'WAVES Bazaar' garners over Rs 250 crore, unveils major global alliances

Mumbai, May 3 (IANS) ‘WAVES Bazaar’, the flagship global market initiative of the ‘WAVES 2025’ Summit here, has garnered over Rs 250 crore in deals and unveiled major international alliances, the government has informed.

The event recorded confirmed transactions worth Ts 250 crore across film, music, animation, radio, and VFX sectors within the first day and a half of the market. This figure is expected to cross more than Rs 400 crore.

‘WAVES Bazaar’ emerged as a powerful catalyst for international collaboration in the media and entertainment industry.

Designed to connect creators with investors, buyers, and collaborators across borders, it is poised to transform India into a strategic hub for content commerce, said Sanjay Jaju, Secretary, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.

In its inaugural edition, WAVES Bazaar brought together leading players from over 22 countries — including South Korea, Japan, the US, Germany, Russia, Netherlands, and New Zealand.

It featured participation from 95 global buyers and 224 sellers. Key buyers included Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Meta, Disney Star, Zee Entertainment, Banijay Asia, Warner Bros. Discovery, Sony LIV, YRF, Dharma, Jio Studios, Rotterdam Film Festival, and Rushlake Media.

About 115 filmmakers presented completed works to international buyers and 15 standout projects were picked as ‘Top Selects’ from the viewing room and showcased live.

These filmmakers were felicitated by acclaimed casting director Mukesh Chhabra, with actor Tiger Shroff joining to support one of the selected titles.

From 104 project submissions, 16 curated projects were selected to pitch live, offering early-stage creators a platform to engage directly with industry stakeholders in the over two days of ‘Waves Bazaar’, informed the government.

‘WAVES Bazaar’ also launched India’s first dedicated B2B buyer-seller meetings in association with FICCI (Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry), enabling targeted deal-making and creative business development, said the ministry.

—IANS

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