India has an estimated 1.9 million transgender people. They are known in the country as hijras, and are stigmatised and alienated.

Hijras find it impossible to get conventional jobs because they are ostracized from society. Begging and sex work are the two main ways to make money.

In a landmark judgment, the Indian supreme court ruled that transgender people had equal rights under the law, and granted legal status to a third gender in addition to male and female. But despite this, they have restricted access to education, health and public spaces and until recently were even excluded from effectively participating in social and cultural life.

Brooke Bond Red Label strives to bring people together, making the world a more welcoming place. Our objective was to force India to confront its prejudices and change the way ‘the third gender’ are perceived.

We launched 6 Music videos over 6 months. Its debut song ‘Hum Hai Happy’, based on Pharrell William’s hit “Happy” recounts their philosophy of being happy despite their adversities.

We collaborated with Sonu Nigam, India’s top Singer and musician par excellence and the most credible voice in the industry today and created 2 versions of ‘Sab Rab De Bande’, which translates to ‘We are all children of God’ reinforcing that all men are born equally.

Launched on Youtube, the songs quickly became a talking point across media. Leading television music and radio channels played them as programming content. They were also integrated into content sharing apps including all the Live-streaming music Mobile apps.

Leading Bollywood actors with the likes of Hrithik Roshan, Salman Khan and Arjun Kapoor came forward to lend support by featuring in the music videos and Bollywood brigade went wild on Twitter showing their solidarity and support.