An emotional goodbye from Tinaa to Aashka on &TV’s Daayan

Actress Aashka Goradia who entered &TV’s Daayan as the powerful and vibrant Satrupa, recently bid an overwhelming adieu to the entire cast and crew of the show. While the actress has been shooting with the entire team for only 3 months, she has built some strong bonds with the cast and crew members who bid her a teary-eyed farewell.

Making this moment nothing short of a pleasant surprise was none other than actress Tinaa Datta who in a very short time managed to develop a close bond with the actress. Not only did she arrange for a cake cutting in her green room, but also invited Aashka’s husband, Brent Goble to be a part of this emotional moment. 

Overwhelmed with all the pleasant memories created on the sets of Daayan, Aashka said, “Supernatural has always been one of my favourite genres, and &TV’s Daayan definitely added to the thrill of working in this space. As much as I enjoyed essaying Satrupa, I loved creating her and designing her looks. It was definitely was one of the most interesting and fun highlights of my character. I am thankful to the writers and the creative team for giving me the liberty to play my character on my own free will. A big shout out to the entire unit who was been so supportive and a great team to work with. I am going to dearly miss working with the entire cast, especially Tinaa who has become a really close friend. A special thanks to her for making my farewell such a cherishing memory.”

Sharing some of her memories with her dearest co-star, Tinaa said, “Aashka is a dear friend and while we have known each other from before, we connected deeply while shooting on the sets of &TV’s Daayan. From discussing our scenes and characters to sharing our healthy food dabbas, our journey as co-actors has been truly splendid, and I am really going to miss her presence on set. She was not just a friend who would help me discover my character in the best way, but also a confidante who I could share my secrets with. I hope to work with her again sometime soon.”

Cosmos-Maya’s Yoga ambitions given a boost by PM Narendra Modi who performs Asanas with Motu Patlu, the eponymous leads of the iconic show that airs on Nickelodeon

The animation major’s plans of producing entertaining, child friendly Yoga videos for young viewers given a fillip by the Prime Minister.

Cosmos-Maya’s iconic characters Motu and Patlu performed yoga along with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the fifth edition of International Day of Yoga at Ranchi. The characters were present at the event to motivate children towards yoga. This development is in line with Cosmos-Maya’s efforts to inculcate in the lives of its young viewers the goodness of Yoga. The studio is in the process of producing Yoga videos to air on WowKidz, it’s YouTube platform with 23 million subscribers.

These Yoga videos will have ViR and Imli, characters from the company’s hit series ‘ViR: The Robot Boy’, teaching kids Asanas which will be child friendly and easy to do, and in an entertaining format. These will be available to viewers in 12 major Indian languages on WowKidz.

Said Anish Mehta, CEO, Cosmos-Maya, “We are elated to see our characters Motu and Patlu share a platform with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The Bhagawad Gita calls Yoga the journey of the self, through the self, to the self. It has been our endeavor to pass on this message to all our employees and viewers alike. We are in the process of creating dedicated videos to help kids understand the benefits of Yoga. With the 23 million subscribers, the reach and scope of these videos will be tremendous. We are very proud to be following our Prime Minister’s footsteps, and we will take Yoga to every nook and corner of the country in 12 regional languages.” 

A crowd of 40,000 people that gathered at the ground to participate in the massive yoga event which went on for 45 mins. Nickelodeon had included Motu Patlu as part of the proceedings. The iconic animated characters were spotted in the middle of the ground. Addressing the mega celebration of Yoga Day, PM Modi thanked everyone for participating in the event and urged them to make yoga an integral part of their lives. Modi was accompanied by several ministers and senior government officials including Jharkhand Governor Draupdi Murmu, Chief Minister Raghubar Das, Ayush Minister Sripad Naik, state Health Minister Ramchandra Kesari.

The Jharkhand government, in a statement, said, "The Motu and Patlu characters were present on the ground to attract children towards yoga."

