MAM
Dineout’s Great Indian Restaurant Festival brings the Joy Of Dining Out
MUMBAI : Dineout, India’s largest dining out and restaurant tech solutions platform is back with the 5th edition of their Great Indian Restaurant Festival (GIRF) from 31st January to 1st March. With GIRF India will experience the #JoyOfDiningOut (JODO) with the biggest discounts on total bill, food, drinks, buffet and more, at 10000+ restaurants across 20 cities namely Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Pune, Chennai, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Kolkata, Chandigarh, Goa, Jaipur, Indore, Lucknow, Ludhiana, Nagpur, Kochi, Surat, Agra, Udaipur, and Vadodara. Users can also additionally avail 20% cashback on their restaurant bills using Dineout Pay. With GIRF, Dineout aims to provide maximum savings for diners with exclusive partner offers from HDFC bank and bonus miles from Intermiles (formerly JetPrivilege).
Dineout has also released a digital film around the festival focusing on “No Drama, Only Khaana” as a solution to diners who want value for their money without any drama, excuses or influences like birthdays, anniversaries and more, often used by people to get the best deals at restaurants.
The full brand film can be watched here: https://youtu.be/yKw6z2CAljE
To further encourage the dining out culture in the country, Dineout also coined the new millennial lingo JODO which is similar to FOMO and YOLO.
Commenting on the latest edition of GIRF, Mr. Ankit Mehrotra, CEO & Co-founder, Dineout said, “GIRF over the years has gained an unparalleled reputation of being one of the largest restaurant festivals in India. GIRF’s popularity affirms that Indians love dining out and are no more restricted to just occasions. With the biggest discounts and offers, we want to extend the #JoyOfDiningOut in the truest sense to our users across 20 cities, especially millennials who will resonate with the language of #JODO.” 5th Edition of GIRF: Biggest discounts on top rated 10,000+ restaurants across 20 cities Exclusive partner offers from HDFC bank and bonus miles from InterMiles (formerly JetPrivilege) Gourmet Passport members got early access to GIRF deals from 22nd -24th January
Dineout has successfully organized 4 editions of GIRF since 2017. Last year, GIRF was introduced twice in the same year in the months of February & August, seating close to 2.5 million & 4 million diners respectively. It also helped its participating restaurants garner revenue higher than the usual days during both the editions. The participating restaurants witnessed 3x rise in their revenue in their most recent edition. GIRF deals for all can be bought starting 25th Jan for dining between 31st January to 1st March 2020 at restaurants like Social, Lord of the Drinks, Mainland China, Mamagoto, Smoke House Deli, Indigo Delicatessen, Radisson, Roseate, Burger King, McDonald’s, Pizza Hut & more.
Speaking on the association, a spokesperson from HDFC Bank said, “We are happy to be associated with Dineout’s Great Indian Restaurant festival for 3rd consecutive year. The festival in a short span of time has been instrumental in driving change towards the dining culture of India. The festival’s popularity has helped us build a strong connect with our customers also as they look for offers & cashbacks. While GIRF offers great deals, HDFC Bank customers can additionally enjoy exclusive deals & cashbacks during the festival.
Vikas Chandak, Senior Vice-President, Strategic Business & Partnerships of InterMiles, said,
We, at InterMiles, are committed to building strong partnerships that drive significant value & enriching experiences for our members. Our long-standing partnership with Dineout is immensely popular with our members and we witness a remarkable increase in engagement during the Great Indian Restaurant Festival. We are happy to participate in the 5th edition of GIRF as Food Sponsors & Reward Partners. We are confident that this year, once again, our members will enjoy the GIRF deals and the additional benefits brought to them by InterMiles.”
So, get ready to experience a month full of dining out at great discounts with no hidden agendas. Enjoy hassle-free experiences and without stressing about over-budget bills.
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.
