From India to World: WAVES Bazaar sparks major global entertainment alliances
Organised under the umbrella of the World Audio Visual and Entertainment Summit (WAVES), the marketplace recorded business transactions exceeding Rs 800 crore across the Film, Music, Radio, VFX, and Animation sectors. With deal-making still underway, the total valuation is projected to surpass Rs 1000 crore in a few days.
According to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, a key highlight of the Bazaar was the Buyer-Seller Market which witnessed over 3,000 B2B meetings, generating revenue upwards of Rs 500 crore, with additional deals expected to close in the coming days.
Curated screenings of films at the 80-seat venue drew enthusiastic responses and appreciation for the selected films.
The Bazaar also helped emerging creators pitch their IPs to a global network of buyers and collaborators, generating significant interest and fostering new partnerships.
In a major achievement in international collaborations between India and New Zealand, Film India Screen Collective and Screen Canterbury NZ, led by Petrina D'Rozario, announced a collaborative proposal, inspired by WAVES, to launch the first-ever Indian Film Festival in New Zealand, aimed at deepening tourism, cultural exchange and co-production ties between the two countries, the ministry said.
Paving the wave for an India-Russia collaboration, Only Much Louder (OML) CEO Tushar Kumar and Gazprom Media CEO Alexander Zharov have begun early talks on a potential Memorandum of Understanding to collaborate on cross-cultural festivals and co-produce comedy and music shows in Russia and India, it stated.
The announcement of the Prime Video and CJ ENM Multi-Year Collaboration was a key highlight of the Bazaar as the strategic partnership was unveiled to distribute premium Korean content globally.
With its launch expected in June 2025 with Head Over Heels, the deal includes streaming in over 240 countries, featuring 28 subtitle languages and 11 dubbed versions. The initiative highlights Asia's growing creative presence on global streaming platforms, the ministry stated.
Another initiative that added value to the Bazaar was the announcement of the film Devi Chowdhurani, which became India's first official Indo-UK co-production. Backed by the Ministry of I&B, NFDC, FFO, and Invest India, the a pre-teaser of the film was unveiled at the Bazaar. The historical epic, set during the Sanyasi-Fakir rebellion, stars Prosenjit Chatterjee and Srabanti Chatterjee, with music by Pandit Bickram Ghosh, it added.
The announcement of the launch of the feature film Violated was another initiative that vindicated the purpose of WAVES Bazaar. A bold psychological thriller, Violated marks the directorial debut of Dimple Dugar. Celebrated for its strong female-led narrative, the film is co-produced by Fusion Flicks from the UK and JVD Films, signalling Dugar's transition from commercial to feature filmmaking.
With its impactful debut, WAVES Bazaar has not only positioned itself as a global hub for creative collaboration but also set the stage for a new era of cross-border storytelling and industry transformation. (ANI)
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
&w=3840&q=100)
Business Standard
10 minutes ago
- Business Standard
Higher sales realisation, volume growth boost cement firms' earnings in Q1
Driven by increased government spending on key infrastructure projects, leading cement manufacturers reported a solid performance in the June quarter with a double-digit volume growth and higher sales realisation. Cement makers expect the trend of an overall improvement to continue in FY26. Moreover, lower input costs, such as a decline in coal and petcoke prices, along with stable diesel costs, also helped in improvement on Ebitda terms, which faced a rough patch in FY25. Leading cement maker UltraTech Cement reported a volume growth of 9.7 per cent to 36.83 million tonnes (MT), helped by acquisitions of India Cements and the cement business of Kesoram Industries. Similarly, Adani Group firm Ambuja Cements also reported its highest-ever cement sales volume of 18.4 MT and its highest-ever quarterly revenue at Rs 10,000 crore. Sales volume of Birla Corporation rose 9.36 per cent to 4.79 MT, and Nirma Group firm Nuvoco Vistas Corp reported a sales volume of 5.1 MMT in Q1. JK Lakshmi Cement's sales volume increased nearly 10 per cent. However, some companies, like Shree Cement, saw their volumes decline due to geopolitical tensions in the northern region. Dalmia Bharat's sales volume fell 5.8 per cent to 7.4 MT, impacted by the discontinuation of tolling volumes from Jaypee, while Ramco Cements reported a 7 per cent decline due to early monsoon rains in Kerala. In the earnings conference call, Ambuja Cement CEO Vinod Bahety said momentum is built on various factors, including strong value focus, robust volume growth, price improvement and deeper channel engagement. He expected the trend of price improvement and