Thought Factory

THE NEW BUSINESS OF ENTERTAINMENT

by Vinta Nanda November 7 2026, 12:00 am Estimated Reading Time: 4 mins, 49 secs

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When Brands Become The Storytellers: The New Business Of Entertainment: Vinta Nanda explores how brands, technology, cinema, religion and digital platforms are reshaping entertainment, influencing consumer behaviour and determining who controls contemporary storytelling.  

There is a fundamental shift taking place in the entertainment universe, and it is changing not just the way we consume cinema and digital content but also who controls the stories we watch. Mainstream cinema and digital entertainment are increasingly becoming domains where brands, advertisers and institutions reach out to targeted communities, not merely to sell products but to create narratives, shape aspirations and establish cultural identities.

Advertising films are no longer necessarily fillers between television serials, commercials screened before a film or advertisements squeezed into cinema intervals. They have acquired an independent identity. They are long-form digital content, micro-dramas, short films, documentaries and even elaborate fictional narratives. They have characters, conflicts, emotional journeys and, increasingly, production values that rival conventional entertainment. The product may be incidental to the story, but the story is designed to build a relationship with the consumer.

The Numbers Behind The New Entertainment Economy

The numbers tell their own story. According to the FICCI-EY 2026 report, India's media and entertainment industry reached ₹2.78 trillion in 2025, with digital media emerging as its largest segment, crossing ₹1 trillion. Digital advertising grew 26% to ₹94,700 crore, accounting for 63% of total advertising revenues. Meanwhile, Ormax estimates India's online video audience at 664.9 million in 2026. These are not merely audiences; they are identifiable, measurable and segmented consumer communities. The economics of entertainment are following them.

Ramayana And The Spectacle Of Storytelling

And then there is Ramayana.

With Ranbir Kapoor, Sai Pallavi and Yash, Nitesh Tiwari's ambitious two-part cinematic adaptation, produced by Namit Malhotra's Prime Focus Studios in association with DNEG and Monster Mind Creations, has arrived in cinemas worldwide. It is an extraordinary proposition: a story deeply embedded in India's cultural imagination, presented through global filmmaking technology and designed to travel beyond geographical and linguistic boundaries. The film's scale, visual effects and international production ambitions invite comparisons with Hollywood's largest cinematic spectacles. The ambition is not simply to retell an epic but to demonstrate what Indian filmmaking technology and capital can achieve on a global stage.

When Belief Becomes A Consumer Proposition

The writing is on the wall. The consumer is king, and brands are becoming production houses, whether their interests are commercial, political, religious or social. The traditional understanding of propaganda, therefore, needs to be reconsidered. Perhaps the word itself is becoming inadequate to describe the sophisticated ways in which beliefs, ideologies and identities are packaged and distributed today.

Religion, political ideology, social consciousness and infotainment are all being communicated through professional storytelling mechanisms. They have audiences who identify with them, consume them, share them and defend them.

Religious sentiment, in particular, has become an important currency in mainstream entertainment. Objections arise when audiences feel their beliefs have been misrepresented or offended, and majoritarian sentiment often determines which stories receive visibility and legitimacy.

Digital Platforms And The Question Of Representation

Minority communities, meanwhile, remain considerably underrepresented in mainstream storytelling. Yet YouTube and Instagram have opened alternative spaces where smaller communities can articulate their religious identities, cultural experiences and grievances without waiting for conventional media to provide them a platform. The democratisation of distribution has not necessarily democratised representation, but it has altered who gets to speak.

Consider how the business of entertainment has evolved. There was a time when the producer, distributor and exhibitor controlled the journey of a film. Then came the studios and television networks, followed by brands and advertisers who increasingly influenced what got made and how it reached audiences. Today, the hierarchy is arguably:

Producer → Studio → Network → Brand → Distributor → Exhibitor.

This is not a universal industrial structure, but it reflects where much of the commercial influence is moving. The brand is no longer simply a financier or sponsor. It can determine the audience, the narrative, the format and even the platform on which the story is consumed.

Sideways And The Power Of Brand Storytelling

I remember watching Sideways (2004), Alexander Payne's wonderfully irreverent comedy starring Paul Giamatti, Thomas Haden Church, Virginia Madsen and Sandra Oh. Two friends embark on a week-long trip through California's wine country, and their personal adventures become an unexpectedly persuasive celebration of Californian wine, particularly Pinot Noir. Giamatti's character, Miles, is an obsessive wine enthusiast who famously dismisses Merlot.

The film became a cultural phenomenon, grossing approximately $109 million worldwide. More significantly, academic research subsequently documented what became known as the 'Sideways Effect': declining Merlot demand and increased consumer demand and prices for Pinot Noir. Hollywood had demonstrated how effectively entertainment could influence consumer behaviour without looking remotely like an advertisement.

Ramayana And The Business Of Technology

And this brings us back to Ramayana. Beyond the mythology, the emotional universality and the extraordinary spectacle, there is another product being sold: technology. The visual effects, CGI, production design and technical infrastructure represent an enormous statement about India's ability to compete in the global entertainment marketplace. The epic becomes both a cultural experience and a showcase for technological capability.

Who Owns The Stories We Consume?

Perhaps that is the most interesting development in the entertainment business today. Stories are no longer simply being made to entertain us. They are being made to build markets, communities, identities and technological aspirations. The distinction between content and advertising, belief and branding, cinema and commerce is becoming increasingly blurred.

The next great production house may not necessarily be a film studio. It could be a consumer brand, a technology company, a religious institution or even a political organisation.

The question we should be asking is no longer simply who makes the stories we watch, but who owns the imagination behind them, who pays for them and, ultimately, who benefits from our consumption.