The Maharashtra government made a significant economic impact at the inaugural edition of WAVES Bazaar by signing memoranda of understanding (MoUs) worth Rs 8,000 crore, reinforcing the state’s commitment to fostering international collaboration in the creative industries.
Key agreements included Rs 1,500 crore each with the University of York (UK) and the University of Western Australia, aimed at enhancing academic and cultural exchanges. Additionally, the state’s Industries Department finalized MoUs worth Rs 3,000 crore with Prime Focus and Rs 2,000 crore with Godrej, focusing on expanding infrastructure and investment in the media and entertainment sectors.
WAVES Bazaar, held under the broader WAVES platform, recorded total business transactions worth Rs 1,328 crore across film, music, radio, VFX and animation. Of this, Rs 971 crore came directly from over 3,000 business-to-business (B2B) meetings, particularly within the Buyer-Seller Market.
International tie-ups were another highlight. The Film India Screen Collective and New Zealand’s Screen Canterbury NZ announced plans to launch the first-ever Indian Film Festival in New Zealand. Talks are also underway between Only Much Louder and Russia’s Gazprom Media for joint comedy and music productions.
Prime Video’s strategic partnership with Korea’s CJ ENM was also unveiled to bring premium Korean content to global audiences. On the co-production front, Devi Chowdhurani was announced as India’s first official Indo-UK film project, while Violated will be jointly produced by the UK’s Fusion Flicks and India’s JVD Films.