WAVES 2025 In Mumbai: Take A Look At Key Highlights In Photos

WAVES 2025 began at Jio World Centre, Mumbai, on May 1. PM Narendra Modi inaugurated the event and while addressing the audience, he emphasised the potential of Indian content to drive an economic renaissance

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On Day 1, Chairman and MD of Reliance Industries, Mukesh Ambani, said, "Let WAVES be the message of hope from a resurgent new India to the world"

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On the second day, Nita Ambani, Founder and Chairperson of Reliance Foundation, delivered an inspirational speech on "Taking Indian Culture to the World"

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Nita Ambani said, "Let our Amar Chitra Kathas be the next Harry Potters. Let our epics - Ramayana and Mahabharata - light up the silver screens of the world. Let our stories inspire generations to come ... because culture is not just a reflection of who we are. It is, in fact, a powerful tool to shape who we become"

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Kareena Kapoor Khan, speaking at the 'Cinema: The Soft Power' panel alongside Vijay Deverakonda, encouraged everyone to watch Jab We Met, adding that every girl should aspire to be like Geet — a character who loves herself and proudly declares, "Main apni favourite hoon"

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Vijay Deverakonda criticised Western imperialism for creating a hegemony around the English language, stating that speaking English is a significant soft power victory for the West. He pointed out that colonisers ensured people adopted their language. He added, "If I do a film and Brad Pitt does a film, he will get paid 100x more than I, because more people watch in his language. Which is not my fault but the fault."

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Shraddha Kapoor took centre stage for a conversation with Adam Mosseri, Head of Instagram (Meta), and began the session by serving him Puran Poli. She said, "I know you’ve been eating at fancy places, and you were trying Indian food. I want you to try this Maharashtrian dessert, which is called Puran Poli. It is made at my home."

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Shraddha shared, “I consider myself a meme addict. I am constantly sharing memes with my friends and family—we even send them on WhatsApp like, 'Oh, look at this meme, it’s so funny!' Sometimes, maybe take some inspiration and spin a caption around it"

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Producer Guneet Monga, who won the 2023 Academy Award for the documentary short film The Elephant Whisperers, attended the session titled Breaking New Ground: The Evolution of Storytelling in a Digital Era at WAVES 2025 in Mumbai

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Producer Siddharth Roy Kapur, husband of actress Vidya Balan and founder of Roy Kapur Films, was also present alongside Guneet Monga at the session Breaking New Ground: The Evolution of Storytelling in a Digital Era

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Actor Aamir Khan voiced his concerns about insufficient number of movie theatres in India during a panel discussion titled "Studios of the Future: Putting India on World Studio Map"

Superstar Shah Rukh Khan, along with Deepika Padukone, attended a session titled The Journey: From Outsider to Ruler at WAVES on the first day

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Akshay Kumar moderated a panel discussion at WAVES, featuring icons from across Indian cinema - Mohanlal, Chiranjeevi, Mithun Chakraborty, Hema Malini and Rajinikanth