MAM
Mortal joins Smriti Mandhana in Royal Challenge’s new bold campaign
MUMBAI: If confidence had a catchphrase, this one would shout it from the rooftops. In a telling sign of how India’s idea of ambition is being rewritten, esports icon Naman Mathur, better known as Mortal, has stepped into the mainstream spotlight alongside cricketer Smriti Mandhana, youth icon Rannvijay Singha and rapper Srushti Tawde for Royal Challenge Packaged Drinking Water’s latest campaign, Main Nahi Toh Kaun Be.
The campaign is less about applause and more about agency. Built around Srushti Tawde’s punchy anthem of the same name, it nudges the narrative away from inherited expectations and social approval towards a more personal question: if you don’t back yourself, who will? The film positions boldness not as rebellion, but as resolve.
Mortal’s presence marks a watershed moment for Indian esports. As co founder of S8UL Esports and one of the country’s most respected gaming creators, his journey from mobile gaming to representing India on global esports stages mirrors the campaign’s core idea. In 2024, he was named Esports content creator of the year at the global Esports Awards, a milestone that underlines how unconventional careers are now firmly part of India’s success story.
In the film, the four protagonists move through their own arenas. Mandhana commands the cricket field, Rannvijay leans into his trademark grit, Mortal plots strategy mid gameplay, and Srushti delivers verses that crackle with individuality. Different worlds, one common thread: belief forged through pressure, persistence and choice.
For Mortal, the line resonates beyond the screen. He describes gaming as a test of mindset as much as skill, where strategy, patience and self belief decide outcomes long before results do. In that sense, the campaign’s rallying cry becomes a reminder to trust the grind, whether the battlefield is digital, creative or sporting.
The timing is no coincidence. According to the FICCI EY Media and Entertainment Industry Report 2025, the number of brands investing in esports is expected to rise from 68 in 2024 to 75 in 2025, reflecting the sector’s growing cultural and commercial pull. Royal Challenge Packaged Drinking Water has already been active in this space, from setting up a Cricket Gaming Zone with Nodwin Gaming at Mumbai Comic Con 2025 to hosting branded game nights and collaborating with Indian gaming creators.
Speaking on the campaign Diageo India vice president for marketing and portfolio head premium and luxury Varun Koorichh said the idea builds on the brand’s broader Choose Bold journey. He noted that boldness today is no longer confined to traditional stages, but is visible wherever ambition meets pressure, from cricket pitches to esports lobbies and creator economies.
By bringing together figures from sport, music, television and gaming, Main Nahi Toh Kaun Be reflects a generation that is less interested in permission and more focused on conviction. It frames success not as a handed down script, but as something written in real time, by those willing to step up and own their moment.
In that sense, the campaign lands its message cleanly. Boldness is not about noise or notoriety. It is about showing up, backing yourself and asking the only question that matters, if not you, then who?
AD Agencies
Abhay Duggal joins JioStar as director of Hindi GEC ad sales
The streaming giant brings in a seasoned revenue hand as the battle for Hindi television advertising heats up
MUMBAI: Abhay Duggal has a new desk, and JioStar has a new weapon. The media and entertainment veteran has joined JioStar as director of entertainment ad sales for Hindi general entertainment channels, adding 17 years of hard-won revenue experience to one of India’s most powerful broadcasting operations.
Duggal is no stranger to big portfolios or bruising markets. Before joining JioStar, he spent a brief stint at Republic World as deputy general manager and north regional head for ad sales. Before that, he put in three years at Enterr10 Television, where he ran the north region for Dangal TV and Dangal 2, two of India’s leading free-to-air Hindi channels. The north alone accounted for more than 50 per cent of total channel revenue on his watch, a number that tends to get attention in any sales meeting.
His longest stint was at Zee Entertainment Enterprises, where he spent over six years rising to associate director of sales. There he commanded the Hindi movies cluster across seven channels, owned more than half of north India’s revenue across flagship properties including Zee TV and &TV, and closed marquee sponsorships across the Indian Premier League, Zee Rishtey Awards and Dance India Dance. He also handled monetisation for the English movies and entertainment cluster and the global news channel WION, a portfolio that would stretch most sales teams twice his size.
Earlier in his career Duggal closed what was then a Rs 3 crore single deal at Reliance Broadcast Network, one of the largest in Indian radio at the time, before that he helped launch and monetise JAINHITS, India’s first HITS-based cable and satellite platform.
His edge, by his own account, lies in marrying data and instinct: translating audience trends, inventory signals and client demands into long-term partnerships built on cost-per-rating-point discipline rather than short-term deal chasing. In a media landscape being reshaped by streaming, fragmented attention and AI-driven advertising, that kind of rigour is increasingly rare and increasingly valuable.
JioStar, which blends the scale of Reliance’s Jio platform with the content firepower of Star, is doubling down on its advertising business at precisely the moment the Hindi GEC market is getting more competitive. Bringing in someone who has spent nearly two decades doing exactly this, across some of India’s most watched channels, is a pointed statement of intent. Duggal has spent his career turning audiences into revenue. JioStar is clearly betting he can do it again, and bigger.