Ayushmann Khurrana & Naezy come together with Axe to launch ‘Ab Teri Baari’

What does it mean to ‘Be a man?’ Bollywood star Ayushmann Khurrana, who has defied stereotypes to become the face of content cinema in India, & Naezy - India’s No 1 rap/hip-hop artist have teamed up with World’s Number 1 Deodorant Axe, India’s leading digital platform Arré and Mindshare, the largest media agency from GroupM to find answers to this question. The music video features the stories of Indian football captain Sunil Chhetri, Dance Superstar Dharmesh Yelande, YouTube Sensation ‘BeYouNick’ and the Made in Heaven actor Shashank Arora.

The collaboration song called ‘Ab Teri Baari’ is a strong call to action for Indian guys to stop worrying about the rules of society and the dreaded ‘Log kya kahenge’ and focus on finding what makes them unique instead. Built around Axe’s brand purpose of inspiring guys to express their individuality and becoming their most attractive selves, the song mirrors the brand’s communication platform of ‘Make Your Own Rules’

A Music Video with A Power Packed Roster of Influencers

Ayushmann Khurrana & Naezy who are performing together for the first time have co-created an incredibly catchy song composed by Clinton Cerejo that brings alive the personal stories of Sunil Chhetri, Dharmesh Yelande, ‘BeYouNick’ and Shashank Arora.

Defying the ‘Stereotypes’

Sunil Chettri exemplifies that ‘It’s Ok for A Guy to Share His Emotions’. We all remember the iconic moment where his heartfelt request to fans to come and support the Indian Football team’s matches lead to an outpouring of love and support across the country.

Youtuber ‘BeYouNick’ stands testament to the fact that in today’s changing world guys can explore their passions, make a career out of it and be successful because they are doing what they love.

Dharmesh Yelande, a man who has redefined dance with his signature dance moves inspires guys to not worry statements like ‘Dance Like A Man’ because there is no such way of dance and encapsulates it perfectly with his dance moves and his line ‘Karun Bharatanatyam ya Karun mai Zumba’

Actor Shashank Arora laughs off the ‘Men Must be Macho’ mantra and charms his way through with his statement “6 pack nahi lekin heart mera tiger,’ an attitude that has helped him in his journey to becoming the man that he is today.

New Age of Branded Collaboration

A truly collaborative effort between Hindustan Unilever’s iconic deodorant brand Axe and leading new age digital platform Arré; Ab Teri Baari is a great example of the intersection between a brand’s ideology and a platform’s creativity in creating impactful branded content. The song will be out across Arre’s social media platforms and partner network.

Talking about the concept, Nippun Aneja, General Manager Deodorants & Men’s Grooming at Hindustan Unilever Limited explained, “Many boys in India still feel an overwhelming pressure to conform to masculine stereotypes. There are many said & unsaid rules on how to ‘Be a Man’ - The way you look, the way you act & interact with your peers; even your career choices & hobbies are being judged through the lens of being ‘masculine enough.’

We want young guys to feel free from the pressures of these ‘rules’, discover what makes them unique and work on it. Axe believes that expressing your individuality is what makes a guy attractive, so go ahead ‘Make Your Own Rules’ and be the best version of yourself.”

Ayushmann Khurrana added, “If you look at my career choices, I have always fought labelling. I have tried, in my own way, to create a path for myself and not walk on the path that I was told to walk on. Yes, it was tougher to create my own identity but today, looking back at my journey, it was necessary and definitely worth it. As soon as I heard the concept of Ab Teri Baari, I immediately wanted to collaborate because it appealed to me strongly. The song reflects how I have lived my life and my own career choices that challenged conformism. The song demolishes stereotypes and calls out for inclusivity that this society so desperately needs.”

Naezy commented on the song “This anthem is something that would resonate with every individual. We have all been stereotyped at one point in time. So, this anthem is dedicated to everyone who is trying to make their life on their own terms.”

Jaideep Singh, Director Arrè commented, “As a platform and a voice that has led gender-based conversations for the youth over the last few years, Arre is stoked to have conceptualized this initiative with Axe. This campaign is a perfect showcase of content and brand seamlessly engaging with the youth in a conversation that is important to them. Arre has developed this unique campaign with spectacular coming together of talent and impeccable creative execution with top of the line production values and a brilliant delivery plan across multiple platforms.” 

