MAM
BBH India elevates Priya Gurnani & Arvind Menon as executive creative directors
Mumbai: BBH India, a Publicis Groupe agency announced the elevation of Priya Gurnani & Arvind Menon as executive creative directors. Priya and Arvind have been senior creative directors and will continue to report to BBH India’s chief creative officer & CEO, Russell Barrett.
With over 15 years of experience, Priya specialises in building creative communication that is at the intersection of brands, culture and consumer behaviour. In the past, she has worked with Ogilvy, Leo Burnett, McCann Worldwide and has created culture-defining work for brands like Stayfree, Yatra.com, Heineken, Kingfisher Ultra, Amstel and Zee5. Most recently, she conceptualised and wrote the lyrics to a rap song for the entertainment channel – Zing’s Apni Vibe Apni Tribe campaign. In 2009, she was amongst the winners of the Cannes Young Lions.
Armed with 13 years of experience, Arvind also led the creative team at Publicis Emil as a senior creative director. With diverse experience, including a stint at a media agency, Arvind specialises in building medium-agnostic integrated campaigns. In the past, he has worked on brands like Mercedes, Frooti, Axe, Burger King, Aditya Birla Capital, Heinz, TRESemmé, Surf and Taj Mahal Tea. Arvind’s work has been awarded locally and internationally at forums including Kyoorius, AMES and Campaign Asia Digital Crest. He has represented India as a student at Cannes, and a young competitor at Spikes.
BBH India CCO & CEO Russell Barrett said, “It’s always great to welcome brilliant talent to key leadership positions, but it’s even better when that talent is promoted from within.”
Priya is a highly talented creative leader with a sharp and curious mind, great maturity and a clear vision for the kind of work both she and BBH want to produce. She has already proved an invaluable contributor by leading the PWW Bangalore creative team in the past.”
“Arvind is an amazing new age creative thinker who led the creative mandate on Emil before joining the BBH team. He comes with rich knowledge of the digital and creative tech landscape and is the perfect fit for BBH’s Modern India’s Fame Factory philosophy,” he continued.
“Both Priya and Arvind are “Good and Nice” and I’m convinced they will add significantly to BBH’s creative output. The creative leadership at BBH India is now fully in place and set to take the next giant leap forward,” Barett added.
Priya Gurnani added, “I am looking forward to embodying and enjoying this new role. BBH has always been a place where ‘Outstanding is the norm’, and that applies to the work we do and the culture we have. As I continue my journey at BBH, I hope to zag for years to come.”
Arvind Menon added, “I’m equal parts honoured, excited and terrified. BBH has an undeniably rich culture of creative excellence. And I know it’s only work that can help climb up to those rarefied heights. So I’m just going to focus on that.”
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.
