Desi Toons 2025 powered by Green Gold Animation steals the spotlight at IndiaJoy, marking a defining moment for India’s animation industry
Hyderabad, 04th November, 2025: The 8th edition of IndiaJoy 2025, India’s most influential festival shaping the creative economy, reached a resounding high as Desi Toons 2025 powered by Green Gold Animation emerged as one of its most defining highlights. Held on November 1st at the Hyderabad International Convention Centre (HICC), the conclave celebrated the power of Indian storytelling and showcased how creativity, culture, and technology are converging to shape India’s next decade of animation leadership.
The day-long animation conclave brought together India’s most prominent creators, producers, and policymakers from the Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming, and Comics (AVGC) sectors, creating a vibrant forum to discuss the opportunities, challenges, and future pathways of India’s growing creative economy. The event was inaugurated by Mr. Sanjay Jaju, Secretary, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting; Mr. Sanjay Kumar, IAS, Special Chief Secretary, Department of ITE&C, Government of Telangana; and Mr. Rajiv Chilaka, Founder & CEO of Green Gold Animation and President of TVAGA, in the presence of leading figures from the AVGC and film industries.
Since its inception, Desi Toons, a flagship initiative conceptualized by Green Gold Animation, has become a cornerstone of India’s animation movement. Over the years, it has evolved from a creative conclave into a strategic industry platform, catalysing original IP creation, cross-border collaboration, and policy conversations that continue to influence the growth of India’s AVGC sector. The 2025 edition, themed “The Power of Originals: India’s Cultural Stories for the World,” reflected India’s ongoing shift from a service-driven market to a creator-led ecosystem recognized globally for its originality and storytelling depth.
Desi Toons, in its latest edition, continues to shine as India’s premier animation conclave celebrating the country’s thriving animation sector and uniting studios, creators, broadcasters, and licensing leaders under one platform. The event stands apart for its dedicated focus on Indian original IPs, meaningful industry networking, and exclusive pitching opportunities that nurture creative growth.
Mr. Rajiv Chilaka, Founder & CEO of Green Gold Animation and President of TVAGA, emphasized how Desi Toons is helping rewrite India’s animation narrative. “Desi Toons has evolved into a strategic platform that reflects how far India’s animation industry has come, and how much further it can go. For too long, India was seen as a back-end production hub. Today, we are creating original IPs that travel across cultures, languages, and geographies. The real opportunity lies in combining creative courage with business strategy, building studios that don’t just produce animation, but build sustainable, scalable brands. Through Desi Toons, our goal has always been to bring creators, policymakers, and investors to one table so that ideas can turn into enterprises. The conversations that begin here are shaping the industry’s future, both in India and globally.”
Throughout the day, discussions and masterclasses explored how Indian studios can build global-ready IPs and the role of policy, investment, and education in scaling the industry. The sessions featured an impressive line-up including Nag Ashwin (Kalki 2898 AD), Ashwin Kumar (Mahavatar Narasimha), Sai Abhishek (Warner Bros. Discovery South Asia), Ashish Kulkarni (Punnaryug Artvision), and Gaurav Mathur (Epic Games), among others – each bringing a unique perspective to India’s creative renaissance.
Mr. Nag Ashwin, Director of Kalki 2898 AD, reflected on how platforms like Desi Toons are helping India step into a leadership role in the global creative ecosystem. “Events like Desi Toons matter because they remind us that creativity doesn’t exist in isolation – it thrives in ecosystems. What Green Gold Animation has done with this platform is to make collaboration visible and accessible. India is now at a point where we can lead with both imagination and infrastructure. The challenge ahead is not talent, but it’s translating that talent into global-quality projects. Desi Toons gives us the space and the confidence to do that.”
Adding perspective on the changing animation landscape, Ashwin Kumar, Director of Mahavatar Narasimha, remarked “Desi Toons captures the pulse of India’s creative economy at the right time. The industry is maturing, technology is accelerating, and audiences are ready for stories that come from India but speak to the world. What I find most powerful is that it brings together people who don’t usually share a room – artists, producers, policymakers, and educators. That kind of convergence is what turns an industry into a movement. Green Gold has built more than a conclave here; they’ve built a mindset for the future.”
From a broadcaster’s lens, Sai Abhishek, Head of Factual Entertainment, Lifestyle & Kids at Warner Bros. Discovery South Asia, highlighted how Indian animation is gaining global credibility. “We’re at an inflection point where India is shifting from a contributor in the global animation supply chain to a creator of global intellectual property. What Desi Toons does brilliantly is bridge the gap between creativity and commerce. It encourages studios to think like storytellers and entrepreneurs at the same time. For us at Warner Bros. Discovery, it’s inspiring to see that kind of creative ambition coming from India – it’s the sign of a mature market that’s ready to compete on the world stage.”
A major highlight of this year’s edition was the launch of the Desi Toons Animation Pitch, a first-of-its-kind platform that gave Indian animation studios the opportunity to present their original IPs directly to broadcasters, OTT platforms, and investors. This initiative underlined Green Gold Animation’s long-standing commitment to empowering India’s animation ecosystem by fostering collaboration, mentorship, and market access.
Over the years, Desi Toons has played a pivotal role in shaping the discourse around India’s creative economy, helping bridge policy and practice while inspiring new creators to think globally. Its success also reflects Telangana’s leadership in building India’s animation hub, with Hyderabad emerging as a global destination for animation, VFX, and gaming.
The 2025 edition welcomed a diverse audience – from industry veterans and studio heads to students and animation enthusiasts – making it a powerful collective of creativity, vision, and ambition. As the curtain closed on this year’s event, one thing was clear: Desi Toons 2025 powered by Green Gold Animation was not just a showcase of talent but a statement of intent, that India is ready to define the next era of animation on the global stage.
