Event Coverage
FICCI Frames 2005 theme is ‘Entertainment – It’s Happening’
MUMBAI: FICCI Frames, the biggest convention in Asia on the business of entertainment, is back and this year the theme is ‘Entertainment – It’s Happening.’
Frames will be held in Mumbai from 4 – 6 April and will have participation from various entertainment conglomerates, IT majors and others players.
Some of the top honchos who will be present are information & broadcasting minister Jaipal Reddy, Motion Pictures of America CEO Daniel Glickman, Zee Telefilms head honcho Subhash Chandra, Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan and N R Narayana Murthy to name a few.
Frames 2005 programme is more focused and sharply defined this year. As in the past Frames, this year will start with an inaugural session followed by sessions focusing on various topics relevant to the entertainment industry.
An interesting session to watch out will be ‘Branded Entertainment’, which will focus on how companies are trying to blend their advertising messages with the brands to have a better brand recall and image.
Another interesting session would be on ‘Unconventional Ways to understand TV viewing behavior’. This session will give some substantial insights into some of the crucial elements of TV viewership.
Apart from that, ‘Marketing of films – First Day First Show’ will also be a promising session and will address some important aspects related to movie marketing.
A session on ‘New Media and Entertainment’ will address issues like how new media and entertainment will be changing the way in which entertainment shall be designed, distributed and delivered with the coming of multiple delivery platforms.
A new addition in the Frames programme, this year is the session on China, which will seek to provide a brief of what’s happening into the second biggest market of entertainment in the world.
With the recent stupendous success of Indian Idol, there is no doubt that format shows have become a success story in India. A session on building successful formats will focus on how to create successful formats.
The elite list of speakers is as follows: WIPO deputy director general Rita Hayes, Paramount Pictures, Los Angeles senior vice president Scott Martin, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Los Angeles executive vice president Hope Boonshaft, EMI Publishing, London senior vice president (Film, TV and Media) Jonathan Channon, Denton Wilde Sapte, London partner and solicitor Nick Fitzpatrick and The Independent Film and Television Alliance (IFTA) vice president (Europe) Lawrence Safir.
The kids’ space has not been ignored too. With the rise in the number of kids channels in India, this session on Kido-logy will address issues like how to create messages for marketing to kids, understanding children psychology, associating brands with kids and the like.
With the government looking for possibilities of having a content regulator sometime this year, a session on content regulation will also be held. With around 300 channels being beamed into India and new media technologies around the corner, the need to keep an eye over the kind of content streamed into Indian household is being felt. The session would address issues like fundamentals of Content Regulation and what has been the experience worldwide? How to maintain a balance between over regulation and redundant regulation?
Frames will also cover mobile entertainment in view of the fact that more and more mobile operators are providing entertainment services on mobile handsets. Hence entertainment is slowly changing to be an anywhere and anytime business. The session will delve on the opportunities for the people in the entertainment space and how mobile will change the way in which entertainment is consumed in future?
Miles to go is the theme of the session on distribution. Distribution is a challenge for any broadcaster. This session will address the problem to resolve the issue of distribution and will also look into the alternative delivery platforms that may be available in future.
Bruce Dunlop Associates will address the session on TV Branding. Apart from that, sessions on animation will focus on issues like script writing for animation, marketing of animated content, co-production a win-win game, and project and schedule management in animation.
Besides this comprehensive agenda will be FICCI Living Legend Award celebration and entertainment on 4 April. Also there will be FICCI BAF awards presentation on 5 April.
The conference will draw to a close with a high powered CEO’s roundtable with some of the leaders in entertainment space sharing their ideas on the topic: What Consumers Want? This will be followed by a special session by Shah Rukh Khan and a valedictory address by N R Naraynamurthy.
Event Coverage
Anime India announces Amazon MX Player as co-presenting partner for Anime India Kolkata 2026
MUMBAI: Riding high on the success of its blockbuster Mumbai debut, Anime India is accelerating its nationwide expansion with the announcement of Amazon MX Player as the co-presenting partner for Anime India Kolkata. The partnership marks a significant step forward in the festival’s mission to deliver large-scale, accessible, and fan-first anime experiences across the country.
Scheduled for 14 and 15 February 2026 at the iconic Biswa Bangla Mela Prangan, Anime India Kolkata will launch the first regional chapter of what is set to be a year-long, multi-city tour. As the curtain-raiser for the 2026 circuit, the Kolkata edition aims to fuse the energy of global Japanese pop culture with India’s fast-growing community of anime, manga, and pop-culture fans.
A household name in digital entertainment, Amazon MX Player brings unmatched reach and cultural relevance to the Anime India platform. With its expanding focus on anime and youth-driven content, Amazon MX Player’s involvement as co-presenting partner reinforces Anime India’s vision of making anime culture more inclusive breaking barriers of language, geography, and accessibility to connect with fans nationwide.
Anime India Kolkata 2026 will showcase cosplay competitions, interactive zones led by the Indian Gunpla Community, India-39 Vocaloid Community, The Japan Curry, and Adda-o-Otaku by The Otaku Guild. Fans can join tournaments across fighting games, Pokémon VGC, and more. Acclaimed Japanese director Susumu Mitsunaka (Haikyu!!) will attend as guest of honour, appearing in panels and live sessions. Positioned as an immersive celebration of fan culture and industry collaboration, the Kolkata edition marks the beginning of Anime India’s nationwide expansion.
Sharing their perspective on the partnership, Amazon MX Player director Aruna Daryanani expressed, “Anime in India has evolved from a niche interest into a mainstream cultural movement, driven by an increasingly engaged and passionate fanbase. At Amazon MX Player, our focus is on expanding access by bringing anime to audiences across the country for free and in multiple local languages. Our association with Anime India reflects our commitment to supporting the growth of anime in India and deepening connections with fans, while continuing to build Amazon MX Player as a trusted destination for free, high-quality entertainment.”
“Anime India Kolkata is a celebration of how anime has grown beyond entertainment into a powerful cultural and creative force. By bringing fans, creators, and industry leaders onto one shared platform, the festival is helping define the future of pop culture in India,” said Anime India co-founder and director Neha Mehta.
The debut edition of Anime India 2025 in Mumbai attracted over 29,000 fans, quickly cementing its status as a landmark celebration of anime and Japanese pop culture. Riding on this overwhelming response, the Kolkata chapter is projected to draw more than 40,000 visitors across two days, positioning it as one of the biggest anime conventions ever held in eastern India.
Anime India is focused on bringing together fans from across the country to create a truly pan-India celebration of anime, manga, cosplay, gaming, and Japanese culture. With plans to expand into four key metropolitan hubs in 2026—east (Kolkata), north (Delhi), west (Mumbai), and south (Hyderabad)—the festival seeks to deliver globally benchmarked experiences while supporting and uplifting creators, artists, and fan communities throughout India.
