Mumbai: As part of the prestigious WAVES Summit 2025, a high-level Roundtable on ‘OTT & Digital-Driven Democratisation of Content Creati...
Mumbai: As part of the prestigious WAVES Summit 2025, a high-level Roundtable on ‘OTT & Digital-Driven Democratisation of Content Creation and Consumption’ was hosted at the Jio World Convention Centre, Mumbai. Curated by Primus Partners, AWS and Rolling Stone India, the Roundtable brought together over 100 eminent personalities from the worlds of cinema, technology, policy and venture capital, reflecting a unique confluence of creativity, commerce and innovation aimed at shaping the next phase of India’s digital entertainment economy.
The Roundtable was
launched by the release of the report “Press Play – India’s OTT Story Goes
Global”, by Ashish Shelar, Minister of Culture, Heritage & IT,
Government of Maharashtra. The Report is jointly authored by AWS, Primus
Partners and Rolling Stone India. On the occasion, Shelar remarked “OTT
today is not just about screen entertainment, it includes gaming, immersive
content and education. I am proud that Maharashtra continues to be the
launchpad for such transformation.” He congratulated CEO Prasar Bharati Shri
Gaurav Dwivedi for launching WAVES OTT and said such platforms are making
nostalgic content accessible while introducing fresh new-age programming.” The
Minister also announced that the government would launch a Marathi OTT and
reaffirmed the state’s commitment to supporting digital innovation and creative
entrepreneurship.
The Roundtable was
divided into three curated sessions, each focused on a pivotal theme driving
the OTT and creative-tech ecosystem forward - Public–Private Collaborations
& Hyper-Localisation of Content, Scaling Indian Media Content for Global
Markets & Monetisation Models, and Role of Emerging Technologies & AVGC
in OTT. The session explored the evolving role of public-sector broadcasters in
expanding India’s multilingual content footprint and forming ecosystem
partnerships for inclusive digital growth. There were discussions on India’s
potential to become a global storytelling hub, through hybrid monetisation,
co-productions, and digital-led internationalisation of content. The speakers
spotlighted how AI, AR/VR, cloud, gaming, and immersive media are changing
content creation, distribution, and monetisation, especially in India’s AVGC
sector. Emphasis was placed on job creation, youth skilling, and building
future-ready infrastructure.
In his key note
address, Gaurav Dwivedi, CEO, Prasar Bharati, traced the legacy of Prasar
Bharati in nurturing India’s storytellers, from Binaca Geet Mala on radio to
Ramayan and Hum Log on television, highlighting how external creators shaped
national narratives through public broadcasting. He explained how WAVES OTT
breaks the constraints of linear broadcasting, offering a limitless,
multi-genre digital platform for creators across geographies. “This is not just
a platform for entertainment,” he said, “it is an instrument of empowerment,
where every voice from every corner of India gets to be seen and heard.”
The speakers were a motley group from Hollywood, Bollywood and the larger creator and AVGC community – Avinash Pandey, Former CEO ABP News & Advisor, Primus Partners, Sajan Raj Kurup, Founder, Creativeland Studios, David Unger, CEO, Artists International Association, William Pfeiffer (Globalgate), Amala Akkineni (Annapurna Studios), Sandeep Marwah (AAFT), Sachin Pilgaonkar, Pankaj Gupta (AWS), Sudhir Chaudhary, Rituparna Sengupta, Amish Tripathi, Mahima Kaul (Netflix), Sameer Nair (Applause Entertainment), Shefali Bhushan, Kriti Kharbanda, Nitin Bawankule (AWS), Nicolas Granatino (Ridley Scott CG), Shamani Joshi, Editor, Rolling Stone India, Vaibhav Modi (Victor Tango), Isha Talwar, Manoj Padmanabhan (AWS), Aditi Shrivastava (Pocket Aces), Soumya Mukherjee (Hoichoi), Vishnu Mohta (Hoichoi), Shruti Paul (Accenture)
Sachin Pilgaonkar
mentioned that all the OTTs in India are Indian OTTs, only the languages are
different. So we shouldn’t categorise by terming them as Regional OTTs
Amala Akkineni
recommended an institutionalised approach to mentoring regional talent and
called for dedicated funds to support vernacular storytelling for global
platforms.
A significant announcement from the Roundtable was the announcement of a strategic MoU between the Government of Andhra Pradesh and Creativeland Asia to establish Creatorland: India’s first Transmedia Entertainment City in Andhra Pradesh. The MOUs were exchanged between Amrapali Kata, MD, Andhra Pradesh Tourism and Sajan Raj Kurup Sajan Raj Kurup, Founder, Creativeland Studios & Chairman, Creators Inc London in the presence of the global advisory board David Unger, CEO, Artists International & Global Advisory Board Member, Creativeland Asia and Nicolas Granatino, Chairman Novaquark. Under the MoU, Creatorland is envisioned as a pioneering ecosystem that will integrate AI, gaming, immersive storytelling, and global co-productions, projected to attract ₹8,000–10,000 crore in investment, create over 150,000 jobs, and skill 10,000 youth annually.
Kata invited the
entire creator ecosystem to “consider Andhra Pradesh as a new-age hub for
creative tech and innovation”, reaffirming the state’s support for world-class
infrastructure and policy backing.
The OTT Roundtable at
the WAVES Summit 2025 has upheld India’s Creative-Tech Inflection Point and
served as a launchpad for new narratives, cross-sectoral partnerships, and
digital innovation. The presence of creators like Jayant Somalkar, Om Raut,
Vinod Bachchan, Tanvi Dhedia, Varun Mitra, and Shobha Sant further highlighted
the ecosystem’s vibrancy.
With the release of a
data-backed industry report, a landmark MoU, and powerful keynote
interventions, the Roundtable reflected India’s growing ambition to lead the
world in democratised, tech-enabled storytelling.
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