MAM
Mahindra Urges People to #CutTheCrapwith its new campaign
Mumbai: The Mahindra Group reinforced its long-term commitment towards the Environment through the launch of a new campaign that builds a case for waste management. Social listening revealed Environment to be among the top three concerns for millennials. More specifically, inadequate waste management and the damage from single use plastic usage emerged as the biggest worries. These key insights drove the Mahindra Group to launch its new #CutTheCrap campaign.
The campaign has been launched with afilmthat goes live today. Itequates the problemscaused by single use plastic bags to weapons of mass destruction. The film shows that a non-recyclable plastic bagchokes and clogs our oceans and landfills, and has very detrimental consequencesfor the environmentnow and over the long term.
A part of the#RiseForGood communication series, #CutTheCrap aims to alert viewers about the damaging effects of plastic and other forms of non-recyclable wasteand exhorts them to inculcate smart waste management practices. In the past, Mahindra has brought attention to social issues like girl child education and deforestation as part of the series.
Highlighting the purpose behindthis new campaign, Vivek Nayer, Chief Marketing Officer, Group Corporate Brand, Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. said – “Through our new #CutTheCrap campaign, we are putting our Rise For Good philosophy into action to bring about greater environmental awareness and societal change. We have consistently focused on bringing issues concerning the environment to the fore, and waste management is a crucial topic within this. Our aim is not only to sensitize people but to also enable them towards behaviour change.”
Robby Mathew, Chief Creative Officer, FCB Interface said, "The idea was to help the viewer see the harmless looking plastic bag from a whole new perspective. By equating it with some of the deadliest weapons known to mankind, we drew attention to the looming threat that is already upon us. And who better than Mahindra, with their track record of relentlessly focusing on waste management, to take this message to the world."
This 360-degree campaign includespromotion across digital and social media, supported by select television and print media. Digital teasers have gone live ahead of today’s launch. The campaign will also include creatives to enable people to reduce, reuse and recyclewaste, combined with celebrating change makers. The campaign will also include content-based engagements to highlight the significant waste management efforts at Mahindra Group companies which are setting new industry benchmarks. To enable people to take action on the ground in the area of waste management, the company has identified and associated with specialized NGOs, log on to http://bit.ly/SiteCutTheCrapfor more details
In fact, 2019 marks a decade of commitment to the cause of Sustainability by the Mahindra Group. Some noteworthy milestones include:
– 1.4 lac tonnes of waste was reused, composted and recycled in 2018, which accounts for 80% of the total waste being generated
– Last year, Mahindra had 5 out of only 7 Zero-Waste-to-Landfill (ZWL) factories in the world with >99% diversion of waste (certified by Intertek). Today we have 9 ZWL plants, 1 Research Facility (MRV, Chennai) and 1 Club Mahindra Resort (Virajpet), with many more on the way.
– Additionally, the Bio CNG facility in Mahindra World City, Chennai is converting 100% of wet waste to power run CNG and vehicles within the city
– CERO, a JV between Mahindra Accelo and the Metal Scrap TradeCorporation Limited (MSTC) is India’s first authorized vehicle recycling facility that is focused on safely disposing of cars at the end of their lifecycle.
– Mahindra employees have disposed of single use plastic responsibly by being part of the Group's plastic disposal drive (2100 kgs so far in 2019, 1,700 kgs in 2018).
– Mahindra employees participate in periodic clean-up drives held across the country, covering public areas such as railway stations, beaches, schools, etc.
– Tech Mahindra has stopped using plastic bottles in all its campuses across the world and the remaining Mahindra group companies are doing the same
– Plastic in packaging is steadily being reduced and the proportion of recycled plastic is increasing where there is no alternative to plastic yet
Agency details:
• Chief Creative Officer – Robby Mathew, FCB Interface
• Group Creative Director – Ferzad Variyava, FCB Interface
• Film Production House – Adventure Films
• Director – Alok Kulkarni
Digital
Content India 2026 opens with a copro pitch, a spice evangelist and a £10,000 prize for Indian storytelling
Dish TV and C21Media’s three-day summit puts seven ambitious projects before an international jury, and two walk away with serious development money
MUMBAI: India’s content industry gathered in Mumbai this March for Content India 2026, a three-day summit organised by Dish TV in partnership with C21Media, and it wasted no time making a statement. The event opened with a Copro Pitch that put seven scripted and unscripted television concepts before an international panel of judges, and by the end of it, two projects had walked away with £10,000 each in marketing prize money from C21Media to support development and international promotion.
The jury, comprising Frank Spotnitz, Fiona Campbell, Rashmi Bajpai, Bal Samra and Rachel Glaister, evaluated a shortlist that ranged from a dark Mumbai comedy-drama about mental health (Dirty Minds, created by Sundar Aaron) to a Delhi coming-of-age mystery (Djinn Patrol, by Neha Sharma and Kilian Irwin), a techno-thriller about a teenage gaming prodigy (Kanpur X Satori, by Suchita Bhatia), an investigative crime drama blending mythology and modern thriller (The Age of Kali, by Shivani Bhatija), a documentary on India’s spice heritage (The Masala Quest, hosted by Sarina Kamini), a documentary on competitive gaming (Respawn: India’s Esports Revolution, by George Mangala Thomas and Sangram Mawari), and a reality-horror competition merging gaming and immersive fear (Scary Goose, by Samar Iqbal).
The session was hosted by Mayank Shekhar.
The two winners were Djinn Patrol, backed by Miura Kite, formerly of Participant Media and known for Chinatown and Keep Sweet: Pray & Obey, with Jaya Entertainment, producers of Real Kashmir Football Club, also attached; and The Masala Quest, created and hosted by Sarina Kamini, an Indian-Australian cook, author and self-described “spice evangelist.”
The summit also unveiled the Content India Trends Report, whose findings made for bracing reading. Daoud Jackson, senior analyst at OMDIA, set the tone: “By 2030, online video in India will nearly double the revenue of traditional TV, becoming the main driver of growth.” He noted that in 2025, India produced a quarter of all YouTube videos globally, overtaking the United States, while Indians collectively spend 117 years daily on YouTube and 72 years on Instagram. Traditional subscription TV is declining as free TV and connected TV gain ground, forcing broadcasters to innovate. “AI-generated content is just 2 per cent of engagement,” Jackson added, “highlighting the dominance of high-quality human content. The key for Indian media companies is scaling while monetising effectively from day one.”
Hannah Walsh, principal analyst at Ampere Analysis, added hard numbers to the picture. India produced over 24,000 titles in January 2026 alone, with 19,000 available internationally. The country now accounts for 12 per cent of Asia-Pacific content spend, up from 8 per cent in 2021, outpacing both Japan and China. Key exporters include JioStar, Zee Entertainment, Sony India, Amazon and Netflix, delivering over 7,500 Indian-produced titles abroad each year. The top importing markets are Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt, the United States and the Philippines. Scripted content dominates globally at 88 per cent, with crime dramas and children’s and family titles performing particularly strongly.
Manoj Dobhal, chief executive and executive director of Dish TV India, framed the summit’s ambition squarely. “Stories don’t need translation. They need a platform, discovery, and reach, local or global,” he said. “India produces more movies than any country, our streaming platforms compete globally, and our tech and creators win international awards. Yet fragmentation slows growth. Producers, platforms, and tech move in different lanes. We need shared spaces, collaboration, and an ecosystem where ideas, technology, and people meet. That is why we built Content India.”
The data, the pitches and the prize money all pointed to the same conclusion: India is not waiting for the world to discover its stories. It is building the infrastructure to sell them.
