Sabu Cyril, Senthil Kumar, Sabbas Joseph, Rituraj Khanna, Kumar Raja and Dakshinamurthi, the Creative Minds Behind Baahubali, RRR, rolling IPs like IIFA and Other Landmark Productions to Converge for ‘Weddings & Films’- the fourth edition WV Connect
Hyderabad, September 2, 2026: WV Connect 2026 — Weddings & Films Edition opened today in Hyderabad, marking the fourth consecutive edition of Asia’s largest B2B wedding summit. A flagship event by Wedding Vows, India’s leading wedding industry magazine, WV Connect was founded by N DakshinaaMurthi with a single conviction: that the Indian wedding industry deserves a world-class business platform where its professionals can learn, connect and grow.
Each year, WV Connect travels to a different Indian city — Chennai in 2019, Mamallapuram in 2023, Jaipur in 2024. This year, Hyderabad was the only choice. Home to Ramoji Film City, the world’s largest film studio complex, and one of India’s fastest-growing luxury wedding markets, Hyderabad is the one Indian city where the wedding industry and the film industry are both genuinely world-class. The theme — Weddings & Films — could not have found a more fitting home.
The premise is both simple and commercially significant. India’s wedding industry is valued at ₹3.86 lakh crore, growing at 25 per cent year on year. Its film and OTT industry adds another ₹1.97 lakh crore. The two industries share the same designers, cinematographers, lighting crews, fabricators and venues — yet have never had a formal business platform to collaborate, exchange knowledge or build joint opportunities. WV Connect 2026 is India’s first attempt to change that.
Now in its fourth year, WV Connect has grown from 400 delegates in its inaugural edition to 800+ professionals across India and internationally. It is not a trade fair or an awards ceremony. It is a knowledge-sharing summit — three days of sessions, panels, masterclasses and conversations led by the wedding industry’s most respected practitioners and, for the first time, the film industry’s most celebrated creative minds. The goal is the same every year: send every delegate home with ideas, connections and business opportunities they could not have found anywhere else.
How the Three Days Unfold
Day 1 — Tuesday, 1 September · Ramoji Film City
The summit opens not in a conference hall but on the sets of Ramoji Film City — the world’s largest film studio complex and the most cinematic possible backdrop for a Weddings & Films edition. Delegates experience a private tour of the studio’s iconic sets, followed by the summit’s signature opening event: Movie Blind Date Night, an evening cinema experience where the film is not revealed until the lights go down. The day closes with a VVIP Networking Dinner under the stars at Ramoji.
Day 2 — Wednesday, 2 September · Arth Resorts & Spa · Main Ballroom
The main conference begins at Arth Resorts with the inaugural keynote by Sabbas Joseph, co-founder of Wizcraft — the force behind IIFA and India’s most landmark live productions. The day brings together some of India’s most celebrated creative minds: Sabu Cyril, four-time National Award-winning production designer of Baahubali and RRR; K.K. Senthil Kumar, acclaimed cinematographer and long-standing collaborator of S.S. Rajamouli; Kumar Raja, Founder of Design by Raja; and Lauren Rodgers, Director of Events at Warner Bros. Abu Dhabi.
Sessions explore the intersection of cinematic production and luxury weddings — from immersive set design and projection mapping to AI-powered guest experiences and destination wedding production. The WV Connect EXPO runs through the day, bringing together exhibitors from across the wedding, film and hospitality industries. Speed networking, curated introductions and panel discussions round out the conference programme.
The evening shifts register entirely. Vaikuntam Kalyanam — the sacred ceremonial wedding of Lord Srinivasa and Goddess Padmavati, performed by priests specially invited from Tirumala Thirupathi Devasthanam — is followed by Bhajan Clubbing, a contemporary devotional music experience. The pairing is deliberate: a summit about the future of Indian weddings, anchored in the timeless spiritual tradition that defines the Indian wedding at its deepest level.
Day 3 — Thursday, 3 September · Arth Resorts & Spa · Mini Banquet + Awards Night
The final day opens with a Networking Brunch, followed by WedX and Masterclasses — the most intimate and intellectually rigorous sessions of the summit. WedX is WV Connect’s signature short-talk format: one speaker, one idea, ten minutes, one spotlight. No panel. No moderator. No Q&A. Ideas Worth Celebrating. Each WedX talk is filmed as a standalone piece and released after the summit, extending the reach of every idea beyond the room.
Masterclasses led by film and wedding industry professionals offer hands-on sessions in cinematic storytelling, virtual production, projection mapping, advanced lighting and production design — practical knowledge that delegates can apply directly to their work.
The summit concludes with the WV Awards 2026 Gala Night — India’s most credibly adjudicated wedding recognition platform. This year’s awards span 80+ categories across 16 industry segments, from photography, videography and decor to technology, entertainment and hospitality. All entries are scored by an independent international jury and processed by TABS — the Awards Tabulation Intelligence System — an AI-powered engine that makes every result timestamped, tamper-proof and fully auditable. The evening features a red carpet arrival, live awards ceremony and gala dinner at Arth Resorts.
Speakers and Participants
Among the prominent names at WV Connect 2026: Sabbas Joseph (Co-founder, Wizcraft); Sabu Cyril (Film Production Designer, Baahubali / RRR); KK Senthil Kumar (Cinematographer, Baahubali/RRR); Kumar Raja (Founder, Design by Raja); Lauren Rodgers (Director of Events, Warner Bros. Abu Dhabi); Rituraj Khanna (Founder, Q Events and President, WV Connect); Rahul Kumar and Maggi Kewlani (Vivaah Celebrations); Ruchi Pant (Chief Business Officer, Ramoji Film City); Matt Art (MD, Momentum Experiences & Events LLP); Punam Chadha Joseph (Author, Poet and Painter); Parul Sharma Wallbrown, Tarun Agarwal, Reema Thakkar Tiwari, Gauri Chadha, Photriya Venky, Laadi Sangeet Maker, Sandeep Molugu, Vishnu Vardhan Indur, Sri Koundinya and Ashok Kumar Koralath.
Weddings and films have always shared the same ingredients… storytelling, emotion, visual spectacle and exceptional craftsmanship. What has been missing is a common business platform. WV Connect 2026 brings these two ecosystems together not merely to celebrate their similarities, but to explore what they can create and build together. Every edition of WV Connect is designed around one question: what does this industry need to hear, see and do differently? In Hyderabad, with weddings and films in the same room, that question has never had a more powerful answer.
WV Connect is Asia’s Largest B2B Wedding Summit, published and organised by Wedding Vows — India’s leading wedding industry magazine. Founded by N DakshinaaMurthi, the summit travels to a different Indian city each year, bringing together the country’s most influential wedding, hospitality, film and creative professionals for three days of knowledge exchange, business networking and industry recognition. Past editions have been held in Chennai (2019), Mamallapuram (2023) and Jaipur (2024). Season 4 — Weddings & Films Edition — is the most ambitious edition to date.
