MAM
Mindshare, Wavemaker retain respective titles at EMVIEs, Star India and Vodafone become ‘Clients of the Year’
MUMBAI: The 17th edition of EMVIEs concluded with a fanfare on a Friday evening and saw the best of industry stalwarts and visionaries come together to celebrate the industry’s success.
Mindshare India triumphed with ‘Media agency of the year’ award yet again for the third consecutive year with a total of 265 points. Wavemaker, previously known as Maxus India, continued to retain its position at number two this year as well with its total amounting to 235 points.
Rejoicing on the win, Mindshare India head of content at Devendra Deshpande said, “We feel at top of the world with this win although we were skeptical about winning agency of the year award this year. To propel our growth further, we will continue to use data, technology and creativity together and it will always be based on business challenge and consumer insights.”
Both, Star India and Vodafone India emerged as clients of the year with a grand total of 80 points. Hindustan Unilever Limited, that has been the champion for four consecutive years from 2013-2016, settled at number two position this year with a grand total of 75 and missed the mark with only five points.
The Grand EMVIE for the ‘Best media innovation in Digital Search’ was awarded to Madison Media and Asian Paints for their campaign on Hindi search ads for the first time in India.
Adjudged by a distinguished jury of around 211 industry leaders, EMVIEs saw over 816 entries this year. With over 816 entries, the awards have continued to grow in scale and strength, emerging as the gold standard amongst media awards recognising path-breaking brand campaigns and innovations.
EMVIEs 2017 awards chairman Punitha Arumugam said, “India has been at the forefront of many ingenious campaigns that showcase high effectiveness and the EMVIEs remain committed to recognising such outstanding communication stories.”
The Advertising Club president Vikram Sakhuja said, “We are engaging with some top global content sites to showcase the best of our archives to the world.”
Read the entire EMVIE 2017 Client of the year tally
Digital
Content India 2026 opens with a copro pitch, a spice evangelist and a £10,000 prize for Indian storytelling
Dish TV and C21Media’s three-day summit puts seven ambitious projects before an international jury, and two walk away with serious development money
MUMBAI: India’s content industry gathered in Mumbai this March for Content India 2026, a three-day summit organised by Dish TV in partnership with C21Media, and it wasted no time making a statement. The event opened with a Copro Pitch that put seven scripted and unscripted television concepts before an international panel of judges, and by the end of it, two projects had walked away with £10,000 each in marketing prize money from C21Media to support development and international promotion.
The jury, comprising Frank Spotnitz, Fiona Campbell, Rashmi Bajpai, Bal Samra and Rachel Glaister, evaluated a shortlist that ranged from a dark Mumbai comedy-drama about mental health (Dirty Minds, created by Sundar Aaron) to a Delhi coming-of-age mystery (Djinn Patrol, by Neha Sharma and Kilian Irwin), a techno-thriller about a teenage gaming prodigy (Kanpur X Satori, by Suchita Bhatia), an investigative crime drama blending mythology and modern thriller (The Age of Kali, by Shivani Bhatija), a documentary on India’s spice heritage (The Masala Quest, hosted by Sarina Kamini), a documentary on competitive gaming (Respawn: India’s Esports Revolution, by George Mangala Thomas and Sangram Mawari), and a reality-horror competition merging gaming and immersive fear (Scary Goose, by Samar Iqbal).
The session was hosted by Mayank Shekhar.
The two winners were Djinn Patrol, backed by Miura Kite, formerly of Participant Media and known for Chinatown and Keep Sweet: Pray & Obey, with Jaya Entertainment, producers of Real Kashmir Football Club, also attached; and The Masala Quest, created and hosted by Sarina Kamini, an Indian-Australian cook, author and self-described “spice evangelist.”
The summit also unveiled the Content India Trends Report, whose findings made for bracing reading. Daoud Jackson, senior analyst at OMDIA, set the tone: “By 2030, online video in India will nearly double the revenue of traditional TV, becoming the main driver of growth.” He noted that in 2025, India produced a quarter of all YouTube videos globally, overtaking the United States, while Indians collectively spend 117 years daily on YouTube and 72 years on Instagram. Traditional subscription TV is declining as free TV and connected TV gain ground, forcing broadcasters to innovate. “AI-generated content is just 2 per cent of engagement,” Jackson added, “highlighting the dominance of high-quality human content. The key for Indian media companies is scaling while monetising effectively from day one.”
Hannah Walsh, principal analyst at Ampere Analysis, added hard numbers to the picture. India produced over 24,000 titles in January 2026 alone, with 19,000 available internationally. The country now accounts for 12 per cent of Asia-Pacific content spend, up from 8 per cent in 2021, outpacing both Japan and China. Key exporters include JioStar, Zee Entertainment, Sony India, Amazon and Netflix, delivering over 7,500 Indian-produced titles abroad each year. The top importing markets are Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt, the United States and the Philippines. Scripted content dominates globally at 88 per cent, with crime dramas and children’s and family titles performing particularly strongly.
Manoj Dobhal, chief executive and executive director of Dish TV India, framed the summit’s ambition squarely. “Stories don’t need translation. They need a platform, discovery, and reach, local or global,” he said. “India produces more movies than any country, our streaming platforms compete globally, and our tech and creators win international awards. Yet fragmentation slows growth. Producers, platforms, and tech move in different lanes. We need shared spaces, collaboration, and an ecosystem where ideas, technology, and people meet. That is why we built Content India.”
The data, the pitches and the prize money all pointed to the same conclusion: India is not waiting for the world to discover its stories. It is building the infrastructure to sell them.