overall volume improvement to continue. UltraTech CFO Atul Daga in the earnings call said: "The government capex programme has shown a marked improvement in the first two months of this quarter on the low base of April-May 2024. We are seeing rising state government spending. States like Bihar, Andhra, Gujarat, and Maharashtra are doing much better than the other states year-on-year". The industry was also supported by the cement price increase. The all-India average cement price increased by 7 per cent year-on-year in June 2025 to Rs 355 per 50 kg bag. "In Q1 FY2026, the prices were up 7 per cent year-on-year at Rs 360/bag on account of price hikes undertaken by cement companies amid healthy demand. In FY2025, cement prices declined by 7 per cent year-on-year to Rs 340/bag," according to an Icra report. Moreover, in July, coal prices declined by 21 per cent year-on-year to USD 103/MT, and petcoke prices fell 3 per cent year-on-year to Rs 10,860/MT. "In 4M FY2026, the prices of coal were lower by 10 per cent year-on-year, while petcoke and diesel prices were stable on a year-on-year basis," Icra said, expecting the margins likely to "improve by 80-150 bps to 16.3-17.0 in FY2026 due to expected hike in cement prices and stable input costs". In the near term, the demand is expected to be flat due to the monsoon in the second quarter. However, companies are assured of growth after that, and aim to achieve a growth of around 7 per cent in FY26. "The cement demand grew by almost 4 per cent year-on-year in the first quarter of FY26, driven by Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, Pradhan Mantri Sadak Yojana, Bharat Mala, Sagar Mala and other INSA projects, and we remain bullish for this financial year. We are upping our demand estimate by 1 per cent from earlier 6-7 per cent to now 7-8 per cent," said Bahety. Dalmia Bharat MD and CEO Puneet Dalmia, in the earnings conference call, said: "Even with the early onset of monsoon, the spot prices of cement are holding up and are almost at a similar level to the Q1 average cement prices. We remain reasonably optimistic that these prices will hold".
Economic Times
10 minutes ago
- Economic Times
She earned Rs 10 a day; her son rakes in Rs 2 crore per year, owns 13 homes. Man's rags-to-riches story goes viral
Synopsis Losing his father early, he faced immense poverty, working tirelessly to support his family. After completing his engineering, he moved to the US, building a fortune and fulfilling his dream of providing his mother a dignified life. Agencies From ₹40 a Day to 13 Homes: A Man's Extraordinary Journey of Grit Once, his family struggled to earn Rs 40 per day. Today, he is the proud owner of 13 luxurious homes in India. Taking to the subreddit Indian Flex, a man shared his inspiring rags-to-riches story. The story begins in the shadow of immense poverty. The narrator lost his father as an infant in 1985, leaving his mother as the sole provider. She toiled endlessly in agricultural fields during the early 1990s, often earning as little as ten to thirty rupees a day. Their home was a fragile structure where rainwater frequently flooded the kitchen, and nights were filled with tears of despair from both his mother and grandmother. Life was a constant reminder of scarcity—no gold, no proper clothing, and food that barely filled their 1991, the lack of financial stability also robbed the family of social respect. The struggle to survive meant that every family member, including the narrator as a child, had to contribute to daily earnings. In 1993, they could only make twenty to forty rupees per day combined, a meager sum that forced the young boy to shoulder responsibility beyond his years. Despite his young age, he worked through every summer holiday to afford basic necessities like notebooks. His first job in 1994 paid him nine rupees per day, followed by another in 1995 where he earned twelve rupees. By 1996, he took up backbreaking labor as a load man for twenty-eight rupees a day. While his peers enjoyed summer breaks with movies, bicycles, and family outings, he sacrificed leisure to fund his dressed in one set of clothes for the entire school year and living without luxuries like radios, fans, or even a bicycle, he remained academically brilliant. He topped his class in 1998 and again secured the first rank in Grade 12 in 2000. These achievements reflected both his intelligence and 1997, a blow came when his maternal grandparents chose to give away their land to his uncles rather than his mother. Despite these setbacks, he aspired to join the Indian Administrative Service or become an IPS officer. However, by 2003, after experiencing unfulfilled love and facing the realities of financial limitations, he gave up personal happiness and focused solely on one goal—buying a house for his 2004, he was weighed down by debt of nearly a lakh and still had no property of his own. But the following year brought a turning point. He completed his engineering degree in 2005 and