With Asian content breaking new grounds in the recent times, the Indian offerings find itself at the heart of the things. However, there remain certain barriers to surmount; some crumbs to brush aside, before having a global reach. Introspecting on the same, was a panel discussion that featured the likes of minister of commerce joint secretary Sudhanshu Pandey, Anibrain Digital Solutions business development vice-president Shambhoo Phalke, DQ Entertainment COO Manoj Mishra, Whistling Woods International vice-president of business development Chaitanya Chinchlikar and Quebec Singapore’s Benjamin Toh on the dais, while moderated by SEPC vice chairman Maneck Davar.
The session began with a short introductory note from each of the panellists, who briefed about the organisation they represented, the latest developments in the same, whilst also enunciating their thoughts on the industry as a whole.
On discussing the ways to do content better and also addressing the additional requirements, Manoj Mishra commented, “Quality is an important aspect of any deliverable. In fact, that’s the main thing one looks for in content. So our content needs to have more quality to appeal to a greater mass.” To add to the same, “One must understand the requirements of the clients to serve them better,” asserts Shambhoo Phalke.
With Indian entertainment content getting increasingly popular abroad, that’s however limited to only certain regions per se. A universal acceptance of the content is yet to be achieved. Chaitanya Chinchlikar explained a possible solution to erase this anomaly when he said, “The primary goal must be to evoke a range of emotions in a viewer. A deeper understanding of a specific market, culture, goes a long way in succeeding in other markets. We have to figure out a way to take this to the rest of the world. It’s the transition of taking out the story and being able to tell it in a comprehensible manner to the world which is a challenge and we need to overcome that.”
The discussion also touched upon the positives from the Indian M&E sector towards its end, whilst also envisioning what the future holds. “I feel we need to build a market that’s one to look up to; a market where the world can conveniently come in and invest. And the current status of our market suggests we are well on our way to do the same. The future is really bright,” Mishra prognosticated.
Concluding the engaging session, Davar suggested, “We must also focus on ethics, develop a sense of trust while dealing with international clients and send a message to the world in doing the same.”