Prime Minister Narendra Modi held the first World Visual and Entertainment Summit (WAVES) in Mumbai on Thursday, marking India’s journey to become a global leader in creativity, media and entertainment, an important milestone for India. In his speech, Modi emphasized that the summit will serve as a platform for promoting a global ecosystem of talent and creativity, aiming to position India as an innovative shock in the entertainment industry.
He said the current era’s initiative to “create, create the world in India” has matured, noting that as the world is looking for new ways to tell stories, India has many unmoved stories. The Prime Minister stressed that technology plays an increasingly important role in shaping people’s lives and stressed the need to maintain human sensitivity in rapid technological advancements. “Humans should not be turned into robots. We need to make them more sensitive,” he said, highlighting the importance of keeping human touch in the digital age.
As debates on controversial online content intensify, the Supreme Court seeks a government response, Modi urges to take protective measures to protect the younger generation from harmful ideologies. He added: “We must protect the younger generation from anti-human thinking.”
Modi further praised India’s potential in the entertainment industry, saying, “India is a land of more than a billion people, and it is also a land of more than a billion stories.” He expressed confidence that Indian food (“Khana”) in Indian music (“Gaana”) will soon gain global popularity. He also noted that while screen sizes may be shrinking, the impact of Indian stories has grown exponentially, calling it a “giant message” that it will resonate globally. “Even if the screen size is getting smaller, the range becomes infinite.”
The Wave Summit is designed to unite creators, industry leaders, startups and decision makers around the world to provide a platform to foster collaboration and innovation. Modi stressed that the summit is not only an acronym, but also a wave of culture, creativity and storytelling covering various departments such as film, music, games and fashion.
The emergence of India as an international hub for film production, digital content, games, music and live concerts is the focus of the summit, which is expected to further promote India’s role as a global leader in the creative industry. The event promises to provide an arena for international talent to explore India’s rich cultural heritage and creativity, which makes waves a moment of change for the country’s entertainment sector.
