MUMBAI: Movie promotions broke new ground when URI: The Surgical Strike, produced by RSVP (Ronnie Screwvala Productions) Movies, became the first Indian movie to join hands with PUBG Mobile to launch a surgical strike on Pochinki, one of the largest and most popular towns in the game’s maps. The event, which was conceptualized and deployed by Publicis Entertainment, took place on 6 January 2019 with a large number of PUBG enthusiasts taking part.

Talking about the decision for the tie-up with the game, Pashan Jal, Marketing Head RSVP, said “The movie and the game were a natural fit as both are based on teamwork, precision, survival skills, remote communication, and strategy. What’s more the game has players being airdropped into Pochinki, just like our para commandos who did the surgical strike. With Uri: The Surgical Strike being the first big release of 2019 and PUBG Mobile being one of the top games in the world, we thought this was a match made in entertainment heaven. We feel proud that it is the first Indian film to tie-up with the game.”

Pranay Anthwal, Executive Director, Publicis Entertainment, said, “We have always tried to push the envelope when it comes to movie promotions. So, when RSVP movies gave us the brief for Uri, we knew that a regular installation or a fan-interaction activity won’t cut it. Our challenge was to dial up the surgical strike and the gameplay on PUBG was completely in sync with the action in the movie. And since millions already play the game, we thought of getting Vicky Kaushal, the lead of the movie, to play the game and talk us through the experience of making the movie.”

Speaking about the activity, Saurabh Mankhand, Vice President & Business Lead of the Campaign said, “The brief was clear – dial up the mission and help fans experience a para commando’s journey during the strike. Through our research, we found out that PUBG Mobile was a platform that matched most of our requirements. The gameplay resembled a surgical strike – being airdropped into danger, strategizing survival, teamwork, combat style – and thus was a natural fit. To further amplify the activity, we got Vicky Kaushal to play the game live with the top gamers, and other players who were selected through a contest.