VIRGIN MOBILE DOES A 'HATKE' NUMBER

TTL’s Virgin Mobile and Channel [v], India’s leading youth music channel, came together to create India’s first LIVE Bollywood flick “Andaaz Apna Very Hatke”. The blockbuster starred none other than Richard Branson opposite the versatile and charismatic Bollywood actor, Neha Dhupia. In what could be termed as a true masala Bollywood flick, this LIVE mini blockbuster was aired on Channel [v] at 9 pm. True to his reputation for innovation, Sir Richard Branson, chose an amazing Bollywood first to showcase one of the most popular Virgin brands, Virgin Mobile. Making it larger than life with 50 cameras and a two hundred strong crew ensemble as well as with all other elements carefully crafted for the finale event, the first-of-its-kind LIVE Bollywood flick surely had the audiences stunned.

Earlier in the day, Virgin Group created history by launching India’s first nation-wide youth focused mobile service in association with Tata Teleservices. Sir Richard Branson went on to ‘fly’ down the façade of The Hilton Towers in Mumbai, unveiling the Virgin Mobile logo in mid flight. This was followed by a formal announcement at a press conference.

As announced earlier today, Virgin Mobile services will be offered to Indian consumers by Tata Teleservices through a brand franchise with the Virgin Group. This initiative unites the passion of the two business groups for putting customers first and finding innovative, fun ways of enriching their lives. The birth of Virgin Mobile India represents Virgin Group’s first major brand launch in India.

Bollywood’s first ever ‘LIVE’ was shot amidst much fanfare At the MMRDA grounds, Bandra. The sets were at its demonstrative best, offering the ideal setting for a typical Bollywood masala movie. Amrita Arora flaunted her purple dress. Kim Sharma and Sushma Reddy posed pretty for the shutterbugs. While affable Aaftab Shivdasani spreaded her cute smile. Milind Soman kept the heart pulse racing with his presence. Neha Dhupia thundered on the stage, gyrating to ‘Aaj ki raat..’ from the movie Don. Sir Richard Branson drew attention & applause as he made his entry and swayed to the hit number Mauja Hi Mauja along with Neha Dhupia. With DJ at the helm of affairs everyone boogied away to the smash hits.

It was a miniature Bollywood flick with emotions, drama and songs - all the elements that make a typical Bollywood film the unique experience that it is. The flick featured all the elements of a movie, a zalim baap-Seth Raichand (Jitendra Trehan), a gareeb hero - Rahul (Adityavikram Gupta), one bheegi bheegi heroine- Simran (Tina Desai) and a kameena villain- Rocky (Vijay Badlani). These four artists were chosen through a nation wide talent hunt by Channel [v]. The flick also featured Neha Dhupia, the former Miss India, in a special appearance. The performance was replete with copybook Bollywood scenes like a gangsters’ adda, a moonlit romance, item number and even a rain sequence.

Said Sir Richard Branson on making his debut in a live Bollywood flick, “Tonight’s LIVE airing of “Andaaz Apna Very Hatke” marked not only a world first for the Virgin Mobile brand but a Bollywood first for the whole of India! I’m not sure I was entirely convincing as a Bollywood hero and I don’t expect Karan Johar to be calling me anytime soon but in true Virgin Mobile tradition it was great fun. The young people from all over India who took part in tonight’s performance were fantastic and I hope as a result of India’s first live Bollywood flick they become stars of the future. After all as we like to say at Virgin Mobile India “Think Hatke”!

Accomplishing a rare achievement, an elated Amar K Deb, Head Honcho Channel [v] said: “It is truly an amazing feeling to partner with a young and admired brand like Virgin Mobile which holds similar brand values like ours. Channel [v] is known for creating cutting edge content and we are extremely proud to present a path breaking concept to our viewers and are overwhelmed with the appreciation we have received for the same.”

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