‘Nice tales don’t have any guidelines’ – Firstpost

On Day 2 of MIB’s WAVES Summit, a robust lineup of creators and producers got here collectively to decode how storytelling is being reimagined in a digital-first world. The panel featured Tanya Bami (Sequence Head, Netflix India), Guneet Monga Kapoor (Producer, Sikhya Leisure), Ruchikaa Kapoor Sheikh (Director, Unique Movies at Netflix India) and Michael Lehmann (Worldwide Movie & tv director, screenwriter, producer), Siddharth Roy Kapur (Founder, Roy Kapur Movies), and Supriya Yarlagadda (CEO & Government Director of Annapurna Studios).
The dialog unpacked how the rise of streaming has enabled tales to interrupt standard boundaries, with artistic voices taking heart stage, experimenting with genres, and leaning into specificity to seek out emotional universality. From slow-burn dramas to style mashups, the panel explored how Indian storytelling is coming into its personal whereas participating world audiences.

Tanya Bami, Sequence Head, Netflix India added “ Nice storytelling is our solely playbook. It’s not formulation or developments that make a narrative profitable, it’s the tales that burn inside our creators, ready to be instructed. We welcome contemporary voices and empower them with the assist they should convey their concepts to life. With cultural authenticity on the coronary heart of all the pieces we do, we consider the extra domestically rooted a narrative is, the extra universally interesting it turns into.”

Ruchikaa Kapoor Sheikh, Director, Unique Movies at Netflix India , added, “On the coronary heart of each movie is a sense—it’s the reminiscence you carry after the credit roll. That’s the true foreign money of cinema, and at Netflix, that’s what we purpose to create. There’s no secret sauce to cultural relevance, there may be innovation after which there may be deep intention. We’re very conscious of the viewers we’re chatting with, and we champion tales that replicate the various Indias we dwell in. Innovation excites us, particularly when it’s rooted in function. Whether or not it’s a screenlife thriller shot on iPhones or a genre-defying narrative that breaks each rule, we’re uncomfortably excited by concepts that problem conference. That’s the place the Netflix impact begins.”

Guneet Monga Kapoor, Producer, Sikhya Leisure, “For me, storytelling is deeply private—if it strikes me, it will possibly transfer the world. Documentaries are the purest expression of that reality: actual individuals, actual stakes, no scripts. With Netflix, this style has discovered a robust platform in India, and as producers, our job is to nurture that spark with care, craft, and conviction.

Michael Lehmann, Worldwide Movie & tv director, screenwriter, producer stated “Within the digital age, audiences can entry the whole historical past of cinema at their fingertips—but what nonetheless issues most is spending time with actual individuals on display. Nice storytelling isn’t about relentless motion or developments; it’s about character, connection, and the quiet energy of human expertise”

Siddharth Roy Kapur, Founder, Roy Kapur Movies stated ”We’re on the cusp of Indian tales breaking out globally like by no means earlier than. With platforms like Netflix giving us instantaneous attain in over 190 nations, distribution is not the barrier—it’s about staying true to the tales we wish to inform. If we inform them with honesty and conviction, the world will pay attention.”

Supriya Yarlagadda, CEO & Government Director of Annapurna Studios said- “Within the South, we’ve at all times aspired for cinema—however the digital period has opened a brand new frontier. Lengthy-format storytelling calls for a distinct craft, and we’re lastly embracing it. It’s not about stars or scale—it’s about characters, conviction, and the braveness to inform our tales in our personal languages. Now’s the time to again writers, not formulation.”

The panel bolstered that India’s streaming revolution is not only about scale—it’s about belief, risk-taking, and constructing a world the place tales prepared the ground.