MAM
Bhartiya Mall of Bengaluru adds 16 new brands in six months of growth
MUMBAI: Bhartiya Mall of Bengaluru, the city’s premier lifestyle and shopping destination, has strengthened its retail portfolio with 16 brand launches in just six months, marking an impressive phase of growth and curation. The latest to join its expanding lineup is The Souled Store, one of India’s most popular homegrown D2C apparel and lifestyle brands.
With its quirky, pop-culture-inspired aesthetic and officially licensed merchandise from Marvel, Disney, DC, Harry Potter, and Friends, The Souled Store brings an immersive, experience-led space to Bhartiya Mall’s fashion floor: one designed for millennial and Gen Z shoppers who crave creativity, comfort, and self-expression.
“Our retail mix is carefully curated to reflect the preferences of our catchment,” said Bhartiya Urban senior vice-president Ramaraju KN. “With a large base of millennials and Gen Zs, we’re focused on bringing in dynamic, experience-driven brands that resonate with their lifestyle and aspirations.”
The Souled Store joins a vibrant lineup of recent entrants including Shobitam, Peachmode, Biglilpeople, Indyvarna, Hush Puppies, Frangipani (featuring Chumbak, Imara, Voylla, and Abhishti), and Zoul & Zera. Earlier this year, the mall expanded into the home category with HomesToLife, offering premium furniture and design-led living solutions from Domicil, Fabbrica, and Corian.
Bhartiya Mall has also diversified its dining and lifestyle offerings, welcoming Frank’s Hot Dog, Liquid Story, and Lily Bloom’s, alongside five new kiosks including Cookie Man, Taara, Quem, The Man Company, and 3m Car Care.
Strategically located within the Bhartiya City township near Hebbal, the 7.5-lakh-square feat mall has emerged as a go-to lifestyle hub for North Bengaluru, catering to Gen Z, millennials, families, and working professionals alike. With an expanding catchment averaging 3,000 new homes and 3,000–5,000 office seats added each month, the mall is ideally positioned to meet the evolving needs of the city’s fast-growing population.
MAM
VML India lands two finalist spots at Cairns Hatchlings 2026
The Mumbai agency is back in Australia with two teams, a UN brief and 24 hours to impress
MUMBAI: VML India is heading to Australia again. The Mumbai-based creative agency has secured two finalist spots at the Cairns Hatchlings 2026 competition, one in the Audio category and one in Design, making it the only Indian agency to have reached the finals in both editions of the contest since its launch in 2025.
Four people will make the trip. Senior copywriter Shilpi Dey and senior art director Raj Thakkar will compete in Audio. Art directors Shabbir and Shruti Negi will go head-to-head with the world’s best in Design. The finals take place at the Cairns Convention Centre from 13th May, culminating in an awards ceremony on 15th May.
The work that got them there is worth examining. For the Audio category, Dey and Thakkar tackled a brief for LIVE LIKE MMAD with a campaign called Inner Voice, Interrupted. Using spatial audio techniques, the campaign recreates the overwhelming self-doubt that descends after a long workday, physically panning negative thoughts left and right before cutting the noise entirely to reveal a confident inner voice. Strategically targeted at commuters via Spotify during evening rush hours, the campaign reframes the hours after work as an opportunity for personal growth and charitable action.
For the Design category, Shabbir and Negi worked on a brief for Canteen’s Bandanna Day, a campaign highlighting how cancer pushes teenagers out of their own defining moments. Using a pixelated design language to create stark contrast between a blurred world of isolation and a focused world of connection, the campaign, titled The Flipside of Cancer, shows teenagers fading into the background of birthdays, skateparks and school proms. As a Canteen bandanna appears, the blur flips and the teenager snaps back into sharp focus.
Kalpesh Patankar, group chief creative officer of VML India, made no attempt to disguise his satisfaction. “We are immensely proud to see our teams consistently excel on the Cairns Hatchlings platform since its inception,” he said. “They have masterfully tackled challenging briefs across diverse categories, demonstrating both layered storytelling and a unique creative approach. This exceptional teamwork is truly inspiring.”
Dey and Thakkar, returning to the finals after last year’s run, were candid about the demands of the audio medium. “It’s one of the most demanding mediums, where we only have a few seconds to capture a listener’s world with sound alone, so absolute clarity is essential,” they said. “The true measure of creative work is its ability to create positive change, and our audio submission was made to help those who need it most while encouraging people to silence the inner voices that hold them back.”
Shabbir and Negi, competing in Design for the first time, described the experience as “a completely different beast.” “We see it as an opportunity to showcase our expertise, raise the bar, and challenge ourselves in new ways, while also learning from creative minds from across the globe,” they said.
In Australia, the four finalists will face a live 24-hour brief from the United Nations before presenting in a live pitch session. Twenty-four hours, one brief, one shot. VML India has been here before. It knows exactly what is at stake.
