Air India is currently in the process of reinventing itself, which includes a rebranding. As part of this, the airline has just unveiled a new safety video, and I’m impressed!
In this post:
Air India’s “Safety Mudras” video
Air India has today released its new safety video, named “Safety Mudras,” which is intended to seamlessly blend safety instructions with India’s vibrant culture. Air India describes the new video as being “meticulously crafted to engage passengers and showcase the diversity and depth of the Indian culture, while delivering essential safety information.”
The new video showcases Indian classical dance and folk-art forms. The video shows mudras (dance expressions) in eight dance forms, comprised of Bharatnatyam, Bihu, Kathak, Kathakali, Mohiniyattam, Odissi, Ghoomar, and Giddha.
Each dance form presents a specific safety instruction, intended to provide vital information in an engaging and culturally immersive manner. Music in the video is from Grammy Award-winning music composer and singer Shankar Mahadevan.
Here’s how Air India CEO Campbell Wilson describes the new video:
“As a flagbearer of the country and a longstanding patron of Indian art and culture, Air India is delighted to present a work of art that is designed to deliver essential safety instructions while showcasing India’s rich cultural diversity to travellers around the world. Our guests will find this inflight safety video to be more immersive and informative, and a warm welcome to India from the moment they step onboard.”
The new safety video will initially be screened on Air India’s new Airbus A350s, and will progressively be deployed on other aircraft as well.
You can watch Air India’s new safety video for yourself below.
I really like Air India’s new safety video
In recent years we’ve seen airlines invest quite a bit in safety videos, viewing it as a form of marketing. After all, there aren’t many things that every single passenger on a flight will be forced to watch.
Airlines take all kinds of different approaches with safety videos, from humor, to promoting their home country, to beautiful visuals. I’ve gotta say, I really like Air India’s new safety video:
- It’s not unnecessarily long, as it’s well under five minutes
- The video is visually beautiful, and I’m sure Indians and foreigners alike will enjoy watching this
- The instructions in the video are presented clearly
- The video has nice music as well, so even frequent flyers shouldn’t grow tired of this video (unlike some videos that feel like comedy routines)
I find this to be a classy, agreeable, and beautiful safety video. Air India continues to impress me with its transformation, and this video is no exception.
Bottom line
Air India has unveiled a new safety video, which incorporates dance into the safety instructions. I think this new safety video is great, and strikes the right balance between clearly sharing instructions while engaging passengers and integrating Indian culture.
What do you make of Air India’s new safety video?
Very creative and pretty, but does the viewer really notice, understand, and remember the safety point being made (as they get enraptured by these dancers)? Someone should test the "safety message communication effectiveness" of such safety videos!
I hope they will keep the new aircraft clean and maintained the last flight I took recently on Air India on the first class ( ORD ~ DEL ) was a disaster... the entertainment system was not working. However, the service was pretty good including food. I was the only passenger.
I’d love you to try their A350, and their ex-Delta Business suites from BOM/BLR to the US.
Brings tears of joy seeing Air India's transformation back to where it once was in the 60s & 70s under the Tata's. I used to take 50 or so AI flights a year when it was owned by the Government of India. Although AI had a lot of shortcomings, the people were kind and helpful (if you treated them like humans).
QANTAS could learn a thing or two from the new Air India by not making their safety vids movie length snooze fests.
Also, shades of the original Deltalina, in the "smoking is not permitted" finger-wags!
I really like this video, beautiful. Makes me think of the AF one, a graceful nod to the country’s culture and flair without being gimmicky.
What an innovative and creative production. Congratulations Air India and the Production team.
Well looks impressive.
Lucky, time for a quick India trip then? Maybe Air India from JFK/EWR/SFO to BOM on the Ex Delta planes along with a Domestic A350 Flight?
There is great Aeroplan Availability for Air India currently.
The dances were cool, but what's going to immediately stand out to a lot of people, is how clearly this promotes that old nasty "Light-colored skin is the Right-colored skin" mentality, that's unfortunately so common in Indian productions.
So true. Even though several of the dances are from the south all the dancers are fair skinned. Unfortunately this is all too common even in South Indian films.
I do not think all of them are light skinned, they had enough makeup on them. Even regular dances are done that way.
I loved this. Well put together, and doesn't seem like something that would get annoying after you've seen it multiple times.
Definitely a good job by Air India. Many of us are taking a wait and see attitude. Interestingly enough a lot of the position comments are not from Indians. Having been disappointed over and over again.. most Indians will take a wait and see attitude. Buying new planes is all good.. but how they maintain them is going to be crucial and if they follow procedures over time.
For comparison, this is what Vistara did in 2020: a serene yoga-themed video. Another really cool, literally, idea! https://livefromalounge.com/vistara-in-flight-safety-video/
Thanks. I checked it out. Nice.
Three words: Massive. Bollywood. Number.
Nice safety video! But I really wish they would be more inclusive by adding more trans-women and darker skinned Indians. Overall nice job though!!
I don't think darker skinned Indians are considered Indians in their society.
It's almost like they don't consider muslims as humans there.
Stupid comment. All Indians regardless of their religion are part of India. In case you don't know most of Bollywood male superstars are Muslim.
So true. Not everyone is inclusive like Americans. They consider even embryos as humans. Now that is some progressive thinking. I also admire how, liberals, democrats, gays, immigrants, women, blacks, hispanics are all considered humans…oh wait!!
Funny hearing this from a country that invented and use the caste system for centuries.
Before the time when Columbus landed on the wrong land. Or before Americans even exists.
Must have hit a nerve that you have to go back hundreds of years for a comeback.
Quite a few of them could be Muslims as Kathak has good number of them. Also there are several in Bharata Natyam. Since, you cannot know that by looking at a short video, your comment is irresponsible. As I mentioned earlier, many of them wore heavy makeup, for all I know (I have few dancers in my own family) some of them could be dark skinned. As for your equally asinine comment that dark skinned...
Quite a few of them could be Muslims as Kathak has good number of them. Also there are several in Bharata Natyam. Since, you cannot know that by looking at a short video, your comment is irresponsible. As I mentioned earlier, many of them wore heavy makeup, for all I know (I have few dancers in my own family) some of them could be dark skinned. As for your equally asinine comment that dark skinned are not considered Indians, I am from South and we do perfectly fine. Just one example, Indian Foreign Secretary is from South.
I really like it. Well done!
Will be interesting if it’s also done in Hindi.
Then you run the risk of making people lose interest depending on when you play that version. Majority of Indians that fly are comfortable with English.
Also not everyone in India speaks Hindi-the languages in South India like Tamil, Malayalam are completely different from Hindi and not everyone from there speaks Hindi too.