Blend Storytelling with Innovation and Skilling

The program, titled “Inspiring Innovators Naye Bharat Ki Nayi Pehchaan,” includes the eight animated short films created by students across India. This initiative was jointly anchored by the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting and the Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser (PSA) to the Government of India, with support from the Netflix Fund for Creative Equity

In a unique alignment of public policy, creative education and private-sector investment, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) has collaborated with Netflix on a national skilling initiative. The aim is to teach on the nurturing creative talent while spotlighting the socially relevant innovation. 

The program, titled “Inspiring Innovators Naye Bharat Ki Nayi Pehchaan,” includes the eight animated short films created by students across India. This initiative was jointly anchored by the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting and the Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser (PSA) to the Government of India, with support from the Netflix Fund for Creative Equity. Implementation was led by Graphiti Studios, bringing together students, start-ups, designers, voice artists and mentors into a single, skills-first creative pipeline. 

Designed within the broader framework of Atmanirbhar Bharat, the project is an attempt to demonstrate how storytelling can be used not merely as content, but as a tool for capacity building. The eight Indian start-ups working in areas of social impact and innovation were at the core, identified by the PSA’s office for their relevance to India’s development priorities. Each start-up became the subject of an animated film, developed from scratch by student creators. 

Participants were drawn from eight academic institutions, including the National Institute of Design (Ahmedabad), Chitkara University, and the Satyajit Ray Institute of Film and Television, among others. A group of 26 students took part in the program, half of them women, with several coming from Tier-2 cities, a demographic often under-represented in high-end creative production. 

Students worked under industry conditions, mentored by faculty from National Institute of Design (NID) Ahmedabad and professionals from Graphiti Studios. From concept development and visual design to animation workflows and post-production, the program offered exposure to real-world creative processes that young artists rarely access early in their careers. 

Voice performances for the films were recorded by participants from Voicebox, a separate skilling initiative supported by Netflix in partnership with the National Film Development Corporation (NFDC). To this project, the Music added another layer with an original anthem performed by the students of the Shankar Mahadevan Academy, strengthening the program’s significance in collaboration across creative disciplines. 

Dr L. Murugan, Minister of State for Information & Broadcasting and Parliamentary Affairs, described storytelling as a strategic asset for India’s global cultural presence at the event. He noted that as intellectual property systems strengthen and new technologies reshape content creation, initiatives like Inspiring Innovators will indeed reflect a shift toward creator-led narratives with social purpose. 

Also, Prof. Ajay Kumar Sood, Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India, underlined the program’s design philosophy, pointing to its dual focus on innovation visibility and talent development. By connecting start-ups with students through a creative lens, he said, the initiative bridged policy intent with practical skill-building. 

The completed films have been released on Netflix India’s YouTube channel, expanding access beyond institutional audiences. For Netflix, the collaboration fits into a wider strategy of investing in India’s creative workforce while supporting the inclusive talent pipelines. 

As the government explores partnerships beyond traditional training models, Inspiring Innovators offers storytelling with skilling and social relevance to intersect, and where creativity itself becomes a form of national infrastructure.