MAM
Viviana Mall joins hands with Thane Police to tackle sexual harassment against women
MUMBAI: Every year the buzz around International Women's Day rises and falls, and we as a society fleetingly advocate the same rights with every passing year. This time, Viviana Mall went above and beyond the humdrum marketing efforts and became an agent for social change by tackling head-on a menace that plagues womankind – Ever-rising sexual harassment.
In an endeavor to celebrate the spirit of womanhood, Viviana Mall went a step ahead of the regular run-of-the-mill engagement and partnered with Thane Police to launch #MeraFarzHai. The movement aims to tackle the menace of sexual harassment and build a safer world for women.
Started with the aim to make a difference and bring a change in the society, the movement will include participation from the society and the customers of the mall who come.
The campaign collectively encourages everyone to make it their responsibility to ensure the safety and security of women and contribute towards stopping sexual harassment. Launched under the aegis of the “ExtraordiNaari” initiative by Viviana Mall, this campaign released a film in a unique way by organizing India’s first-ever blindfolded press conference. The members of the press were asked to blindfold themselves and a touching poem that aligned their minds to the plight of women and the horrors they go through on a daily basis was read out to them before unveiling the film. The impact that this activity had on the press was profound. The film was later showcased across all theatre screens in the Thane, Kalyan and Dombivali area in approximately 40 theatres and 150 screens. The film received great appreciation from the audience and amassed over a million views all across the social media platforms.
Joint CP Suresh Kumar Mekhla, Thane City, and ACP Padmaja Chavan, Special Branch, Thane City, unveiled the #MeraFarzHai hashtag.
In addition to that, John Lazarus Mascarenhas, a well-known Martial Arts and Self-Defense Instructor with over 30 years of experience conducted a workshop on gender sensitization and self-defense demonstration for women. Over 2000+ women were trained for self-defense at Viviana Mall.
The next leg of the campaign was aimed at making the bystanders more efficient, adept, and responsible than ever before. In India, people experience crimes as victims and as witnesses and in both these cases, the intent to call for help is evident. However, when it comes to reaching out for help, there is a lag. According to a sample survey conducted by Viviana Mall, more than 85% of people did not recollect having more than two emergency numbers. Also, people procrastinate saving emergency helpline numbers. This observation led to the campaign’s objective; delivering an easy contact saving process for victims and eyewitnesses.
This was achieved with the help of micro tech that was enabled on the website of Viviana Mall. A unique URL was created. This URL contained a master contact card with a list of all numbers. All one needed to do was click on the URL and all emergency contacts would be saved on one’s phone in a fraction of a second – all thanks to technology. This gave people a chance for saving all the possible helpline numbers with a single click. This URL went viral with over 15000+ saves organically and counting. The scale of this campaign was augmented through a 360° advertising model, i.e. an online and an offline marketing strategy. What was circulated as a URL online was shared as a QR code offline on Digital Screens at the mall, encouraging people to be ever ready, no matter what the nature of the emergency.
#MeraFarzHai was also supported by the celebrities and models at the Bombay Times Fashion Week. Well known actor, Vivek Oberoi supported it and also
was followed by models with their mouths taped shut. The fashion show depicted day-to-day scenarios where a woman is catcalled yet no one speaks up. The show ended with a poem that encouraged people to remove their metaphorical tape and speak up during times of such crimes and incidents.
After the fashion show, people came forward to sign a “pledge wall”, and thereby extend their support towards the initiative.
Viviana Mall chief marketing officer Rima Kirtikar said: "As a responsible corporate, we have always introduced programs and campaigns that are aligned to the benefit of society in general and in particular, our "ExtraordiNaari" program that has focused on women and their welfare. This year, we believed that the sensitive issue of harassment and abuse needed to be addressed and the pertinent point that came across all of us was that it is always viewed as someone else's problem and issue to be solved. The idea here was to involve society to be more conscious and to take the onus on to themselves to report any incident and get involved where it is necessary to become a deterrent to incidents. The campaign puts the onus of creating a safer world for women, on each one of us. This was just the beginning of this never-ending campaign, we are planning on conducting various gender-sensitization and self-defence seminars in schools and colleges soon. Through all the efforts, we believe that a more inclusive and participative community will go a long way to create a more secure and safe environment for all."
White Rivers Media CEO and co-founder Shrenik Gandhi said: "It’s a great opportunity to be serving one of our oldest clients with a campaign that will not only last for long but will have a positive impact across various strata of society. Thanks to all the support from creative and PR agencies, this campaign could reach beyond what we had initially projected. #MeraFarzHai will soon be a commonly accepted term and create a lot of vigilance amongst people at large about not only women being abused but across various causes wherein they can catalyze a change as a bystander.”
Thought Blurb CCO and managing partner Vinod Kunj said: “We’ve worked with Viviana Mall for the last six years, and helped them grow their flagship event ‘ExtraordiNaari’ into a powerful tool of social change over the years. Sexual Violence is one topic that is, unfortunately, always ‘current’. It’s always in the spotlight. However, the conversation has mainly revolved around the victim and the perpetrator. At thought blurb, we’ve always pushed ourselves to look at problems from new angles and perspectives. In doing so, we realized that there was a third person in the story that has always been left out of these conversations – the bystander- people like you and me. From this insight, the ‘Mera Farz Hai’ campaign was born. It’s a unique take to the problem that puts the onus of creating a safer world for women, on each of us.”
