WAVES 2025: What I Missed and What I Didn't

I didn't attend my way through the World Audio Visual Entertainment Summit WAVES 2025, a conference organized through the Union ministry of information and broadcasting (I&B) as well as the Maharashtra government in Mumbai this week. It wasn't because I didn't want to be however, the crowds are starting to make me feel uncomfortable in ways that I did not expect. One reason may be due to post-pandemic rewiring: spaces that used to feel energized now feel like a shackle.

As I watched the very first waves entertainment summit edition of this four-day conference that connects to the Indian music and film industry to the world's top players in the field, at the Jio World Convention Centre in BKC the event was reverberating across my feed as well as in WhatsApp chats, enough to make me alternating between calm relief and a snarling fear.

Then came the FOMO, the professional waves 2025 summit type. I was reading about a remarkable mix of public policy experts from all over the entertainment and media industry. A large number of them gathered in a dialogue with officials from the I&B ministry as well as the Maharashtra government and to discuss policies they're struggling with.

The discussion among Instagram director Adam Mosseri and actor Shraddha Kapoor about trends and virality as well as how Gen Z consumes content on Day 2 was extensively discussed as being a bit off from expectations. A participant remarked that it felt like a mismatched collab with an influencer. Another participant shared a story of the young creator, full of with zeal, who managed to pursue Mosseri between waves Mumbai summit sessions, and even squeeze in a brief interview, while asking specific questions about the creation of content and Instagram's newest "Edit" application.

A small number of attendees spoke highly of Aamir Khan's masterclass in how to act on day 3 by calling it transparent, absorbing and insightful.