MAM
ixigo rolls out new campaign with Jackie Shroff & Suniel Shetty
Mumbai: ixigo has roped in Bollywood celebrities Jackie Shroff and Suniel Shetty as the new faces of the brand for their campaign “#NikalLo.” The campaign has been designed to create buzz and increase brand awareness ahead of the festive season and will be launched across television and digital platforms.
The television commercials feature Jackie Shroff and Suniel Shetty engaged in interesting banter, which reflects the close bond they share in real life. One of the videos features Jackie Dada struggling to pronounce the brand name ‘ixigo’ in true bhidu style, with Suniel Shetty correcting him. The ads encourage the audience to travel and end with the catchphrase “ixigo travel app download karo, bindaas ticket book karo, aur nikal lo!”
The brand decided to team up with Jackie Shroff and Suniel Shetty as the actors enjoy mass appeal with a wide fan base spread across metros as well as tier 2 and 3 cities across India.
Speaking on their collaboration with ixigo, Jackie Shroff and Suniel Shetty said, “We are excited to team up with ixigo for this campaign. We’ve been wanting to come together for a project for a while now, and ixigo seemed to be the perfect fit! We really resonate with the company’s resilience and growth journey. The trust and friendship that we share amongst one another is synonymous with the faith that travellers have in ixigo! We love how easy it is to book flights, train or bus tickets on ixigo. Their apps offer travellers lots of convenience and flexibility, with a wide array of features on board. Being avid travellers ourselves, we look forward to this collaboration!”
Talking about this campaign, ixigo co-founder & group CEO Aloke Bajpai and co-founder & group CPTO Rajnish Kumar said, “We are pleased to announce our association with two legendary stars like Jackie Shroff and Suniel Shetty for our brand campaign. We have grown up watching these Bollywood icons and their passion, commitment to work and resilience resonates with our brand ethos. Travel is back with a bang this year and our aim with this campaign is to maximise awareness around ixigo ahead of the festive season. Ixigo is a unique brand name and was actually generated using an algorithm. For years, we have seen users trying to pronounce ‘ixigo’ with some interesting variations, and that was our inspiration behind the first video.”
Digital
India leads global adoption of ChatGPT Images 2.0 in first week
From anime avatars to fantasy covers, users turn AI visuals into culture
NEW DELHI: India has emerged as the largest user base for ChatGPT Images 2.0, just a week after its launch by OpenAI, underlining the country’s growing influence on global internet trends.
While the tool was introduced as an advanced image-generation upgrade within ChatGPT, Indian users are quickly reshaping its purpose. Instead of sticking to productivity-led use cases, many are embracing it as a creative playground for self-expression, storytelling and online identity.
From anime-style portraits and cinematic headshots to tarot-inspired visuals and fictional newspaper front pages, the model is being used to create highly stylised, shareable content. Features such as accurate text rendering, multilingual prompts and the ability to generate detailed visuals with minimal input have helped drive rapid adoption.
What sets the latest model apart is its ability to “think” through prompts, generating multiple outputs and adapting to context, including real-time web inputs. But the bigger story lies in how users are engaging with it.
In India, trends are already taking shape. Popular formats include dramatic studio-style lighting edits, LinkedIn-ready headshots, manga-inspired avatars, soft pastel “spring” aesthetics, AI-led fashion moodboards, paparazzi-style visuals and fantasy newspaper covers. Users are also restoring old photographs, creating tarot-style imagery and experimenting with futuristic design concepts.
Local flavour is adding another layer. Prompts such as cinematic portrait collages and Y2K-inspired romantic edits are gaining traction, blending global aesthetics with distinctly Indian internet culture.
The surge reflects a broader shift in how AI tools are being used in the country, moving beyond utility to creativity. As younger users, creators and social media enthusiasts experiment with new visual formats, AI-generated imagery is increasingly becoming part of everyday digital expression.
If early trends hold, ChatGPT Images 2.0 may not just be a tech upgrade but a cultural moment, giving millions a new visual language to play with online.
