Unacademy's viral film featuring Sachin Tendulkar garners over 2 million views in an hour of its launch

Unacademy has released a new film titled ‘The Greatest Lesson,’ to mark its association with cricketer Sachin Tendulkar and celebrate the relentless human spirit in its pursuit of excellence. The master blaster has been taken on board as a brand ambassador and a mentor for Unacademy learners. The campaign conceived by Lowe Lintas Bangalore aims to build affinity for the brand.

The film celebrates the ‘never give up’ spirit by commemorating some of the most challenging times of the veteran cricketer’s career and his subsequent triumphs. Being an education platform, Unacademy drives a message with the film that failures must be looked upon as stepping stones to success.

The film starts with the audience cheering on as Tendulkar walks to the field and former pace bowler Shoaib Akhtar gets ready to bowl. A few frames later, Akhtar is seen hurtling down the pitch in his trademark style as Tendulkar takes guard. The film then cuts to Sachin’s ODI debut in 1989, when he was dismissed on a duck on the second ball he faced.

The film shattered viewership records within hours of its release, garnering over two million views across social media and digital platforms. This is the second major viral campaign for the edtech major, whose IPL film titled ‘Cracking the Game’, won several awards and received an equally stellar response last November.

From there on, the film depicts some of Sachin’s most notable dismissals, including the ‘shoulder before wicket’ incident against Australia at Adelaide in 1999, and former umpire Steve Bucknor’s erroneous dismissal of the cricketer at Gabba in 2003. The disappointment of the fans and the consternation on Sachin’s face is palpable as the film progresses till it reaches a crescendo and the screen changes to read, ‘Failure. The fuel of champions.’

Thereon, the narrative changes as the film journeys through some of Sachin’s most momentous comebacks that made him one of the greatest cricketers in the history of the game, earning him the sobriquet, ‘God of Cricket.’

The film:

Unacademy recently announced a strategic partnership with cricket legend Tendulkar. As part of the deal, Tendulkar will share his life lessons, mentoring Unacademy learners through a series of live interactive classes, which will be available free of cost. Unacademy is working on deeper content-led integration with him in the sports learning category. The details of this integration will be unveiled in the next few months.

Talking about the campaign, Puneet Kapoor, Regional Creative Officer, Lowe Lintas, said, “Failure is a part of life. We all are bound to go through it. Ideally with grace. Whether it be an amateur learner or the god of cricket. Yet the amount of judgment it garners from the society stigmatises it, instead of shining a light on the immense power of learning it unleashes. The sole purpose of this film is to give an apt high-pedestal and respect to failure, to inspire all learners.”