In a first of its kind collaboration, MTV India, the leading youth entertainment brand and Hindustan Unilever Limited, India's largest Fast Moving Consumer Goods Company are coming together for the launch of MTV Films.

MTV Films, a unique initiative, will present six original films by six young, cutting edge and cult directors of new age Bollywood - Anurag Basu, Anurag Kashyap, Rohan Sippy, Nikhil Advani, Abhinay Deo and Shoojit Sircar, each a stalwart in his own right. Starting March 23, 2014 at 7 pm one director’s movie will be showcased each month for six months which will be inspired by the philosophies of different HUL brands such as Sunsilk, Tresemme, Ponds, Lakme and Close Up amongst others. Through each movie, the iconic directors will portray the take of today’s youth on age old topics of love, family, friendship, relationships and ambitions in an hour long entertaining story.

Speaking about this initiative, Aditya Swamy, EVP and Business Head of MTV, said, “Content is the No1. social currency of today and that makes it the most powerful medium to connect with consumers. Our partnership with HUL reflects the thought leadership both partners bring to the media and marketing world. Getting six superstar directors to create wonderful stories for brands is a coup and we are excited to launch a brand new franchise with MTV FILMS.”

Hemant Bakshi, Executive Director, Home & Personal Care, HUL, said, “HUL firmly believes in pioneering and creating newer ways of engaging consumers by leveraging popular culture. With the launch of MTV Films, we will re-define the way in which brands tell their stories to consumers. This initiative will focus on communicating brand purpose and we are confident that it will resonate with our audience and build brand love.”

Ravi Rao, Leader - South Asia, Mindshare, “Mindshare has been instrumental in raising the bar and pioneering Innovations for Unilever through its strategic partnerships and alliances. This is a yet another initiative for Unilever that will usher in a new era in innovation which will set the template for ‘best practices’ in the region. We are very proud of this initiative that we have driven with MTV and we look forward to scaling up the model year on year.”

Amin Lakhani Leader-South Asia, Team Unilever, “Converting India’s passion points into key communication opportunities is our endeavour and a challenge we thrive on. Story telling is the new mantra to connect with our consumers, something that we have done over the years with much success. This initiative is the new benchmark not just from the uniqueness of the concept, but ably complimented with scale and execution. Moving away from branded placement, into branded content in its most pristine form with this initiative, is something we are very proud of.”

This distinctive collaboration goes ‘beyond television’ platform with multiple touch-points like mobile, online and radio to engage the consumers.