Today is Maharashtra's foundation day. Tribute to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and best wishes to all the brothers and sisters of the land on Maharashtra Day!

Today is Gujarat Foundation Day, many congratulations to all Gujarati brothers and sisters across the world on Gujarat Foundation Day.

Present at the Waves Summit Maharashtra Governor C.P. Radhakrishnan Ji, Maharashtra's popular Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis Ji, my colleagues in the Union Cabinet Ashwini Vaishnav Ji, L. Murugan Ji, Maharashtra's Deputy CM Eknath Shinde Ji, Ajit Pawar Ji, all the stalwarts of the creative world from every corner of the world, ministers of information, communication, art and culture departments from various countries, ambassadors of various countries, faces of the creative world from every corner of the world, other dignitaries, ladies and gentlemen!

Friends,

Today, artists, innovators, investors and policy makers from more than 100 countries have gathered under one roof in Mumbai. In a way, the foundation of a global ecosystem of Global Talent and Global Creativity is being laid here today. World Audio Visual and Entertainment Summit, i.e. Waves, is not just an acronym. It is truly a wave of culture, creativity and Universal Connect. And riding on this wave is the vast world of films, music, gaming, animation, storytelling and creativity. Wave is such a global platform that belongs to every artist, every creator like you, where every artist, every youth will connect with the creative world with a new idea. I congratulate all of you, who have gathered here from India and abroad, for this historic and wonderful beginning. I greet all of you.

Friends,

Today is May 1, 112 years ago, on May 3, 1913, India's first feature film Raja Harishchandra was released. Its producer was Dadasaheb Phalke, and yesterday was his birth anniversary. In the last century, Indian cinema has succeeded in taking India to every corner of the world. This is seen in Raj Kapoor's popularity in Russia, Satyajit Ray's popularity in Cannes, and RRR's success in Oscars. Be it Guru Dutt's cinematic poetry or Ritwik Ghatak's Social Reflection, A.R. Rahman's music or Rajamouli's epic, every story has become the voice of Indian culture and has reached the hearts of millions of people across the world. Today on this platform of Waves, we have remembered many legends of Indian cinema through postal stamps.

Friends,

Over the years, I have met people from the gaming world, people from the music world, film makers, and faces that shine on the screen. In these discussions, India's creativity, creative capability and global collaboration were often discussed. Whenever I met all of you from the creative world, took ideas from you, I myself got a chance to go deeper into this subject. Then I also did an experiment. 6-7 years ago, when the occasion of Mahatma Gandhi's 150th birth anniversary came, I inspired singers from 150 countries to sing Gandhiji's favourite song, Vaishnav Jan Ko Tene Kahiye. This song composed by Narsi Mehta is 500-600 years old, but during 'Gandhi 150', artists from all over the world sang it and it had a huge impact, the world came together. There are many people sitting here too, who made their own videos of 2-2, 3-3 minutes during 'Gandhi 150', took Gandhiji's ideas forward. We have seen then a glimpse of what wonders the power of the creative world of India and the world can do together. Today, the imaginations of that time have become reality and have come down to earth in the form of Waves.

Friends,

Just like the new sun colours the sky as it rises, this summit has started shining from its very first moment. "Right from the first moment, the summit is roaring with purpose." In its first edition itself, Waves has attracted the attention of the world. The hard work done by all the colleagues associated with our Advisory Board is visible here today. In the recent past, you have run a campaign of Creators Challenge, Creatosphere on a large scale, one lakh creative people from around 60 countries of the world participated in it. And 800 finalists have been selected in 32 challenges. I wish all the finalists the best of luck. You have got a chance - to make an impact in the world, to do something.

Friends,

I have been told that you have created a lot of new things here in India Pavilion. I am very eager to see it, I will definitely go. Waves Bazaar's initiative is also very interesting. This will encourage new creators and they will be able to connect with the new market. In the field of art, this idea of connecting Buyers and Sellers is really very good.

