FICCI FRAMES 2026 is set to bring together leading voices from India’s media and entertainment industry on September 29 and 30 in Mumbai,with the 26th edition focusing on how the sector can create value in an age of abundant content.

The convention will be held under the theme ‘India’s Media Moment: Creating Value in an Age of Infinite Content’, with discussions spanning television, streaming, cinema, sports, gaming, live events, creators, artificial intelligence and emerging technologies.

The two-day programme will open with an inaugural session featuring Anant Goenka, President, FICCI and Vice Chairman of the RPG Group; Kevin Vaz, Chair, FICCI M&E Committee and CEO, Entertainment, JioStar; FICCI FRAMES ambassador actor Ayushmann Khurrana and Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.

The opening business conversation, ‘The CEO’s Perspective: Reinventing Media for the Age of Infinite Content’ — featuring Vaz, Zee CEO Punit Goenka, Prime Video APAC chief Gaurav Gandhi, SPNI CEO Gaurav Banerjee and NDTV CEO and Editor-in-Chief Rahul Kanwal —will examine changing business models, audience attention and the role of trust and relevance as content availability expands.

Cinema will be another major focus on the opening day, with the session ‘Cinema at Crossroads – The Rules of the Big Screen’ bringing together Khurrana, filmmaker Sriram Raghavan and Warner Bros. Discovery’s Denzil Dias to discuss changing audience preferences, theatrical economics and the relationship between cinema and streaming.

The agenda will also feature a conversation on the changing nature of fandom with Meta India’s Arun Srinivas and creator Kusha Kapila, a discussion on sports viewing across television, streaming and mobile with JioStar’s Ishan Chatterjee, and a keynote on ‘The Future of Entertainment: AI, Scale & Storytelling’ by Saurabh Pandey of Eloelo Group.

The convention will put considerable emphasis on the rise of rooted and regional storytelling too.

A session titled ‘The New Mainstream: Why Rooted Stories Are Winning Audiences’ will bring together executives, creators and actors including Banijay’s Mrinalini Jain, Netflix’s Tanya Bami, Prime Video India’s Amogh Dusad, casting director Mukesh Chhabra, Anant Singh, actor Amol Parashar and Abhay Verma to examine how hyperlocal narratives are finding audiences beyond their places of origin.

The agenda will also feature a conversation between Prasar Bharati Chairman Prasoon Joshi and Mehak Kasbekar on the power of ideas in an age of infinite content.

One of the key policy and technology discussions will focus on artificial intelligence and copyright. The session, ‘The Great Content Race: Artificial Intelligence and Copyright’, will examine issues including licensing, transparency, attribution, consent and remuneration as AI becomes increasingly integrated into content creation.

Participants on this AI and copyrights issues include representatives from JioStar, the Motion Picture Association India, Bharucha and Partners and Gracenote, with Prabhat, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, scheduled to deliver the keynote address.

Sports will feature prominently as well, with the agenda examining how cricket’s expanding global footprint could shape the next phase of growth for the sport.

ICC CEO Sanjog Gupta will participate in a conversation with sports broadcaster Jatin Sapru on fans, media, markets and the changing relationship between sports and audiences. Another session will look at how television, streaming, mobile and emerging formats are changing sports viewing.

The growing micro-drama and short-form entertainment ecosystem will also receive dedicated attention.

‘Microdrama, Mega Business: The Next Content Disruption’ will explore how snackable fiction, creator-led series and platform-first originals are changing the way stories are created, distributed and monetised.

The panel includes representatives from Meta, Zee Entertainment’s BULLET Microdrama, Eloelo Group, Kuku and the creative community. The agenda reflects the increasing focus on mobile-first entertainment and new forms of short-duration storytelling.

Live entertainment will be another major theme, with ‘Sold Out, Scaling Up: Why India’s Live Events Need to Rebuild from the Fan Up’ examining the growth of concerts and other live events and the infrastructure, technology, talent and regulatory frameworks needed to sustain the sector.

The session will include government and industry voices, including MIB Joint Secretary-Broadcasting Prithul Kumar, Saregama’s Avarna Jain and Wizcraft founder Sabbas Joseph.

Day One will conclude with a screening of ‘Dupahiya Season 2’, followed by a discussion involving Prime Video executives, the creators and cast of the series.

Day Two will open with ‘Lighting Up a Billion Screens’, a discussion on the scale and evolution of sports broadcasting, with actor-MP Ravi Kishan, former Indian cricketer Irfan Pathan, JioStar CTO Akash Saxena and OpenAI India’s Sheeladitya Mohanty among the participants.

The parallel programme will also showcase ‘Virtual Bharat’, including screenings of ‘Ramnami’, winner of the National Film Award for Best Documentary, and the yet-to-be-released ‘Thirumeni’, followed by a conversation with filmmaker Bharatbala.

Women’s representation, defence storytelling and the wider creative economy will feature in separate sessions.

A conversation involving Anupama actor Rupali Ganguly will examine how mainstream storytelling can address women’s financial independence and rights, while a session on Discovery’s ‘Operation Sindoor’ will discuss the making of the two-part docuseries and its use of first-hand accounts from India’s military leadership and defence experts.

The agenda will also address the future of news, reality television and content protection. A conversation between Prasar Bharati CEO Gaurav Dwivedi and journalist Anuradha Sengupta will focus on preserving trust and editorial integrity amid digital disruption.

Another session will look at reality entertainment as a major format across languages and audiences, featuring executives and producers including Banijay’s Deepak Dhar, Balaji telefilms’ Ekta Kapoor, producer Vipul Shah and Dharma Productions CEO Apoorva Mehta.

Piracy will also be examined through ‘Inside the Illicit Streaming Ecosystem: Technology and Enforcement’, which will look at illegal IPTV services, hacked set-top boxes, unauthorised signal redistribution and rogue streaming networks.

The second day will further feature a discussion on ‘Drishyam: The Conclusion’, with Ajay Devgn, producer Kumar Mangat Pathak, filmmaker Abhishek Pathak and JioStar’s Alok Jain, followed by sessions on international collaborations, global IP creation and the future of AVGC-XR.

The FICCI BAF Awards 2026 will also form part of the convention, with the awards ceremony scheduled for September 30.

The convention will conclude with ‘The Role, The Star, The Business: Women Shaping Entertainment’ featuring Netflix’s Ruchikaa Kapoor Sheikh, actors Aditi Rao Hydari and Rasika Dugal, and filmmaker Vani Tripathi Tikoo.