Thought Blurb executive creative director Renu Somani said: “We didn’t have to look far for inspiration for the ‘Mera Farz Hai’ film. These were situations that we’ve seen happen around us and may have faced them too. We wanted the film to reach the ‘bystander’. People who have witnessed harassment, and never spoken up. Through this film, we tried to make them aware of their role in preventing sexual violence, by highlighting the fact that our silence will only encourage the perpetrators. We did this by introducing the victim’s POV – an empty bus or office. This drove home the point about how helpless or lost victims feel when we turn a blind eye to harassment.”
What began as an initiative to tackle sexual harassment against women, quickly flared into a massive movement of women’s safety. Be it SMS, Emailers, Billboards at various places across the city, or Mall brandings, the campaign leveraged all possible media and consumer touchpoints to spread the word.
Brands
Yes Madam taps Rajpal Yadav’s Chota Don nostalgia to power new digital campaign
Home salon platform ropes in Tanya Mittal as it bets on humour and pop culture to showcase trust and convenience
NOIDA: India’s fast-growing home salon platform Yes Madam is leaning on nostalgia and a dose of comic chaos to pitch its services. The brand has launched a new digital campaign starring Rajpal Yadav and influencer Tanya Mittal, reviving Yadav’s much-loved Chota Don character to underline the reliability of at-home beauty services.
The campaign marks Yes Madam’s first collaboration with Rajpal Yadav and revisits the quirky Chota Don persona made famous in the 2007 film Partner. Produced with Footloose Films, the film blends slapstick humour with a nostalgic callback to spotlight the platform’s promise of dependable, quality services delivered at home.
The storyline plays out like a miniature action comedy. Tanya Mittal finds herself surrounded by goons and calls for help, only for Rajpal Yadav to appear in full Chota Don mode, dispatching the attackers in his trademark comic style as Mittal cheers him on. The drama then flips abruptly to a calmer scene, with Mittal relaxing at home while enjoying a Yes Madam service and insisting the heroic episode really happened, even as posters of Chota Don decorate her house. The film ends with Yadav’s voiceover declaring that the incident may or may not have happened, but the trust and quality of Yes Madam’s services certainly have.
The collaboration also follows a broader show of support for Rajpal Yadav within the industry. In the growing wave of backing for the veteran actor, Mayank Arya, co-founder and chief executive of Yes Madam, publicly supported actor-producer Sonu Sood’s call for concrete help from the film industry and corporate brands. Arya took to the social media platform X urging companies to move beyond expressions of sympathy and instead offer tangible opportunities to the actor amid his ongoing legal and financial challenges.
He wrote, “Seconded @SonuSood. Even brands should come forward to help the great talent. @Rajpalofficial will also be a part of an ad film @_yesmadam! Have already aligned the team on it. #ComeBackStronger.”
Seconded @SonuSood. Even brands should come forward to help the the great talent.@Rajpalofficial will also be a part of an ad film @_yesmadam !
Have already aligned the team on it.#ComeBackStronger https://t.co/Q7qpJttLTs— Mayank Arya (@iammayankarya) February 11, 2026
Rajpal Yadav recently surrendered at Tihar Jail after the Delhi High Court rejected his plea seeking additional time to repay dues in a long-running cheque-bounce case. The actor had been accused in the case in 2018 after he was unable to repay a loan taken for a film project that failed at the box office. The court later ordered him to surrender after the dues remained unpaid.
The situation triggered a wave of support from several high-profile figures. Sonu Sood emerged as one of the most prominent voices, expressing solidarity and promising Yadav a role in his next film. Sood emphasised that industry support should be about dignity and real job opportunities rather than charity. Celebrities including Salman Khan, Ajay Devgn, Gurmeet Choudhary and Guru Randhawa have also publicly extended financial and professional support.
Before surrendering, Rajpal Yadav shared an emotional statement in which he spoke about feeling alone and unsupported, a remark that struck a chord with many in the industry. However, his brother later clarified that the actor would never have intended to suggest that he lacked support from colleagues or well-wishers.
Reflecting on the campaign, Mayank Arya said the film was designed to entertain while strengthening the brand’s message. “At Yes Madam, we have always believed in creating campaigns that connect with audiences in an engaging and memorable way. I had earlier spoken about the importance of extending meaningful opportunities to Rajpal Yadav, and we are glad to be the first brand to take that step forward with this collaboration. Through this film, we wanted to create a compelling narrative while also reinforcing the trust and reliability that customers associate with Yes Madam’s services,” Arya said.
Akanksha Vishnoi, co-founder, said the campaign leans on nostalgia to strike a chord with digital audiences. “Consumers today engage deeply with content that blends entertainment with relatability. With this campaign, we wanted to revisit a nostalgic moment while subtly reinforcing the convenience and reliability of at-home services. Rajpal Yadav’s Chota Don is an iconic character that instantly evokes nostalgia and humour, making it the perfect fit for this campaign. Tanya Mittal’s presence added a vibrant energy and helped us bring the vision of the campaign to life,” Vishnoi said.
Founded in 2016, Yes Madam offers salon and spa services at home through trained professionals using hygienic, single-use product formats. The platform now operates in more than 55 cities across India, pitching convenience, transparency and quality to a growing base of urban consumers.
The new campaign, rolling out across social media and video platforms, makes its pitch with a wink. The Chota Don rescue might be fiction, but the promise of a salon at your doorstep, the brand suggests, is the real deal.