Friends,

We see that from the beginning of a small child's life, when the child is born, his relationship with his mother also starts with lullabies. He hears the first sound from his mother. He understands the first note of music. As a mother weaves the dreams of a child, similarly the people of the creative world weave the dreams of an era. The aim of WAVES is to bring such people together.

Friends,

From the Red Fort, I have spoken about everyone's efforts. Today, my belief has become stronger that the efforts of all of you will take WAVES to new heights in the coming years. I will always urge my colleagues from the industry to continue the handholding that you did in the first summit. Many beautiful waves are yet to come in WAVES, Waves Awards are also going to be launched in the future. These are going to be the most prestigious awards in the world of art and creativity. We have to stay committed, we have to win the hearts of the world, we have to win the people.

Friends,

Today, India is rapidly moving towards becoming the world's Third Largest Economy. Today, India is number one in Global Fintech Adoption rate. It is the world's second largest mobile manufacturer. The world's third largest start-up ecosystem is in India. Our journey towards developed India has just started. India has much more to offer than this. India, along with its billion plus population, is also a country of billion plus stories. Two thousand years ago, when Bharat Muni wrote Natya Shastra, his message was - “Natyaam Bhavayati Lokam” ("नाट्यं भावयति लोकम्"). It means, art gives emotions, feelings to the world. Centuries ago, when Kalidasa wrote Abhijnana-Shakuntalam, India gave a new direction to classical drama. Every street in India has a story, every mountain has a song, every river hums something or the other. If you go to more than 6 lakh villages in India, each village has its own folk, has its own special style of storytelling. Here, different societies have passed on their history to the next generation through folklore. Music is also a spiritual practice for us. Be it bhajans, ghazals, classical or contemporary, there is a story in every note, there is a soul in every rhythm.

Friends,

We have the concept of Naad Brahma i.e. Sound of Divine. Our Gods also express themselves through music and dance. Lord Shiva's Damru is the first sound of creation, Mother Saraswati's Veena is the rhythm of wisdom and knowledge, Shri Krishna's flute is the eternal message of love and beauty, Vishnu ji's conch, the sound of conch is the call of positive energy, we have so much, a glimpse of this was also seen in the fascinating cultural presentation that was held here recently. And that is why I say - this is the time, the right time. This is the right time to Create in India, Create for the World. Today, when the world is looking for new ways of storytelling, India has a treasure of its stories dating back thousands of years. And this treasure is Timeless, Thought-Provoking and Truly Global. And it is not that it has only topics related to culture, it has the world of science, sports, stories of valour, tales of sacrifice and penance. Our stories have science, fiction, courage, bravery, the basket of this treasure of India is very big, very vast. It is a big responsibility of the Waves platform to take this treasure to every corner of the world and present it to the coming generations in a new and interesting way.

Friends,

Most of you know that Padma awards were started in our country only a few years after independence. These awards have been given for so many years, but we have made these awards People's Padma. When we recognized those people who are living for the country and serving the society in far-flung corners of the country, we gave them respect, then the nature of the tradition of Padma changed. Now the whole country has accepted it wholeheartedly, now it is not just an event but has become a festival of the whole country. Waves is also like this. If Waves will give a platform to the talent in every corner of India in the creative world, in films, in music, in animation, in gaming, then the world will definitely appreciate it.

Friends,

Another specialty of India in content creation is going to help you a lot. We believe in the idea of ​​Aano Bhadra: Kratavo Yantu Vishvat: (आ नो भद्र: क्रतवो यन्तु विश्वत:). This means, may good thoughts come to us from all directions. This is a proof of our civilizational openness. With this spirit, the Parsis came here. And even today the Parsi community is thriving in India with great pride. Jews came here and became part of India. Every society, every country in the world has its own achievements. There are ministers and representatives of so many countries in this event, those countries have their own successes, welcoming ideas and art from all over the world and giving them respect, this is the strength of our culture. Therefore, together, we can create excellent content related to the achievements of different countries of every culture. It will also strengthen our vision of Global Connect.