secured a placement in a multinational corporation. In 2006, he moved to the United States, opening the doors to new of persistence paid off in extraordinary ways. By 2025, he had built a remarkable portfolio: four fully paid apartments in the US, a nine-crore luxury home with most of the loan already cleared, and thirteen properties in India that included apartments across metros and smaller cities, a villa, and several residential units. He also purchased six valuable land plots and two farmhouses and invested heavily in real estate instead of keeping money idle in material success extended to luxury cars, including a sports car worth one crore. With a combined annual income of $250,000 to $300,000 alongside his wife, he achieved the kind of lifestyle once unimaginable in his him, true wealth was not personal indulgence but fulfilling his lifelong promise to his mother. He built a villa in her name, showered her with gold, and ensured she lived the life of dignity she once lacked. Every house, plot, and investment was dedicated to giving her comfort. Unfortunately, she passed away three years ago due to medical negligence, leaving him devastated. He spent two years drowning in grief and alcohol before finding the strength to move forward today, success is bittersweet. He admits to breaking down when he sits before a table filled with food, remembering the hunger of his childhood. Driving his luxury cars sometimes brings tears as he recalls the sacrifices of his parents and grandparents. The scars of poverty, though hidden behind wealth, remain etched in his story stands as proof that persistence and sacrifice lead to transformation. He emphasizes that dreams cannot be realized overnight; they require years of commitment and relentless effort. Though he gave up youthful joys, relationships, and happiness, he achieved his ultimate goal—offering his family, especially his mother, a life of respect and abundance. Today, he passes this lesson on to his children, reminding them that with unwavering determination, even the harshest beginnings can be rewritten into a life of triumph.
India.com
10 minutes ago
- India.com
Saif Ali Khan was dropped from THIS Shah Rukh Khan's blockbuster, later it broke all records, film was…
Saif Ali Khan was dropped from THIS Shah Rukh Khan's blockbuster, later it broke all records, film was… In the glitzy and glamorous world of Bollywood, we often witness the on-screen chemistry and story of a film. However, what happens behind the surface when the curtain falls is a lot more than what meets the eye. One such behind-the-scenes tale is of a film whose off-screen story was more dramatic than the film itself. The film that we are talking about is none other than Sanjay Leela Bhansali's magnum opus, Devdas . Released in the year 2002, this film created history at the box office. It was acclaimed both commercially and critically. This film featured Shah Rukh Khan, Aishwarya Rai, Madhuri Dixit, and Jackie Shroff. It was not just a film; it was a visual masterpiece. But not many know that it was Saif Ali Khan who was originally considered for the role of Chunnilal , and Kareena Kapoor, too, had a bitter fallout with Bhansali during this period. Why did Saif Ali Khan drop out of Devdas? Initially, filmmaker Bhansali had Shah Rukh in mind as Devdas and Saif Ali Khan for the supporting role of Chunnilal . But due to some creative and financial misunderstanding, Saif was dropped. Years after its release, in 2001, Saif Ali Khan revealed in an interview that it wasn't him who rejected the role, rather the confusion over payments that led him out of the film. According to him, he didn't even consider himself a perfect fit for Chunnilal , believing his personality did not align with the character. Eventually, the role went to Jackie Shroff, who won appreciation for his portrayal. Kareena Kapoor's clash with Sanjay Leela Bhansali Speaking of Kareena Kapoor, she also had a clash with Sanjay. She once revealed that she was called for a screen test for Paro's role and even received an advance payment. But later, Bhansali chose Aishwarya Rai instead. At that time, Kareena had just ventured into the world of acting, and this incident really hurt her deeply. She decided never to work with Bhansali again, claiming that he had caused her emotional pain. Bhansali, however, defended himself by saying that a screen test does not guarantee a role, as casting decisions often change after multiple evaluations. This disagreement marked the beginning of a sour relationship between the two, which continues to this day. However, despite all the ups and downs, the casting changes, and the controversies, Devdas turned out to be one of the most expensive films of its time, with a budget of around INR 44 crore. The film collected Rs 99.87 crore at the box office. From its extravagant production, soulful music, and impeccable performance of actors, this film became a cultural phenomenon that resonates even today, two decades after its release.
