Mumbai, 5th May 2025
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 Shri Ashish Shelar, Hon’ble Minister of Culture, Heritage & IT, Government of Maharashtra. The Report is jointly authored by AWS, Primus Partners and Rolling Stone India. On the occasion, Shri 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, Shri 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)
Mr. 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
Smt 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 Smt. 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.
Smt. 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.