Commenting on this, Ajay Mehta, Vice President, Content+, Mindshare said, “Axe has always been an iconic youth brand with communication deep rooted in Pop culture. The idea was to use Music & more importantly Hip Hop as a genre which has been recently quite popular among the younger audiences. While Ayushmann & Naezy have given their voice, the music video features some of the top influencers who not only resonate with the brand but are real-life examples. Each of them have a unique story to tell which brings alive the brand’s narrative in a compelling manner. It’s a light-hearted piece of content which is fun, catchy yet inspiring.”

Mindshare wins ‘Media Network of the Year’ award at Cannes 2019

Mindshare, the media agency network and part of WPP, recently got awarded ‘Media Network of the Year’ at one of the most coveted festival of creativity, Cannes Lions 2019. The agency won a Silver in the Media Lions category for HUL Lifebuoy’s ‘Infection Alert System’ and a Bronze in the Creative Data Lions category for the same campaign.

79% of rural consumers use the basic ‘Feature Phone’ which has no internet connectivity. This medium has 6 times higher reach than any other medium in rural areas. The solution was to create a data-led Infection Alert System that would act as a lighthouse to alert the rural consumers when they were most vulnerable to fatal diseases. This was done by leveraging data and the reach of mobile phones in traditionally media dark geographies. Over 64 million Outbound Dialler (OBD) calls were made over a period of 8 weeks to warn the locals on the outbreak of a particular communicable disease in their area and the necessary preventive measures that should be taken.

The Infection Alert System (IAS) also known as ‘Adaptive Data Lighthouse’ was created by Mindshare and used Government of India data on disease outbreaks which was collected from 34,000 rural community health centres across 822 sub-districts/villages of Uttar Pradesh & Bihar. The challenges with this data were that it was unstructured, maintained in paper-forms, in local languages with no metadata standards. Old paper records were digitized and then algorithms used to read and load data into a structured database of 21 communicable diseases. Historical disease incidence was modelled to arrive at predictive incidence rates at a village level, using time series models. If predicted severity of disease incidence for villages were above a certain threshold then warning calls would be activated for those villages only and not the entire state.

The insight behind the campaign was that most Indians eat and feed food using their hands and wash hands without soap. This practise is rampant in rural areas in India which make them susceptible to various communicable diseases. Mindshare’s campaign is a bright example of purpose-driven marketing.  The driving force behind the Lifebuoy brand is an inspiring vision for more hygienic, healthier environment and to create vital communities which the campaign embodied.

Commenting on the win MA Parthasarathy (MAPS), CEO South Asia said, “Reaching out to rural consumers has always been a challenge for brands. 70 per cent of Lifebuoy’s sales come from rural India. Building on Lifebuoy’s identity of being a purpose-driven brand, we utilised two of Mindshare’s core pillars- data and technology to create an innovation which made scalable difference. Awards like these motivate teams who were heavily invested in making this a success and also assure us that we are doing some great work.”

“The Lifebuoy “Infection Alert System” brings together some really sharp brand insight with deep media expertise to deliver relevant messaging in a precise fashion to the target audience. The collaboration across various teams on the brand side, media agency and extended partners who helped us land this at a tremendous scale is truly noteworthy.  And, the impact along with the recognition is the true testimony of the power of the idea and the validation of the flawless execution by the teams. The Cannes wins make the winning streak of Lifebuoy “Infection Alert System” even more special.” said Gaurav Jeet Singh , General Manager - Media (South Asia) , Hindustan Unilever Limited.

“It’s a proud moment for HUL and Mindshare on the recent Cannes Lions wins for the Lifebuoy Infection Alert System.

 A fine realisation of data-driven marketing, the campaign made the best use of unstructured data on disease outbreaks and institutionalise an infection alert system in the hinterland. This warning system would alert consumers most at risk of life-threatening diseases through an automatic calling system. Being contextual to the prevalent disease in their village, consumer receptivity was high resulting in high recall.