Friends,

Today, I want to assure the people of the world, the people of the creative world outside India, that when you connect with India, when you get to know the stories of India, you will find such stories that you will feel that this happens in my country too. You will feel a very natural connection with India, then our mantra of Create in India will seem more natural to you.

Friends,

This is the period of rise of Orange Economy in India. Content, Creativity and Culture - these are the three pillars of the Orange Economy. Indian films are now reaching every corner of the world. Today Indian films are released in Hundred Plus countries. Foreign audiences also now do not just watch Indian films superficially, but try to understand them. That is why today a large number of foreign viewers are watching Indian content with subtitles. The OTT industry in India has shown 10x growth in the last few years. The screen size may be getting smaller, but the scope is infinite. The screen is becoming micro but the message is becoming mega. Nowadays, Indian food is becoming the choice of the world. I am confident that in the coming days, India's songs will also become the identity of the world.

Friends,

India's creative economy can increase its contribution to GDP in the coming years. Today India is becoming a global hub of film production, digital content, gaming, fashion and music. There are many possibilities before us for the industry related to Live Concerts. Today the size of the global animation market is more than Four Hundred and Thirty Billion Dollar. It is estimated that it may double in the next 10 years. This is a big opportunity for India’s animation and graphics industry.

Friends,

In this boom of Orange Economy, I would like to tell every young creator of the country from this platform of Waves, whether you are a musician from Guwahati, a podcaster from Kochi, a game designer in Bangalore, or a film maker in Punjab, all of you are bringing a new wave in the economy of India - a wave of creativity, a wave that is being driven by your hard work and your passion. And our government is also with you in your every endeavour. From Skill India to Startup Support, AVGC Industry Policies to platforms like Waves, we are committed to making your dreams come true every step of the way. We are creating an environment where your ideas and imagination have value. Which gives birth to new dreams, and gives you the power to realize those dreams. You will also get a big platform through Waves Summit. A platform where creativity and coding will happen together, where software and storytelling will happen together, where Art and Augmented Reality will happen together. Make full use of this platform, dream big and put in all your efforts to fulfil them.

Friends,

I have full confidence in you, the content creators, and there is a reason for it. In the spirit of youth, in their working style, there are no barriers, no baggage or boundaries, that is why your creativity flows completely free, there is no hesitation, no reluctance in it. I myself have personally interacted with many young creators, gamers and many such people recently. I keep watching your creativity on social media as well, I feel your energy, it is no coincidence that today when India has the largest young population in the world, at the same time new dimensions of our creativity are emerging. Formats like reels, podcasts, games, animation, startup, AR-VR, our young minds are doing great work in each of these formats. In the true sense, Waves is for your generation, so that you can re-imagine and re-define this entire revolution of creativity with your energy and efficiency.

Friends,

In front of you stalwarts of the world of creativity, I want to discuss another topic. This topic is - Creative Responsibility. We all are seeing that the 21st century is a tech driven century. The role of technology in every person's life is continuously increasing. In such a situation, extra efforts are needed to maintain human sensibilities. Only the creative world can do this. We don't have to let humans become robots. We have to make humans more and more sensitive; we have to make them more prosperous. This prosperity of humans will not come from mountains of information, it will not come from the speed and reach of technology either, for this we will have to give importance to songs, music, art, dance. For thousands of years, these have been keeping human sensitivity alive. We have to strengthen it further. We have to remember one more important thing. Today our young generation needs to be saved from some anti-humanity thoughts. WAVES is a platform that can do this work. If we step back from this responsibility, it will be very dangerous for the young generation.

Friends,

Today technology has created an open sky for the creative world, so now global coordination is equally important. I am confident that this platform will connect our Creators with Global Storytellers, our Animators with Global Visionaries and transform our Gamers into Global Champions. I invite all Global Investors, Global Creators to make India your Content Playground. To The Creators of the World - Dream Big, And Tell Your Story. To Investors - Invest Not Just in Platforms, But in People. To Indian Youth - Tell Your One Billion Untold Stories to The World!

Once again, I wish you all the very best for the first Waves Summit, thank you very much. Namaskar.

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MJPS/VJ/SS