For most Indians, an international trip isn’t just a holiday — it’s a high-stakes event. Visa anxiety, flight delays, no Indian food, early check-in drama… it’s enough to turn the calmest traveller into a full-blown filmy villain. And that was the truth we leaned into.

MakeMyTrip wanted a campaign that was brutally honest yet wildly entertaining. So we took the most iconic symbols of Indian frustration — 90s villains — and reimagined them as everyday travellers dealing with real-world chaos. Gulshan Grover, Mukesh Rishi, and Dalip Tahil starred in five sharply-written 20-second films where the smallest travel inconvenience triggers their inner villain… until MakeMyTrip saves the day.

The hand-painted Bollywood-style posters, created with one of India’s last remaining poster artists, gave the campaign its instantly recognisable world — old-school drama with new-age truth. “Villain Mat Bano” didn’t just entertain; it held up a mirror. Because deep down, every Indian traveller has a villain moment waiting to burst.