It's been quite a journey putting this together and implementing it at scale. This award is a fantastic recognition of the effort that Mindshare, the media and brand teams have put in.” commented Sandeep Kohli, Executive Director, Beauty and Personal Care, Hindustan Unilever Limited 

“The purpose of our brand Lifebuoy, India’s largest selling soap, is to help millions of mothers stay one step ahead of infections so that their children fall sick less often. We were able to do this through ‘our infection alert system’, which has won at Cannes, by leveraging data and the reach of mobile phones in traditionally media dark geographies, to ensure we live our purpose.” commented Harman Dhillon, Vice President – Marketing, Hindustan Unilever Limited

Divyaj Foundation announces the Winners of ‘Mitti Ke Sitare’ at the Grand Finale

‘Mitti Ke Sitare’, the celebration of Musical Talent dedicated to the indigent society of Mumbai, hosted the Grand Finale with glitz and glamour on Saturday, 22nd June 2019 at Dome, NSCI Worli. The Chief Guest for this magnificent event was Mr. Devendra Fadnavis, Honorable Chief Minister of Maharashtra.  Other renowned dignitaries included Shri. Raosaheb Danve Patil, Shri. Chandrakant Dada Patil, Shri Sudhir Mungantiwar, Shri Vinod Tawde, Smt. Pankaja Munde to name a few and famous personalities from the music and Bollywood fraternities including Grammy award winner Jerry Wonda as the Guest Of Honour, Padma Shri Shankar Mahadevan as the Special Guest, Shiamak Davar, Shriram Iyer, Kumar Bapi, Darshan Raval, Manisha Koirala, Mr. Khailash Kher, Mr. Anu Malik, Himesh Reshammiya, Mr. Jackey Shroff, Mr. Sailesh lodha among others.

Mrs. Amruta Fadnavis, Advisor to Divyaj Foundation and also an accomplished singer has ideated this musical talent hunt especially for the underprivileged students of slums and BMC schools. During the Finale she said “I was motivated by Hon. Prime Minister, Shri. Narendra Modiji to extend musical education to the talented children of the underprivileged section of the society. I am really delighted and overwhelmed by the talent available in our country, especially amongst the underprivileged and with the project Mitti Ke Sitare, these children have now begun their journey towards achievement and self-fulfilment.”

The exceptionally talented 18 contestants, aged between 7 and 15 years, were awarded Rs. 25000 each as cash prize along with Winning Trophies.

The memorable evening began with the lamp lighting and felicitation of the dignitaries present at the event by the Trustees of Divyaj Foundation’s Mr. Sampath Iyer, Mrs. Pallavi Shrivastava and Core Member Mr. Kavin Shah which was followed by the beautiful rendition by the percussionist maestro, Sivamani.

The highlight of the evening was the inspiring and splendid singing of the top semi-finalists who enthralled the audience with the performances.

Commenting on the occasion Mr. Shankar Mahadevan said, “When Shankar Mahadevan Academy was approached for conducting this massive talent hunt across all 1187 MCGM schools in Mumbai, I knew we were more than ready to take on the challenge. This is the first time that an organization has run a contest at such a large scale and our contest platform ensured that each contestant was evaluated fairly and transparently – and all this was done in a matter of 2-3 weeks! The shortlisted 18 finalists have been groomed and coached by our music instructors and I’m proud of the fantastic job they did today”

Mrs. Neerja Birla, Founder and Chairperson Mpower extended her best wishes to the contestants and maintained “Mitti ke sitare has been an amazing journey so far. Mpower has worked with the finalists to help them prepare for the finals by organizing various workshops. Having a good mental health is very important for children to live up to their potential. This ensures that the children live a life that is filled with positive experiences and the willingness to do what is best for themselves and the people around them. These workshops will help the children deal with the possible mental health concerns early on.”

The winning team mentioned “We are thankful to Amruta ji and Divyaj Foundation for this opportunity.  We love the care, discipline and efforts that the gurus have rendered to sharpen our singing skills. Apart from singing, we were also trained in other areas for overall development. We enjoyed every moment of our training

The evening also featured stunning live performances by Padma Shri Shankar Mahadevan and Mrs. Amruta Fadnavis along with the Contestants, Mr. Jerry Wonda, Shiamak Victory Arts Foundation children to name a few.

‘Mitti Ke Sitare’ is a social initiative by social activist and Vice President-Corporate Head with Axis Bank, Mrs. Amruta Fadnavis, in association with Mpower, to provide a platform for the hidden talents across indigent areas of the country. To conduct this social welfare project, Divyaj Foundation associated with 1187 MCGM schools to connect, identify and select children from the underprivileged sector - those who are blessed with talent but lack resources to improve themselves.