Brands
Blum’s the word as furniture fails get a funny fix on screen
MUMBAI: When furniture starts groaning louder than your Monday blues, it’s time to check what’s ticking or rather, sticking behind those sleek surfaces. Blum India’s latest ad campaign takes a delightfully droll route to spotlight the unsung heroes of furniture design: the fittings. Yes, those tiny hinges and drawer runners you never think about until they squeak, jam or downright revolt.
With a trio of chuckle-worthy films, the Austrian fittings giant turns everyday domestic drama into relatable comedy. There’s the drawer that refuses to glide, the door that slams like a moody teenager, and the overhead cabinet that needs two hands, a prayer, and a balancing act to open. Each ad ends with a simple fix: Blum’s quietly brilliant engineering.
From the feather-light glide of the Legrabox drawer system to the whisper-soft closure of Clip top Blumotion hinges, and the gravity-defying ease of the Aventos lift-up mechanism Blum’s fittings promise to make your furniture behave, beautifully and silently, for years.
Explaining the need for the ad campaign, Blum India managing director Nadeem Patni said, “While our business primarily targets B2B customers, end consumers are at the heart of everything we do at Blum. We wanted a new campaign that could appeal to a broader audience, particularly everyday furniture users. While communicating about the convenience of using our fittings remained the central message, we were determined to put it across with a touch of humor.”
National award-winning filmmaker Bauddhayan Mukherji, aka Buddy, expressed his excitement about the campaign, saying, “When Nadeem and Neelam from Blum India suggested the humor route, I was pleasantly surprised. It meant we needed a cracker of a campaign. This set of films for Blum are those rare ones where everything just falls in place. Hope the viewers love the films as much as we did while making them.”
The humour-packed spots come courtesy of National Award-winning filmmaker Bauddhayan Mukherji, aka Buddy, who called the collaboration one of those rare campaigns where “everything just falls into place” unlike most poorly-fitted cabinet doors.
Catch the campaign on Blum India’s Youtube and Instagram, and the next time your drawer throws a tantrum, you’ll know exactly what not to blame: the carpenter.
Brands
YES Bank hands the keys to SBI veteran Vinay Tonse as it bets on a new era
Former SBI managing director appointed as YES Bank’s new MD and CEO
MUMBAI: YES Bank is done rebuilding. Now it wants to grow. The private sector lender has appointed Vinay Muralidhar Tonse as managing director and chief executive officer-designate, with RBI approval secured and a start date of April 6, 2026 confirmed. The three-year term signals the bank’s intent to shift gears from crisis recovery to full-throttle expansion.
Tonse, 60, is no stranger to scale. Most recently managing director at State Bank of India, he oversaw a retail book of roughly $800bn in deposits and advances, one of the largest in the country. Before that, he ran SBI Mutual Fund from August 2020 to December 2022, a stint that saw assets under management surge from Rs 4.32 lakh crore to Rs 7.32 lakh crore across market cycles. Add stints in Singapore and four years leading SBI’s overseas operations in Osaka, and the incoming chief arrives with a genuinely global CV.
His academic grounding is equally solid: a commerce degree from St Joseph’s College of Commerce, Bengaluru, and a master’s in commerce from Bangalore University.
The appointment follows an extensive search and evaluation process by the bank’s Nomination and Remuneration Committee. NRC chairperson Nandita Gurjar said the committee unanimously backed Tonse, citing his leadership track record, governance credentials and ability to drive the bank’s next phase of transformation.
Non-executive chairman Rama Subramaniam Gandhi was unequivocal. “I am certain that Vinay Tonse, with his vast experience as a senior banker, will propel YES Bank to its next phase of growth,” Gandhi said, adding that the bank remains focused on strengthening its retail and corporate banking franchises and expanding its branch network.
Rajeev Kannan, non-executive director and senior executive at Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, the bank’s largest shareholder, said Tonse’s experience across retail, corporate banking, global markets and asset management positioned him well to lead the lender. SMBC said it looks forward to working with Tonse and the board as YES Bank pursues its ambition of becoming a top-tier private sector lender anchored in strong governance and sustainable growth.
Tonse succeeds Prashant Kumar, who took the helm in March 2020 when YES Bank was in freefall following a severe financial crisis, and spent six years painstakingly stabilising the institution, rebuilding governance and restoring operational scale. Gandhi was generous: “The bank remains indebted to Prashant Kumar, who is responsible for much of what a strong financial powerhouse YES Bank is today.”
Tonse, for his part, struck a purposeful note. “Together with the board and my colleagues, I remain deeply committed to creating long-term value for all our stakeholders,” he said, pledging to build on Kumar’s foundation guided by his personal motto: Make A Difference.
Beyond the balance sheet, Tonse played cricket at college and club level and represented Karnataka in archery at the national championships — sports he credits with teaching him teamwork, situational leadership, discipline and focus. In quieter moments, he reaches for retro Kannada music, classic Hindi songs, and the crooning of Engelbert Humperdinck, Mukesh and Kishore Kumar.
YES Bank has its steady-handed rebuilder in Kumar to thank for survival. Now it has a scale-obsessed growth banker at the wheel. The next chapter starts April 6.
