Event Coverage
Strong Indian presence at Mipcom
CANNES: Things are looking up at Mipcom for Indian broadcasters, production and animation companies this year. At least if one goes by the strong presence of from Indian participants with companies such as Sony Entertainment, Star, WEG India, Land Marvel Animation choosing to take up stands.
While the Star stand is a standout in terms of size and design, the Sony stand is more compact. Sony is looking for buyers for its library of programmes right from Aayushman to its movies like Devdas while, Star has also put up its entire programme portfolio on offer.
Star‘s men (or rather women and men) in the Palais are creative head Shailaja Kejriwal (who we hear is looking for the next blockbuster for Star) and Rajesh Kamath who is negotiating pricing with wannabe buyers for the Star movie and programme library.
Sony is represented in the Palais by Sunil Lulla and Tarun Katial (both are buying aggressively we are told), while UK-based international sales head Neeraj Arora is leading the sales initiative. WEG India, a veteran at the markets, is hawking its movie library while Land Marvel a provider of special effects to the south Indian film industry is looking at getting animation projects. Land Marvel is represented by chairman and CEO M Veerashekar, V Vetrivell, and Samir Bose.Zee TV has come out in strength with Gagan Goel, Ajay Trigunayat and Sunil Khanna beating the Palais‘ floors. NDTV is also putting in a lot of muscle behind MipCom and is represented by Niraj Dutt, Avinash Kaul, and journalist I M Bajpai.
This apart, one came across Biren Ghose, Moi from UTV (Ronnie Screwavala is landing here on Friday), Delhi-based igrafix‘s CEO Gagan Gandhi, Toonz Animation India CEO P Jayakumar, GreenGold Animation‘s Rajiv Chilakalapudi, Escootoonz‘s Prafull Gade, Discovery India‘s programming head Pankaj Saxsena. (Is Discovery India finally going to get a healthy budget for programming?)
Clearly, the mood at the market is buoyant. As Star India‘s Kamath says, “We believe there is a lot of potential and we are exploring it at this market.” Adds Lulla, “It‘s a good market and we have been very busy.”
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.
