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Amidst the high-octane advertising mélange that is the IPL season, MakeMyTrip’s latest campaign truly stands out. India's leading online travel company plays on the much-expounded benefits of ‘star power’ albeit with a twist, where the stars signed for the campaign never really show their face.

The campaign comprises four films starring Bollywood's Bhidu - Jackie Shroff, the God of Dance - Prabhu Deva, and the 'Breathless' Grammy-winning singer-composer Shankar Mahadevan. Each of these personalities are so distinct in their style, voice and attitude that anyone familiar with their work will recognise them even without seeing their face. MakeMyTrip plays on this insight to showcase the platform as the ‘Asli Star’ (real hero) of the campaign, highlighting the benefits of booking hotels and homestays on the platform. Jackie dada drops Shakespeare-sque gems about maximising on life’s experiences whether on a trip or beyond; Prabhu Deva shares his love for dancing with abandon especially when your hotel room has all the amenities conducive to it; and Shankar Mahadevan sings breathlessly to cover the myriad offers available on the platform. A fourth film featuring two cricketing legends will go live later this week. Peppered into the ad films are inside jokes for the delight of true fans, and lovers of internet culture which audiences would love to keep their eyes peeled for.

Watch the films here:

Bhidu Shakespeare feat. Jackie Shroff: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ta9EIr6kbRk

Moves Don’t Lie Feat. Prabhu Deva: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3m4ozG_TlfI

Breathless 2.0 Feat. Shankar Mahadevan: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_5SSi5oz-8

Raj Rishi Singh, Chief Marketing Officer and CBO - Corporate, MakeMyTrip said, “When it comes to advertising, our goal is to keep upping the ante on the quirk-factor or the humour in our campaigns. Easily relatable situations, characters and people are brought into the fold of the brand’s communication but with a distinct MakeMyTrip edge. For this campaign too, we wanted to spotlight our fabulous hotels and homestays offerings with an equally fabulous star cast. It turns out that each of the personalities in our 4 films are real-life patrons of our platform. This information and their own distinct personal styles combined really brought our vision to fruition.”

This creative campaign has been conceptualised by the creative agency Talented and directed by Suresh Triveni, Open Image and Radhika Produces Films. Pearl Alex, Creative, Talented said “How bold the client, and how humble the celebrity, who hears a concept like this and says yes! Credit to co-founder & CCO P.G. Aditya for not just the creative device, but also letting no one shy away from it. We wanted to work with talent who had stories & personalities bigger than their face value, and an even bigger heart to attempt this format. All the inside jokes and ‘was that really him?’ moments in each film were intentional for rewatchability. If you’re going to see an ad umpteen times, we may as well make it fun, giving you something new to spot each time!”

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