Mumbai Oct 15: Mpower, a pan-India mental health service provider and an initiative of the Aditya Birla Education Trust, has launched #UnpackTheBaggage, a mental health awareness campaign that encourages people to recognise the emotional weight they may have been carrying for years. Through a compelling campaign film created in collaboration with its creative agency, Schbang, Mpower highlights how seemingly small experiences of hurt, rejection and conflict can stay with us long after the moment has passed.
The campaign stems from a simple but often overlooked truth: emotional distress does not always arise from a single defining event. It can build gradually through everyday experiences that are brushed aside, left unaddressed or accepted as part of life. While each experience may seem manageable in isolation, its cumulative impact can shape how people think, feel and respond to the world around them.
With #UnpackTheBaggage, Mpower brings this insight to life through the metaphor of a bag that grows heavier with every unresolved experience. The film follows a protagonist from childhood into adulthood, carrying a fragment of each painful moment with him: a shard from a plate broken during his parents’ argument, a piece of a science project ruined by a bully, and a microphone from a stage where he was left standing alone.
Taking a less conventional approach to mental health communication, the film leaves room for audiences to draw their own connections rather than spelling out its message. At its heart is the idea that seeking support can be a step towards understanding oneself, rather than a sign of weakness or an inability to cope. By portraying therapy as a gradual process of unpacking these experiences, one piece at a time, the film reinforces the importance of acknowledging one’s emotions and working through them with the right support.
The film closes with the line, “You don’t know how much you carry until you open it all up,” inviting viewers to reflect on their own emotional experiences and consider taking the first step towards seeking support.
Speaking about the campaign, Roshan Wadhwani, Vice President, Marketing, Aditya Birla Education Trust, said,
“Most people don’t think of themselves as needing support, because what they carry has built up slowly, through experiences they have simply learned to live with. One of the challenges in mental health communication is moving beyond messages people have heard before and making them stop and think. With #UnpackTheBaggage, we wanted to show, in a way that feels familiar, how much those moments add up. If the film makes people pause, look at what they are carrying, and feel that reaching out for support is a normal thing to do, it will have started the conversation we hoped for.”
Rajeshwari Rao, National Creative Director, Schbang, said,
“This film is definitely a lot more personal to everyone involved, right from its inception to its final execution. Because who amongst us hasn’t been scarred by life? Professionally and creatively, it ticks all the right boxes for us as the creative agency, but more importantly, our partnership with the Aditya Birla Education Trust has been all the more gratifying given the subject matter of this campaign. We were stoked from the outset to bring their vision to life.
