Ananya Panday’s viral fuljhadi dream becomes Amazon festive film

Amazon India has turned an old Ananya Panday internet moment into the centrepiece of its festive push. A new film for the platform’s fashion and beauty categories, created by Schbang, uses the actor’s viral reaction to a Diwali fuljhadi packet as its creative springboard. The spot runs as part of the Amazon Great Indian Festival under the banner “Banega Sabka Festival Great”.

01 · What’s in the film

Instead of a conventional celebrity endorsement, the campaign starts with something the audience already knows. In November 2024, a Diwali vlog showed Panday spotting her face on a locally sold fuljhadi packet and exclaiming, “I’m on the fuljhadi… that’s my dream.” The clip travelled widely across social media.

Schbang’s film picks up from that reaction. It imagines the fuljhadi packet as only the beginning: Panday now wants to be the face of everything festive. The Amazon Great Indian Festival is positioned as the platform that lets her look, dress and gift the part, directing attention to the fashion and beauty categories without losing the festive story.

02 · Why it’s built for recall

Most celebrity campaigns spend the opening seconds earning attention. This one begins with recognition. The viral clip gives the film a pre-existing emotional hook, so the transition from borrowed social fame to brand message feels less like a hard sell.

Rajeshwari Rao, national creative director at Schbang, said the viral video came to mind the moment the team was briefed. Senior creative director Karthik Krishnan described the task as levelling up Panday’s “whimsical and endearing ambition” to be the face of everything festive.

• Built on a genuine viral moment from November 2024, not a manufactured one.
• Uses Panday’s existing “fuljhadi dream” to carry the Amazon Great Indian Festival message.
• Focused on awareness and consideration for fashion and beauty during the sale.

Timing does part of the work. The fuljhadi reference lands inside the Diwali purchase window, when fashion and beauty gifting is at its peak. It gives Amazon’s categories a personality-led reason to shop beyond the price drop.

03 · The play for marketers

The campaign is a reminder that an ambassador’s public history is creative inventory. Before writing a new brief, brand teams can search what has already resonated around the talent. That existing association can reduce explanation and increase shareability, as long as the commercial goal stays visible.

For Amazon India, the task remains the festive sale. The film wraps a discount-led shopping moment in a story audiences already like, giving the fashion and beauty categories a warmer entry point during the Great Indian Festival.

Source: Campaign India

Mad About Marketing Desk The strategists and writers at Mad About Marketing, writing up what we see in the work every week.