Mass communication students dress up as Bollywood characters, create innovative ‘desi’ products 

Following an elaborate and engaging orientation programme, the students of Apeejay Institute of Mass Communication (AIMC) gathered to participate in a creative bonanza called “Brand Culture Gully”. As the name suggests, the Apeejayites channelled their artistic talents to create a ‘desi’ vibe.

The event was inaugurated by the director of Apeejay School of Management (ASM), Dr Alka Munjal, along with other faculty members.

Experiential learning or learning by doing is what drives education at Apeejay. And Brand Culture Gully was a perfect example of the same. The event was planned to encourage students to think out of the box and innovate, and they clearly achieved it.

Students were allotted different stalls in the corridor of the college to showcase their creativity. They decorate each stall in a unique way, keeping in line with the theme of the event. Some displayed beautifully painted pots and used them for indoor plants. In another stall, students dressed up as popular Bollywood characters. In fact, one of the professors, Dr Pijush Dutta, also appeared as Bhaskor Banerjee in the movie Piku.        

     

Among the students was Arushi Tomar from Advertising and Marketing Communications, who said, “We were asked to make our own brand—whether it was selling a product or a service. So, we chose retro Bollywood as our theme and sold drinks like jaljeera, buttermilk, etc, and named them after retro Hindi songs. We also played three guessing games and gave them desi names.”

All the faculty members, students, and staff members from both AIMC and ASM participated in several games and activities that were organised by the young enthusiasts. While one of the stalls encouraged visitors to paint their imagination on a piece of paper blindfolded, another got them to play fitness games and offered healthy dishes to eat. Khushboo Gupta, another student from Advertising and Marketing Communications, shared, “Our stall was called ‘The Taan Connection’. We designed a music therapy session, where we played Panchatantra sounds or instrumental versions of popular songs as people painted or wrote about a certain memory. There was another song-based section for introspection and nostalgia.”

One of the stalls also got people from the crowd to sing and dance. Each participant enjoyed the event thoroughly and felt refreshed.

Through the gala, the students learned teamwork and how to deliver work under pressure. Some of the stalls also managed to earn a good profit from their creative products through innovative marketing strategies. “The event turned out to be so good! We got very good feedback. At last, we also took a tour of the other stalls,” added Arushi.