New Delhi: Reliance Industries Chairman and Managing Director Mukesh Ambani on 1 May set an ambitious vision for India’s role in the global media and entertainment landscape, declaring the country not just as a nation but a “civilisation of stories” at the inaugural session of WAVES 2025, a global media and entertainment summit in Mumbai.
In his keynote address, “Building the Next Global Entertainment Revolution from India,” Ambani painted a vivid picture of India’s storytelling legacy, linking it to the future of global entertainment.
Referencing Mark Twain’s famed tribute to India as the “cradle of the human race,” Ambani said storytelling is woven into the country’s cultural DNA, from epics to mythological narratives, and remains a powerful force in the digital age. “Content is king and good stories always sell,” he asserted.
Calling WAVES 2025 a milestone moment, Ambani credited Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision for positioning India at the centre of a global entertainment shift. “People say Media & Entertainment is India’s soft power–I call it India’s real power,” he noted, underlining the country’s growing influence on global creativity.
He spotlighted two transformative forces reshaping the industry: the shifting geo-economic balance toward the Global South and rapid technological evolution.
With the Global South representing 85 per cent of the world’s population, Ambani emphasised its emerging role in both content creation and consumption.
Simultaneously, he called artificial intelligence a game changer for entertainment, more revolutionary than the advent of the silent camera was for cinema. “AI is dissolving the boundaries between imagination and execution,” he said.
Ambani highlighted three pillars positioning India to lead the next entertainment revolution–compelling content, a youthful and aspirational demographic, and technological advancement. He described India’s digital transformation as more than just a matter of scale, calling it a story of “aspiration, ambition, and transformation.”
Ending on a note of optimism, Ambani urged the global community to look to India for connection and joy in challenging times. “Let WAVES be the message of hope from a resurgent new India to the world,” he concluded.
