Dice Media and Unacademy launch ‘Operation MBBS' Season 2 covering pandemic through medical fraternity's perspective

Pocket Aces’ medical drama series ‘Operation MBBS’ crossed over 1.5 billion YouTube impressions and 88 million video views for Season 1 on Dice Media. The channel, in association with its long-standing partner, Unacademy, returns with Season 2, making it India’s first web series covering the pandemic from the perspective of the medical fraternity.

Unacademy came on board as a brand partner for Operation MBBS Season 1 to build awareness around its medical test preparation courses and boost subscriptions.

Based on a brand lift study conducted with Nepa, the last series played a pivotal role in creating visibility for the brand where 80% of the respondents recalled at least three features mentioned about Unacademy in the series and 65% respondents downloaded the app after viewing the series.

In an emotional approach, the show brings to light the unprecedented situations and its impact on the medical community when the Covid-19 pandemic hit the world. The series will unfold a myriad of situations that take new turns in the lives of the three protagonists as they gear up for the most crucial 2nd year of the MBBS degree. The pandemic proves to be a turning point for the trio, as they experience first-hand the sacrifices made by doctors for their patients’ well-being, and is a lesson for all to take back with them. Premiered on March 15, the series has garnered 38.4 million viewership to date with episode 2 and 3 trending at #1 on YouTube for two days each.

Season 2 follows the journey of Nishant (Ayush Mehra), Huma (Sarah Hashmi) and Sakshi (Anshul Chauhan) into their second year of MBBS, which is regarded as the ‘Honeymoon Period’. Far from it, the central characters go through their own personal and professional battles which are depicted in two timelines — pre and post Covid-19. Nishant is determined to change the careless image that has been created about him. Being branded a management quota student, he firmly believes he is worth much more and seeks out to earn that recognition from his peers and faculty. Sakshi on the other hand displays courage and stands up for what is right only to attract disciplinary action from the Dean. Huma continues to struggle with anxiety stemming from the pressures to succeed, which begins to affect her mental health. As they attempt to understand Covid-19 and its treatment, the trio goes through a turbulent time, as emotions run high, sacrifices are made, and the severity of the pandemic plays out in front of their eyes.

Over the course of the second season, Unacademy’s user journey is shown through Lata — a NEET-UG aspirant who, with the help of Nishant, is introduced to the app. The app’s new and highly interactive features like live polls and gamified quizzes have been seamlessly woven into the narrative. As the intense storyline progresses, audiences are introduced to Yash, a resident psychiatrist at the hospital and an Unacademy educator who also serves as a frontline warrior putting him in a unique position to inspire his students. The series features the other hallmarks of the app such as ‘Legends On Unacademy’, which gives students access to industry leaders and a chance to seek the right guidance from them. The app’s measurable success is shown through Sakshi’s conversations with Aakash, who cracked his NEET exam in the first season, and has now secured admission in AIIMS.

Aditi Shrivastava

Aditi Shrivastava, Co-founder, Pocket Aces and showrunner of Operation MBBS, said, “Aspiring medical students studying for NEET are a huge audience for Operation MBBS and for Unacademy as well. This is what makes the partnership with the brand so organic to the show. In Season 1, we showed that low-income students that don’t necessarily understand English can still successfully study from the Unacademy app. In Season 2, we built characters to not only portray the students but also show the integral educator side of the app. We have really pushed creative boundaries with this never before seen portrayal of Covid-19 doctors in India, and are glad to have a long-standing partner like Unacademy on this journey.”