Inside IIFA Connex’s Most Candid Conversation Yet
For more than 25 years, the International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) has been the international showcase for Indian cinema. With IIFA Connex, the organization steps off the red carpet and into a smaller room, where leaders from entertainment, fashion, media, technology and business gather for unscripted conversation about where the creative economy is headed.
The third edition took over Mercii Mumbai, a stylish lounge whose menu moves from European and Italian to Asian and Peruvian. Under the theme “The New Rules of Music: How Artists, Audiences and Technology Are Rewriting the Industry,” Nora Fatehi, Mika Singh, Raja Kumari and Ramprasad Sundar, YouTube’s Head of Music Partnerships, Artist & Label Relations for India, joined Tarsame Mittal, who served as both moderator and panelist.
Who Really Decides What Becomes a Hit?
Mittal opened by noting that music has always evolved, but never this fast. Albums and record sales have given way to streams and instant worldwide reach, putting artists closer to listeners than ever while creating new power brokers in platforms, labels and fans themselves.
The panel then took on the questions the business is quietly wrestling with. Can a hit still be manufactured? Has technology democratized music, or have algorithms simply become the new gatekeepers? Now that artists can release and market their own work, what do labels and managers still offer? And must Indian music adapt to Western tastes to succeed abroad? A rapid-fire round sharpened the debate, pitting 100 million views against ten sold-out arenas, ownership against reach, and a viral moment against a song people still sing twenty years later.
The Artists Weigh In
Nora Fatehi said artists today can “create without boundaries,” pointing to her own career as proof of how a song can cross languages and cultures.
Mika Singh brought the conversation back to fundamentals. Technology may change how music reaches people, he said, but “the emotion behind a song, the artist’s voice and the story we want to tell will always be at the heart of it.”
Raja Kumari described the tension between creative freedom and a landscape where data and virality decide what gets heard. Her answer is balance: knowing who you are while being fearless enough to experiment. She believes Indian music is poised to shape the world’s soundscape.
Ramprasad Sundar noted that regional and independent Indian artists are now drawing attention far beyond India, and said YouTube’s goal is to help musicians turn sudden scale into lasting careers.
Beyond the Red Carpet
IIFA co-founder Andre Timmins said he created Connex to fill a long-felt gap: a relaxed setting, free of formalities and commercial agendas, where people across creative fields can trade ideas and build relationships naturally. He hopes it becomes a recurring hub for collaboration.
The partners reflected that cross-industry spirit. Jyoti Chaudhary, founder of Urban Village Music, called music India’s most powerful cultural export. Pankaj Tripathi, founder and CEO of Vernost, spoke to technology’s role in deepening how audiences engage with content and brands. House of NV, led by Varun Jain of Smoke Lab and NV Group, poured its basmati rice–based Smoke Lab Vodka and Mohulo, billed as India’s first art-forward sipping gin. Mercii Mumbai co-founder Gaurav H Parikh described the venue as a place where food, music and conversation come together.
The evening made a convincing case that the industry’s next chapter is being written not only on stages and screens, but in rooms like this one.
IIFA Connex Edition 3 was presented with Official Partners Urban Village Music, Vernost, House of NV and Mercii Mumbai.
