India’s biggest M&E event, the Visual and Media (VAM) Summit held at Nesco, Mumbai on 22 and 23 April, drew a vibrant crowd eager to dive into a rich blend of creativity and expertise. The event featured fascinating panels, in-depth making-of sessions, captivating presentations, VFX breakdowns, and insightful discussions led by acclaimed directors and supervisors. With such a dynamic lineup, the summit promised to be a true celebration of visual and media excellence.
The theme for this year was “Bridging the Gap: Between Promise and Reality” which embraces the marvel VFX and AI brings to the screens. Several sessions underscored the industry’s move toward adopting immersive experiences, emphasising their transformative impact on audience engagement and storytelling.
The VAM Summit 2025 gold partners were ARK, Autodesk, Foundry and Maxon. It was co-powered by Adobe, Assemblage Entertainment and BenQ; associate partner was Acer; industry partners were CyberPowerPC, Eizo, Green Gold VFX studios, Goodbye Kansas, Huion, NY VFXWaala, Disk Archive Corporation, SideFX, Tathastu Techno Solution, Workflowlabs and White Apple; outdoor partner was Bright Outdoor Media; community care partner was GenS Life, community partners were Asifa India, Middca, Vegas and VES India; education partner was Tron Animation and an initiative by AnimationXpress. The VAM Summit is executed by ITV 2.0 Productions.
The first day of this two-day summit and awards began with the lamp lighting ceremony in the presence of AnimationXpress founder, chairman & editor-in-chief Anil NM Wanvari, director Mishaal Wanvari, chief operating officer Neha Singhal Mehta along with some advisory members and the partners for the event. The dignitaries hailed the event as a remarkable milestone, applauding its role in driving the industry forward.
Following the curtain raiser, the event kicked off with great energy and enthusiasm. The first session for the day titled Crafting blockbusters – Vision, innovation, and the future of Indian VFX was a panel discussion which explored the storytelling evolution, the creative possibilities of visual effects, and how Indian cinema can thrive in an increasingly competitive global landscape. This session was moderated by DNEG India head of studio A.R. Seshaprasad. The speakers were ILM India associate VFX supervisor Kabir Verma, Baahubali and RRR VFX supervisor Srinivas Mohan and Company3 | SDFX Studios creative director – immersive, VFX & 3D Tanmay Gupta.
In Zbrush – The journey and the standard tool for VFX, Maxon senior product development manager – ZBrush Paul Gaboury explored ZBrush’s history and showcased its features through live demonstrations. He highlighted how the tool has shaped the industry, from its ability to handle millions of polygons to its role in winning a Scientific and Technical Academy Award in 2014. He threw light on how the tool continues to push the boundaries of CGI and visual storytelling.
Acer conducted a presentation titled Evolution of GPU servers. The speaker for the session was Acer entity head – west region Jigisha Bhatia and Acer’s Amit Dwivedi.
One of the key highlights for the day was the Fireside Chat: The Mind Behind the Maratha Epic with Chhaava director Laxman Utekar. He talked and engaged with the audience about his experience and how he transitioned from a cinematographer to a filmmaker. The chat was moderated by Assemblage Entertainment CEO Arjun Madhavan. The crowd showed immense enthusiasm and were actively engaged throughout the session.
During Unveiling the latest cutting edge colour solution for creative professionals, BenQ senior colour expert and colour technology lab manager Dr. Chris Bai, offered a comprehensive look at how these innovations aim to elevate precision and accuracy for creative professionals.
In another highly-awaited fireside chat, Anil NM Wanvari spoke to director Hansal Mehta. Mehta, who has directed popular OTT series like Scam 1992,Scoop, and movies like Shahid. He discussed his journey, his process of filmmaking, his thoughts on the role of VFX and encouraged the young audience attending the event.
In December 2024, the Malayalam-language film Marco took the Indian cinema by storm. The film featured a strong performance by actor Unni Mukundan, and its action choreography was noted as brilliant. But what caught the attention of the masses was the gruesome violence and graphic imagery. In the session Only for adults: Creating R-rated visuals and graphics in Marco, 3 Doors VFX supervisor Prashant Nair spoke to AnimationXpress senior reporter and copy editor Anshita Bhatt about how his team worked on the blood and gore, as well as creating extreme visuals in the time of strict content regulation.
In Creative Alchemy: Transforming visuals with generative AI, Alicia Faleiro from digital media creative solutions at Adobe showcased how artists can leverage the software to create brilliant visuals.
During VFX Spotlight: Showcasing pan-India creativity, studios from across the country presented their remarkable projects and spoke about their specialisations. The speakers included Resonance Digital founder and CEO Abhyuday Grover, Little Black Visual Effects Star co-founder / business head Meghana Tirumalasetty, Hoop VFX founder and managing director Priyanka Balasubramanian, Fourth Dimension Visual Effects founder and CEO Rajat Dalui and Identical Brains creative director Sabu Jose.
VFX breakdown sessions were the highlights of the day as the next session was yet another breakdown session titled A life or death situation: The VFX of Mickey 17. Mickey 17 is a sci-fi film set in the near future where Mickey Barnes, an expendable, sent on dangerous missions to colonise the ice planet Niflheim. The film explores themes of life, death, and what it means to be human in a world where humanity is defined by its ability to be replicated. This session was conducted by Framestore India CG supervisor – film and episodic Prashant Nair.
In a panel discussion titled VFX beyond films and OTT, speakers explored various avenues beyond films and OTT content that leverage motion design, special effects, AI, and more. This included applications in advertising, broadcast media, immersive experiences, virtual reality and so on. This session was moderated by Digital District CEO Rutul Patel. The speakers on the panel were Fractal Picture business head / creative producer Aijaaz Rashid, Green Rain Studios CEO and co-founder Karan Parikh and Cineom Broadcast India executive director / technologist Priyan Parab.
The last session for the day was Creating supernatural worlds with VFX – Stree 2. The VFX breakdown session was conducted by Labyrinth VFX supervisor Shrikant Patil, who shared the work behind some of the scenes created in the horror-comedy.
The inaugural day of the VAM Summit and Awards 2025 wrapped up successfully, leaving attendees eager for the engaging sessions lined up on day two. The event took place on 22 and 23 April 2025 at Nesco, Mumbai.
