GBS 2026: Micro-dramas are new frontier but... - Abhishek Bachchan at ET NOW Global Business Summit 2026

On the rise of short-form content, Bachchan said, “It’s the new frontier, but I think it’s going to have to develop its own industry and ecosystem. I don’t think we should try to cross paths.”

He stressed that micro-dramas must be “built uniquely, on their own merit, from the ground up,” adding that it should evolve as “a completely different vertical to cinema and OTT platforms.”

Drawing a distinction between formats, he remarked, “I don’t think it would be prudent for film actors to be trying to do micro-dramas now because you are standing for two separate things.

On one hand, you are selling a product saying, ‘Come watch me for three hours and pay Rs 1,000 for a ticket,’ but hey, I am also available for 30 seconds. So, I think that’s bad marketing.”

Speaking about brand endorsements, Bachchan underlined authenticity as his guiding principle. “It will be dishonest of me to try to sell the product that I don’t use myself,” he said.

“A lot of products that interest me predominantly have something to do with whether I use them or not. That’s generally been the starting point for me.”

He added, “If I have to endorse something, I find it very uncomfortable, unnatural and almost deceitful if I don’t actually use the product.

My first criterion, if there was a proposal to be a brand ambassador, was — will I use the product if I don’t already? It has to be that.”

At a time when disruption is continuous and power is being re-distributed across technology, geopolitics, capital, and society, Times Group’s thought leadership dialogue, ET NOW Global Business Summit (GBS) 2026, set to take place on February 13 and February 14 at the Hotel Taj Palace in New Delhi, embraces the theme “A Decade of Disruption. A Century of Change”.

GBS 2026 - A Decade of Disruption. A Century of Change

This year’s edition reflects the scale, speed, and significance of transformations reshaping global economies, from technological acceleration and geopolitical realignment to sustainability imperatives and new governance models.

The GBS 2026 will evaluate a range of themes, including economic disruption, Industry 5.0, globalisation, workforce transformation, energy security and business diversification.

The Times Group’s ET NOW Global Business Summit (GBS) is not a reflection on the past; it is a platform built to shape what comes next. As Asia’s most influential global leadership forum, it convenes the architects of economies, institutions, and enterprises to script the forces that will define the century ahead.

Conceived as a space where leaders confront uncertainty before it becomes inevitability, GBS convenes the world’s most influential voices to interpret disruption, design direction, and script long-term impact.

As economies, technologies, and governance systems undergo accelerated transformation, GBS serves as a centre of global conversations, where emerging realities are debated, strategic responses are forged, and the foundations of future growth are laid.