Y-Films' Ashish Patil listed in Ad Age's Top 50 Creative People in the World

Only Indian to find spot amongst giants like Prince, David Bowie, Beyoncé, the creator of Pokémon Go, Ryan Reynolds & Tom Ford for the 6-Pack Band

There’s nothing more powerful than an idea whose time has come and clearly India’s 1^st transgender band, the 6-Pack Band conceived by Ashish Patil, Head of Y-Film’s [the youth wing of India’s leading film studio, Yash Raj Films] demonstrated that with massive effect. Breaking boundaries, taboos, clocking up millions of views, getting global recognition and among other things bringing home India’s 1^st Cannes Grand Prix Glass Lion besides a prestigious Webby. The latest accolade now comes in the form of Ashish being listed in Ad Age [one of the most respected Global Advertising & Marketing publications in the world published out of the US] in their Creativity 50 list that celebrates the Top 50 creative minds of the world. He’s also the only Indian on the list which makes this honour unique.

The list covers musicians, filmmakers, designers, tech people, artistes, CSR guys, writers - people who’ve contributed significantly to big ideas in that year. Past names include Academy Award® Winners, Booker Prize Winners, biggies like David Fincher [director of The Social Network, Gone Girl, Seven], JJ Abrams [director of Star Wars, Star Trek, Lost among others], Ted Sarandos [creative head of Netflix], Banksy to Pharrel Williams, Banksy, Tina Fey besides Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg, the founders of Instagram, Snapchat, Kickstarter. The 2016 list is a virtual who’s who including David Bowie, Prince, the Duffer Brothers [creators of Stranger Things], Ryan Reynolds, Beyoncé, Dwayne Johnson besides the show runner of Luke Cage, Giphy founder, AirBnB founders, Tom Ford, John Hanke [the man behind Pokemon Go], Alec Baldwin, creative director of Oculus, creator of Otto [self-driving car technology guys who got bought by Uber], among others. 

Adds Ashish, “I’m personally quite overwhelmed by this recognition and it goes to just demonstrate what happens when the positive energies of an incredible bunch of people comes together to nurture, build, collaborate execute and promote an idea – there’s nothing in the world that can stop it from exploding. And I’m thankful to each one of them, especially my team and brother Shamir Tandon who helped curate the band. I really hope this helps our little 6-Pack Band and the theme of getting the LGBTQ community into the mainstream heard louder. More power to Y-Films!”

The 6-Pack Band is India’s, and arguably the world’s, most unique musical collective. A band composed of 6 transgender singers hailing from India’s ‘Hijra’ community, it’s an initiative created and driven by Y-Films, the youth wing of Yash Raj Films, to help further the cause of gender equality and transgender rights in India. 6-Pack Band gives a voice to the indomitable spirit of the community without trying to get preachy or patronizing. In a language and through a medium that our world understands and loves. Song & dance… Bollywood style! The campaign covers 6 songs, 6 music videos and some lovely insights into the community that has long lived on the fringes; waiting for the day the world opens its arms to them in acceptance.