Hall of Ads: PolicyBazaar’s ‘Good Always Triumphs’

Some ads don’t just sell; they stay, tucked away like a warm festive memory, resurfacing every time the season rolls around. PolicyBazaar’s 2021 Dussehra campaign, “Good Always Triumphs”, is one such piece of work - a cinematic, stirring story that didn’t merely wish audiences a happy festival but reimagined one of our oldest myths through a surprisingly modern lens.

Back in 2021, at a time when festive advertising was saturated with predictable symbolism and brand wishes, PolicyBazaar, in collaboration with Scarecrow M&C Saatchi, chose to go deeper. They built their narrative around the most iconic antagonist in Indian mythology: Raavan. But instead of casting him as the villain to be vanquished, they flipped the script, exploring what happens when evil itself chooses to turn good.

The film opens amid a Ram-Leela rehearsal, where dwindling ticket sales threaten to cancel the show. The actor playing Raavan stumbles upon a verse that reads, “Karmon mein achai ho, hriday mein sachai ho, dare na sankat se jo, sada uski bhalai ho.” The words stay with him. Slowly, he begins performing small acts of kindness across the city, helping strangers, showing compassion, spreading goodness. As these gestures go viral, public perception shifts. Crowds return to the Ram-Leela, and what was once slipping into oblivion is suddenly revived, a metaphor for how good, when protected and nurtured, always prevails.

Visually, the ad is as striking as its idea. Raavan, complete with his ten heads, is shown navigating everyday spaces, performing simple yet meaningful deeds. This image of a mythic villain humanised and redefined becomes the creative hook, instantly cutting through festive ad clutter. The narrative never preaches, nor does it force a product plug. Instead, it gently ties the story’s essence to PolicyBazaar’s core message: protecting what’s good, much like how insurance safeguards the things that truly matter in life.

What made this film memorable wasn’t just its clever metaphor, but the emotional intelligence beneath it. It dared to reframe an age-old festival story, not as a battle between right and wrong, but as a reminder that goodness is a choice, one that must be protected, much like our families, health, and futures. And in doing so, PolicyBazaar moved beyond selling policies to delivering a deeper cultural message.

Four years later, the ad still stands out as one of the most thoughtful Dussehra campaigns in Indian advertising, proof that when a brand roots itself in story and soul, the message lingers far longer than the festival season.