Hindi
Viacom18 launches mega teaser campaign for ‘Gabbar Is Back’
MUMBAI: In a first-of-its-kind teaser initiative, Viacom18 Motion Pictures has launched a massive campaign for its upcoming action thriller Gabbar is Back. The initiative makes a daring new announcement – ‘Bad is the New Good.’
Grossing almost one million touch points across 15 cities pan India, this 360 degree promotional drive is targeted at the grass root level in an attempt to effectively reach out to the common man.
Viacom18 Motion Pictures and Sanjay Leela Bhansali reunite for the film, which stars Akshay Kumar in the lead. Fighting for a cause, Gabbar – a common man – believes in standing up for what is right and is seen battling various grass root level corruption in his unique albeit brutal manner. With larger than life action sequences and a gripping storyline, the film will see Kumar in a never seen before avatar.
Viacom18 Motion Pictures vice president – marketing Rudrarup Datta said, “The name Gabbar strikes the fear of the original Gabbar Singh and with this campaign, we have created witty hoardings, motion posters and other branding elements that warns one against corruption. The objective was to engage with the real junta at the grass root level. As the film is an entertainer with a message, our campaign reflects the same.”
Driving synergies with the film, the marketing teaser campaign for Gabbar is Back revolves around the common man and his uncommon problems with rampant corruption all around. Each branding element was customised for this campaign integrated with the original Gabbar Singh dialogues. For example, on a chai cup or poster – the messaging reads as – Chai Piyo, Chai Paani Nahi. On the other hand, the copy on a poster in a pan stall reads – Rishwat Ka Chuna Khaaya, Ab Goli Kha.
On-ground: The Gabbar poster was inserted in 50,000 dabbas with about 3500 dabbawalas sporting the Gabbar pneumonic T-shirts. Close to 10,000 rickshaws across 21 cities, 370 buses covering Maharashtra, 15 hoardings across the Delhi metro line, 10 hoardings across the Mumbai Metro, 150 platform hoardings across Mumbai railway stations, two local trains with branding one on the Western Line and one on the Central, 35 hoardings on petrol pumps across Mumbai and Ahmedabad and 4500 Meru Cabs across four cities were branded with witty Gabbar creatives that warned all against corruption.
Additionally, eight lakh branded Gabbar teacups were distributed with 14,000 danglers and 7000 posters across 3000 tea stalls and 4000 pan stalls across 13 cities. Furthermore, Gabbar branded tags were inserted on LPG cylinders going to 1,00,000 households in Mumbai and anti-piracy posters were installed in 2000 entertainment retail stores across three cities.
Print: Innovative ads in were inserted in leading publications.
Radio: A strategic tie up wherein the teaser posters were distributed at chai stalls and pan tapris at 500 outlets across 17 cities where their channel plays.
Digital: Reaching out to a vast fan base, the campaign has already garnered 6790 Facebook likes, 1611 Twitter followers and 10574 Instagram followers in a matter of a few days. Four different motion teaser videos were launched on four portals with exclusive tie-ups for each of the videos. The first teaser alone garnered over five lakh views on the first day.
The hashtag #GabbarTeaser trended on Twitter India for five hours, reaching 7.5+ million users. The hashtag #GabbarIsBack reached out to 9.3+ million users even before the launch of official properties. Memes that were both witty and topical were created and floated across social media and Whatsapp.
The movie also stars Shruti Hassan, Sunil Grover and Suman Talwar with a special guest appearance by Kareena Kapoor Khan. Gabbar is Back is slated to release on 1 May, 2015.
Hindi
Jio Studios unveils AI-powered Krishna teaser at NAB Show 2026
Global first look of Krishna uses Galleri5 AI pipeline on Azure, Historyverse slate as Jio’s Dhurandhar crosses Rs 3,000cr worldwide.
MUMBAI: Krishna has just dropped a divine teaser and this time the gods are powered by silicon, not just scripture. Jio Studios and Collective Studios’ Historyverse stole the spotlight at the NAB Show 2026 in Las Vegas with the world’s first teaser for their upcoming theatrical feature Krishna, directed by Manu Anand. The big reveal happened during Microsoft’s keynote “Powering Intelligent Media, From AI Experimentation to Real-World Impact,” where the film’s AI-native production pipeline took centre stage alongside Collective Artists Network’s in-house platform, Galleri5.
At the heart of this mythological spectacle lies a fresh cinematic workflow built by Galleri5 on Microsoft Azure’s advanced AI and cloud infrastructure. Forget bolting AI onto traditional VFX or animation, this is an end-to-end, production-grade system woven into every layer: world-building, character creation, shot design and final output. Yet the storytelling remains firmly director-led, emphasising emotional depth, stillness, music and performance rather than pure spectacle. The result? Large-format theatrical cinema rooted in Indian history and culture, but conceived in ways that were simply not possible before.
Collective Artists Network runs Galleri5 natively on Azure, leveraging Microsoft Foundry and cutting-edge AI tools to handle film, episodic and advertising workflows in a secure enterprise environment. Microsoft highlighted Collective as a “Frontier” organisation successfully moving AI from pilot projects to real production-scale deployment in cinema. The technology is also on display at Microsoft’s NAB booth in the West Hall (Booth W1731).
Jio Studios (Media & Content Business, Reliance Industries), president Jyoti Deshpande said the project advances the studio’s mission to take Indian stories global with scale, ambition and authenticity, “With Krishna, we are embracing cutting-edge AI-led filmmaking while democratising these tools to make them more accessible, intuitive and cost-effective for storytellers everywhere.”
Collective Artists Network founder & group CEO Vijay Subramaniam added, “We’re using technology developed in India to carry our culture and history to audiences worldwide at a scale never seen before.”
Microsoft, vice president for telco media & entertainment, gaming Silvia Candiani noted that the media industry has reached an inflection point, “AI is no longer about experimentation but delivering real impact at production scale… By building AI-native creative systems on Microsoft Azure, Collective exemplifies how storytellers can unlock new formats, move faster and realise a true return on intelligence while keeping human creativity at the centre.”
Krishna forms part of Historyverse, Collective Studios’ ambitious slate of history and culture-driven IPs. The slate draws from iconic figures and traditions that shaped the Indian subcontinent, including stories inspired by Kali, Karna and Durga. It builds on the already-released Mahabharat: Ek Dharmayudh series, showing how ancient narratives can be reimagined for modern screens.
Jio Studios, India’s leading content studio and the media and content arm of Reliance Industries, continues its blockbuster run. The studio’s Dhurandhar franchise led by Dhurandhar and Dhurandhar: The Revenge has become the first Indian film series to cross Rs 3,000 crore worldwide. It also delivered three consecutive years of India’s highest-grossing Hindi films: Stree 2 (2024), Dhurandhar (2025) and Dhurandhar: The Revenge (2026). In just eight years, Jio Studios has assembled a library of over 160 films and series, with more than 60 titles winning over 500 awards. Other notable successes include Laapataa Ladies (India’s official Oscar entry 2025), Stree, Article 370, Shaitaan and Mrs.
The NAB unveiling marks another step in Jio Studios and Collective’s push to blend Indian storytelling talent with frontier technology proving that the future of cinema may well be both ancient in spirit and thoroughly modern in execution. For audiences who love epic tales with a fresh twist, Krishna promises to deliver divine drama, this time with a little help from the cloud.
