WAVES: Top finalists of Cosplay Championship announced

The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has announced the top finalists of the Cosplay Championship, a part of the upcoming World Audio Visual & Entertainment Summit (WAVES).

Organised by the Media and Entertainment Association of India (MEAI), Indian Comics Association, and Creators Street, in collaboration with the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, TVAGA, and Forbidden Verse, a series of Cosplay Championship Meetups was organised in Mumbai and Hyderabad.

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A statement from the I&B Ministry said that following the meetups, the organisers shortlisted 29 cosplayers who will showcase their skills and creativity at Creatosphere during WAVES 2025. On April 19, a Wildcard Meetup is planned in Mumbai to select wildcard entries whose names will be added to the finalists.

The top 29 finalists include Kaizad Sheshbaradaran (Mumbai), Puneeth V (Bengaluru), Shaikh Sameer Kalim (Latur), Tejal Sanjay Mulik (Mumbai), Anup Bhatia (Pune), Navdeep Singh Pannu (Mumbai), Akashi Gautam (Lucknow), Aditya Kalebere (Pune), Swaraj Kalebere (Pune), Shreeharsh Narwade (Pune), Vivek Dilip Mane (Pune), Esha Joshi (Mumbai), Kedar Pandit (Mumbai), ArshyDeori (Guwahati), Marshy Deori (Guwahati), Md Piyal Shaikh (Mumbai), Pranay Panpatil (Mumbai), Gaurav Vishwakarma (Pune), Akhil (Hyderabad), Staya (Hyderabad), Nupur Munda (Hyderabad), Nakshatra (Hyderabad), Ruchira Corolin (Hyderabad), Sonali (Hyderabad), Neeraj Kumar (Hyderabad), Sravani (Hyderabad), Akhil CH (Hyderabad), Nayana Sai Sree (Hyderabad), and Leeladhar (Hyderabad).

The finalists were selected based on their craftsmanship, originality, performance, and dedication to character authenticity, the statement read. Describing what sets the championship apart from other competitions, Ajay Krishna, Founder of Forbidden Verse and one of the organisers for the Cosplay event, said that it is specially designed to shift the focus to Indian mythology and pop culture, apart from the other popular characters that are portrayed regularly in other such events.

The first edition of the World Audio Visual and Entertainment Summit will be organised by the Government of India in Mumbai, Maharashtra, from May 1 to 4.