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BookMyShow, Hombale Films, partner with DressMe to create AI fan experience for Salaar
Mumbai: The highly anticipated Prabhas-starrer, Salaar: Part 1 – Ceasefire releasing on Friday, 22 December 2023 has fans buzzing with excitement as tickets for the film have been selling out in anticipation across the country. To add to the frenzy of this two-part mega movie production, BookMyShow, India’s entertainment destination along with makers of Salaar, Hombale Films partnered with DressMe, an AI-Virtual Stylist to offer an AI-driven unique fan experience. The partnership will offer a unique opportunity to fans to step into the persona of their favourite cinematic superheroes from the world of Salaar – Deva and Vardharaja Mannar, as they get to reimagine themselves in the avatars of their superstars, Prabhas and Prithviraj Sukumaran.
Fans will be able to position themselves through the various avatars of Deva and Vardharaja Mannar, diving into the world of Salaar while they embody their favourite character. Once they try out their new virtual identity, fans can even share their cool avatar on social media platforms, creating a community for the production.
BookMyShow will leverage its user base of young, discerning audiences across the length and breadth of the country to reach out to cinephiles nationally, inviting them to the Salaar Army with the avatar of their favourite superheroes from the film. Through various channels like social media platforms, push notifications and emailers, BookMyShow will guide fans to the microsite www.salaar.dressmeofficial.com, powered by DressMe. Here, users can create their avatars of beloved superheroes from the film and be redirected to BookMyShow to get their tickets for this highly anticipated movie.
Commenting on the anticipation surrounding the film and this special fan experience, BookMyShow COO- cinemas Ashish Saksena said, “Salaar’s period action drama has generated tremendous excitement and love from across the country. On BookMyShow, the movie has crossed 1.7 million tickets in advance sales with cinephiles across South India and action-fans across the rest of the country gearing up for the much-anticipated magnum opus. Through this collaboration with Hombale Films and DressMe, we are glad to be able to offer hardened fans a technological flavour to show their love and excitement for the film through this fan-first engagement experience. We are optimistic that the extravaganza directed by Prashanth Neel and helmed by Prabhas is all set to create magic at the box office and we can’t wait for cinephiles across the country to be able to experience the flavour of the film beyond the big screen on our platform with their favourite movie avatars as well!”
Adding to this, DressMe CEO Deepak Mangla said, “At Dressme, we believe generative AI is going to completely transform the way fans will connect and engage with movies in future. Through this partnership with Hombale Films and BookMyShow, Salaar becomes amongst the first movies to incorporate Dressme’s AI technology with not only ‘the most violent man’ but also ‘the most innovative men’ from the world of Salaar. Being able to connect with cinephiles from across the country on BookMyShow and offer them a chance to engage with the film beyond watching it on the big screen is something we are very excited for and we can’t wait for fans to connect with this new way of experiencing the film!”
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PNB partners Kiwi to launch credit-enabled UPI for users
Targets 180 million customers; RuPay card offers 0.5 per cent to 1.5 per cent cashback
MUMBAI: Swipe, tap, or scan credit is quietly slipping into the rhythm of everyday payments, and Punjab National Bank wants in on the action. The state-run lender has partnered with Kiwi to roll out credit-enabled UPI payments for its 180 million customers, marking a significant push to blend traditional banking with India’s fast-evolving digital payments ecosystem.
At the centre of the collaboration is the launch of the PNB Kiwi Credit Card on the RuPay network. The card is designed with a digital-first approach, offering fully online onboarding and seamless integration with UPI, allowing users to transact via scan-and-pay while accessing credit.
The offering also brings in a rewards layer, with cashback ranging from 0.5 per cent to 1.5 per cent on online transactions, positioning the product as both a convenience play and a spending incentive.
The move comes as UPI continues to dominate India’s digital payments landscape, increasingly blurring the lines between debit-led transactions and credit access. For PNB, which operates over 10,000 branches around 60 per cent in semi-urban and rural areas, the partnership signals a targeted effort to extend formal credit to segments that have traditionally remained underserved.
The collaboration also reflects a broader industry shift, where banks and fintech platforms are converging to embed credit directly into payment flows, reducing friction while expanding access.
With RuPay credit cards gaining traction and UPI evolving beyond peer-to-peer transfers, the PNB–Kiwi tie-up positions both players at the intersection of scale, accessibility, and the next phase of digital finance in India.
