New Delhi, April 16 -- WAVES, which is to be held in Mumbai (May 1-4), will usher in a new beginning for the M&E Ecosystem. It will position India as the 'Content Hub of the world'-a 'Pioneer in Storytelling and a Global Leader' in weaving business, technology, collaboration and participation in the M&E landscape. Waves 2025 is expected to give a fillip to the concept of a "Creator Economy", juxtaposing soft power, talent pool and innovation in the creative sector.
As a platform, WAVES has sparked a kinetic current of visibility, opportunity, participation, collaboration, and growth, firmly aligned with a robust push for soft power diplomacy. Its design is bold and future-forward, destined to influence how M&E summits are conceived across the globe, particularly in fostering international tie-ups, cinematic synergies, and strategic partnerships. At its core, WAVES is expected to capture the pulse of a media and entertainment landscape in flux, where change is the only constant and innovation is a lifeline. The summit acts as a trigger, a push effect, encouraging the ecosystem to absorb novel ideas and transformative technologies while simultaneously weaving the threads of heritage, identity, and continuity. Thus, there are common elements between the Waves M&E Summit & India's participation at the Cannes Film Festival from May 13 to 24.
In the evolving power map of world cinema, Cannes remains the epicentre of global cinematic diplomacy. It is more than a red carpet; it is a reflective mirror of where the world is looking and listening. The films screened here set trends, spark discourse and influence everything from box office results to cultural consciousness. It is at Cannes that cinematic art meets geopolitical articulation. For India, Cannes is not just about screening films, it is about staking a claim in the world's most elite creative space. It is about shaping how the world sees Indian narratives, aesthetics, and ideologies. And it is from this surge of creative energy that India now propels itself onto the global stage at Cannes 2025, not as a participant but as a cultural force.
WAVES 2025 will position India as a global trendsetter in the creative economy. It is a think tank in motion, a summit that has effectively blurred the lines between storytelling, policy, innovation, and diplomacy. The transition from WAVES to Cannes will not be just geographical, thematic, multisectoral and collaborative; it will reflect India's emergence as a cinema powerhouse from the Global South that is not merely seeking inclusion, but actively leading the narrative. India's participation at Cannes 2025, catalysed by WAVES, is no longer reactive; it is curated, strategic, and deeply layered. What WAVES gives to Cannes is a model, a blueprint, for how nations can shape cultural conversations through integrated platforms that blend creativity with diplomacy, commerce with culture, and identity with innovation. WAVES has taken cinema beyond entertainment, towards engagement. It has underscored cinema's geopolitical currency: a medium that breaks barriers, bridges divides, and brings the world into one cinematic dialogue.
Cannes may be the world's most prestigious film festival, but WAVES offers it a lesson in relevance and renewal. While Cannes continues to honour auteur cinema and Western-dominant perspectives, WAVES reflects a multipolar cinema order; one where the Global South doesn't ask for a seat at the table; it builds its own and invites the world in.
From the 5Cs of cinema-Collaboration, Cooperation, Cohesion, Coordination, Convergence-WAVES has offered a scalable template for international co-creation. Its inclusive programming, emphasis on emerging creators, focus on sustainable storytelling, and push for gender, language, and regional parity is something even Cannes can learn from. WAVES also embraces new media, virtual production, AI-enabled storytelling, and immersive formats, acknowledging the tectonic shifts in how content is consumed and valued.
India's presence at Cannes 2025 will be incomplete without highlighting the pivotal role of the Bharat Pavilion. More than an exhibition space, it is a symbol of cultural diplomacy and economic opportunity. In 2025, it stands reimagined, not just as a hub of Indian cinema but as a confluence of creators, entrepreneurs, investors, and storytellers. This year, the Bharat Pavilion can deepen its impact by showcasing India's booming creator economy; from indie filmmakers and animators to OTT storytellers, music producers, and tech innovators. The Pavilion can serve as a dynamic ecosystem, a storytelling sandbox where deals are inked, stories pitched, and collaborations born. It can also be the gateway to regional Indian cinema, which is now gaining traction globally with its hyperlocal yet universal narratives. Think Malayalam neorealism, Marathi social thrillers, Telugu spectacles, and Tamil techno-fantasies; all part of the same rich mosaic.
We live in an age of multipolarity, where geopolitical narratives are being reshaped by cultural influencers. Cinema has become a central instrument of this shift; spreading messages of solidarity, resilience, climate awareness, equity, and innovation. India, through WAVES and Cannes, will now position its cinema and M&E Sector not merely as a reflection of its society but as a strategic instrument of statecraft, capable of influencing global opinion, shaping policy, and strengthening international alliances.
WAVES 2025 will remind the global community that the future of cinema lies not in a megaphone but in a mosaic. Not in projecting a singular voice, but in curating a chorus of perspectives. As the world navigates climate crises, social transformations, digital divides, and identity negotiations, cinema must remain both a mirror and a map. From India's robust storytelling ecosystem, the decentralisation of narratives, and the celebration of linguistic diversity to the interweaving of tradition and futurism, there are fresh frameworks that Cannes can adopt to stay relevant in a rapidly evolving global discourse.
India's journey from WAVES to Cannes 2025 is not just a leap of faith; it is a strategic sprint powered by vision, voice, and value. It is cinema-as-diplomacy, cinema-as-innovation, and cinema-as-identity all converging at the global summit of storytelling. If Cannes continues to be the lighthouse of cinema, India is the rising constellation; its light unmistakable, its stories unforgettable, and its ambition unstoppable. In this new cinematic cartography, WAVES is the compass and Cannes is the mapmaker. Together, they can redraw the borders of global storytelling.
The writer is a Former Civil Servant who writes on cinema and strategic communication (With inputs from Zoya Ahmad and Vaishnavie Srinivasan). Views expressed are personal
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.