming, and global content co-productions, the ₹8,000–10,000 crore project is set to generate over 150,000 jobs and skill 10,000 youth annually. Smt. Amrapali Kata, MD, Andhra Pradesh Tourism, extended a welcome to creators worldwide, positioning Andhra Pradesh as a next-gen creative-tech destination.
The Roundtable concluded as a definitive moment for India’s creative economy—offering new narratives, forging global partnerships, and reaffirming the country’s ambition to lead the world in inclusive, tech-enabled storytelling.
