SHATRUGHAN Patra, an independent filmmaker from Bhubaneshwar, Odisha, was searching for an opportunity to present his film idea to big production firms of the world and India for the last many months. But he failed to get appointments from such firms as they hardly entertain such small producers here in our country. The Government of India announced the WAVES Bazar, the flagship event of World Audio Visual and Entertainment Summit 2025 (WAVES 2025) a few months ago. The announcement was like a dream come true for Patra as he got a chance to share his ideas before such big companies under WAVES Bazar. WAVES 2025, which is a brain child of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, gave the first ever opportunity to such small film producers of the country to meet with big firms and do Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with them. WAVES Bazaar is the revolutionary global market initiative of the Summit, which has emerged as a powerful platform for international collaboration in the media and entertainment industry. Designed to connect creators with investors, buyers, and collaborators across borders, WAVES Bazaar is poised to transform India into a strategic hub for content commerce.

 

WAVES Bazar received tremendous response from such content creators all over the country and the response in the very first edition of WAVES 2025, encouraged the Government to host this event a mega level next year, claimed Ashwini Vaishnav, Union Minister of Information and Broadcasting during a press briefing on Friday. The Bazaar garners over Rs 800 Crore in Deals and Unveils Major International Alliances, informed Sanjay Jaju, Secretary, I&B at WAVES in Mumbai today. In its inaugural edition, WAVES Bazaar brought together leading players from over 22 countries— including South Korea, Japan, USA, Germany, Russia, Netherlands, and New Zealand—andfeaturedparticipation from 95 global buyers and 224 sellers.

 

Key buyers included Netflix, Amazon PrimeVideo,Meta,DisneyStar, Zee Entertainment, Banijay Asia, Warner Bros. Discovery, Sony LIV, YRF, Dharma, Jio Studios, Rotterdam Film Festival, and Rushlake Media. 115 filmmakers presented theircompletedworkstointernational buyers, and ShatrughanPatraofOdishawas also among such sellers. “It takes months to arrange meetings with such big giants in the industry.But I am glad that the Government ofIndia provided us this platform to meet these companies here in WAVES Bazar,” claimed Patra while interacting with The Hitavada at the Jio World Convention CentreinMumbaionSaturday. 15 standout projects were selected as Top Selects from the Viewing Room and showcased live during the event. From104projectsubmissions, 16curatedprojectswereselected to pitch live, offering earlystage creators a platform to engage directly with industry stakeholders in the over 2 days of WAVES Bazaar.

 

WAVES Bazaar launched India’sfirstdedicatedB2Bbuyer-seller meetings in association with FICCI (Federation of IndianChambersofCommerce and Industry), held from May 1–3, enabling targeted dealmaking and creative business development. Khidki Gaon, a Top Selects film, secured a post-productionandVFXdealwiththeAsian Cinema Fund. The Asian Cinema Fund (ACF) is a support programme of the Busan InternationalFilmFestivalthat provides funding for Asian films, including both fiction and documentary projects. During this WAVES Bazar, BroadvisionPerspectivesIndia and Fabrique d’Images Group ofEuropeannounceda 30million co-production agreement for four animated features. Eachtitle,budgetedat 7–8million, will be developed under Indo-FrenchandIndo-Belgian treaty frameworks