The growing India-UK partnership in the creative sector took centre stage at a special Bharat Parv showcase in London, highlighting opportunities for collaboration across all verticals of the media and entertainment industry.
Organised by the Indian High Commission alongside WAVES Bazaar’s participation at the Focus London conference, the event featured music and dance performances by winners of the Create in India Challenge (CIC), a global initiative under the World Audio Visual and Entertainment Summit (WAVES). Held under the theme “Bharat Parv: Connecting Creators, Connecting Countries,” the showcase celebrated cultural performances from across India.
In a series of posts on X, the Indian High Commission highlighted the presence of WAVES Bazaar and the India Cine Hub at FOCUS 2025, noting that their participation sparked conversations around the future of screen storytelling. The posts described how WAVES Bazaar “lit up London with India’s creative energy”, fostering new connections and collaborations, while the WAVES India Reception brought together industry leaders to celebrate India’s growing influence in global storytelling.
The High Commission highlighted a vibrant India-UK collaboration roundtable, with Deputy High Commissioner Kartik Pande visiting the India and state pavilions showcasing the country as a global filming destination. The engagements reflected the evolution of India–UK ties into a strong, multi-faceted and mutually beneficial partnership.
The momentum builds on the Mumbai summit earlier this year, which saw strong UK participation led by Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy, with WAVES Bazaar travelling to London this week to deepen those connections.
“Culture is the easiest way to find space together”
Indian High Commissioner to the UK, HE Vikram Doraiswami, said the event marked “a taste of what we want to be able to do” in strengthening the cultural and creative pillar of the India-UK partnership. He noted that while the two countries have historically collaborated in education, culture and technology, this relationship has often evolved “by default” rather than through “coherent, organised and planned effort.”
Highlighting India’s growing creative energy, Doraiswami said the challenge lies in the “lack of physical and economic space” for talent to flourish. He emphasised that the UK could bring its “magic sauce”, expertise in talent development, branding and packaging creative industries, creating jobs, new content and global influence for both nations. “Culture is the easiest way to find space together,” he said, adding that initiatives like WAVES aim to provide a platform for deeper collaboration across theatre, music and the wider creative economy.
Shruti Rajkumar, consultant with the National Film Development Corporation (NFDC), presented an overview of WAVES and the India Cine Hub, describing them as key platforms driving innovation, talent development and global collaboration in India’s creative ecosystem. She said WAVES is “a revolutionary online marketplace” designed to bring creators, businesses and buyers together across film, television, music and advertising to enable co-productions. “It’s about creators and businesses finding common ground and collaborating across verticals,” she noted.
Rajkumar highlighted the success of the first WAVES Bazaar held in Mumbai in May, which generated over 10 billion worth of business conversations and facilitated more than 3,300 B2B meetings involving creators from across the world. She also outlined the role of the India Cine Hub as a one-stop platform that streamlines filming in India, from permissions and visas to locations and incentives.
The evening concluded with captivating performances by Sukhman Singh, Sandeep Mohanty and Tanishq Arora, winners of the Wah Ustaad, Create in India Challenge, accompanied by Manjeet Singh Rasiya on tabla and Surjeet Singh Aulakh on sarangi. The cultural showcase celebrated the diversity of India’s artistic heritage, featuring a dynamic jugalbandi followed by classical dance performances, Odissi by Aashvee Dance Academy, Bharatanatyam Tillana by Navya School of Dance, and a spellbinding Sufi Kathak to Amir Khusro’s Chaap Tilak by Arambh Kathak Pathshala.
Earlier in October, speaking at the UK National Day celebrations in New Delhi, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar described 2025 as an exceptional year for India-UK cooperation, noting that ties have evolved into a “dynamic and forward-looking partnership.” He highlighted recent high-level visits, the signing of the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, the adoption of Vision 2035, and welcomed the approval of nine leading UK universities to establish campuses in India, calling it a major step forward in education collaboration.
