The content hub x VAM summit 2026 unveils stellar creative line-up

MUMBAI: The lines between traditional storytelling and bleeding-edge technology have all but dissolved in Indian entertainment. To navigate this transformation, Indian Television Dot Com has unveiled the first wave of visionaries set to headline The Content Hub x VAM (VFX and More) Summit and Awards 2026. The gathering convenes on May 14 and 15 at NESCO Exhibition Centre, Goregaon, Mumbai, promising two days of insight, innovation and storytelling excellence across film, OTT, television, animation and reality formats.

The summit will feature over 150 experts across broadcasting, OTT, direction, cinematography, VFX and technology, with an expected turnout of 2,000 attendees, positioning it among the country’s largest gatherings of content professionals.

The visionaries

Leading the line-up is cinematographer Ayananka Bose, one of India’s most celebrated lensmen and the visual force behind high-octane productions including Kick, the atmospheric thriller Freddy and the sleek Kaabil. Renowned for his high-gloss aesthetic and mastery of light, Bose will share his insights on visual storytelling and the craft of premium cinematic storytelling.

National Award-winning actor Divya Dutta brings the weight of a career spanning more than 100 films. Recognised for landmark performances in Bhaag Milkha Bhaag and Veer-Zaara, she most recently earned widespread acclaim for her lead role in the hard-hitting OTT series Chiraiya, in which she tackled complex social themes with characteristic intensity.

OTT pioneer Karan Anshuman represents the Indian digital revolution as few others can. The creator of Inside Edge, India’s first International Emmy-nominated streaming series, he is also the creative force behind the cultural phenomenon Mirzapur and the gritty action-drama Rana Naidu. His session is set to unpack the craft and business logic of building franchises in the streaming age.

Director Karan Singh Tyagi arrives at the summit on the back of significant critical recognition. His historical courtroom drama Kesari Chapter 2: The Untold Story of Jallianwala Bagh earned him the best debut director award at IFFI 2025 for its meticulous reconstruction of a defining moment in Indian history.

Producer and filmmaker Kartik D Nishandar, known for Taali and Amar Vishwas, brings a valuable cross-regional perspective to the proceedings. Joining him is Manu Anand, traditionally celebrated for his cinematography on Dangal and Fan, who is now at the frontier of a technological shift. His current project, Krishna, unveiled at NAB 2026, employs a fully AI-native production pipeline, marking a bold new chapter for Indian VFX and world-building.

Acclaimed director and showrunner Nitya Mehra, the creative mind behind Prime Video’s Made in Heaven, recently deepened her footprint in women-centric storytelling with the boarding-school drama Big Girls Don’t Cry. Her session will add a powerful voice on contemporary narrative and the evolving grammar of female-led stories.

Rangita Pritish Nandy, creator of the Emmy-nominated global hit Four More Shots Please and the 2025 Netflix series The Royals, which won best web series honours in 2026, represents the premium streaming space with considerable force. Siddhartha Jayakar rounds out a diverse and formidable creative roster.

Veteran director Ravindra Gautam, who transitioned from television to premium OTT with Maharani Season 2, will share his expertise in complex, multi-layered political drama and long-form storytelling.

Siddharth P Malhotra, founder of Alchemy Films, has built a reputation for human-interest stories that bridge commercial appeal and emotional resonance. The director of Hichki and the 2024 historical epic Maharaj is expected to explore what it takes to make films that connect as much with the heart as with the box office.

Animation and VFX specialist Subodh Khanolkar has been instrumental in scaling India’s technical capabilities, helping domestic animation compete on the global stage. National Award-winning filmmaker Satyanshu Singh, celebrated for Chintu Ka Birthday and currently at work on the highly anticipated series Black Warrant, brings the perspective of a writer-director widely regarded as one of the industry’s most valued mentors.

Director Sharan Sharma, known for the critically acclaimed Gunjan Saxena: The Kargil Girl and the 2024 sports-drama Mr. and Mrs. Mahi, will discuss the craft of inspirational storytelling and the nuanced character work that defines his films. Prolific writer-director Suparn Verma, a key architect of the Indian spy-verse through his work on The Family Man and as showrunner of Rana Naidu, adds yet another layer of streaming expertise to the line-up.

The non-fiction contingent

The summit gives equal prominence to the non-fiction world. Vankush Arora, writer and creative architect behind Laughter Chefs, will illuminate the evolving grammar of Indian television comedy and reality formats. Vinod V Thazavana, a seasoned veteran of large-scale unscripted production with marquee shows including MasterChef India, Super Dancer and Dance India Dance to his name, will speak to the logistics and storytelling demands of big-ticket reality television.

The partners

The summit is co-powered by SideFX, the Canadian developer of Houdini and the undisputed global leader in procedural 3D animation whose software powers studios from Pixar to Marvel, and Tathastu Techno Solutions, a premier Indian technology powerhouse specialising in high-end infrastructure and workflow solutions for the media and entertainment sector. Adobe, whose Creative Cloud suite anchored by Premiere Pro and After Effects is the backbone of India’s post-production industry, joins as gold partner.

Associate partners ARK Infosolutions, India’s leading distributor of specialised animation and broadcast technology, Autodesk, maker of the industry-standard Maya and 3ds Max, and Foundry, whose compositing software Nuke is the global benchmark for blending CGI with live-action footage, complete the technical backbone of the summit.

On the industry partner front, NY VFXwaala, the National Award-winning studio co-founded by Ajay Devgn, and Phantom FX, the publicly listed VFX giant behind RRR and Beast that recently acquired a majority stake in the Oscar-winning Hollywood studio Tippett, represent the best of Indian visual effects. Dashverse brings AI-driven content solutions to the mix, while OTT platforms Aha, Hoichoi and Chana Jor represent the breadth of India’s regional and niche streaming boom. Famous Studios, a Mumbai institution reinvented as a virtual production and Dolby Atmos hub, XP-Pen, the global leader in graphics tablets, and DiskArchive, a UK-based specialist in high-security film data archiving, round out the partner ecosystem.

As India’s media landscape evolves at pace and competition for audience attention intensifies, The Content Hub x VAM Summit 2026 is positioned as the essential meeting ground for the decision-makers, storytellers and technologists shaping what Indian content looks like next.

For more information, visit: https://event.animationxpress.com/vam/ and https://www.thecontenthub.in/

To register for VAM Summit & The Content Hub: https://event.animationxpress.com/vam_summit_2026/index.php