From Kitchen to 'Katta' Factory: Inside HOCCO's Bold Mirzapur Ice Cream Collaboration

Beyond Vanilla: HOCCO’s Pop-Culture Bet

HOCCO has been steadily building a distinctive frozen-treats portfolio designed to break away from traditional chocolate and vanilla offerings. Following impulse-driven launches like Aamchi and Limo, the brand introduced its new Bullet ice cream—a product created to align with its high-profile tie-in for Mirzapur: The Movie.

To support the collaboration, HOCCO initially brought in Nitin Tandon Studios for a standard backend task: crafting customized edible and dummy ice creams for the Mirzapur cast that could withstand dietary requirements and hot, long production hours without melting.

A Seven-Day Pivot: From Food Styling to Film Production

While on set, the scope of the assignment expanded dramatically. When HOCCO invited content ideas around the collaboration—expecting a brief, simple social media reel—Nitin Tandon Studios pitched three creative concepts. The standout idea proposed a dark, fictional origin story: manufacturing HOCCO's Bullet ice cream inside a gritty, Mirzapur-style katta (country-made pistol) factory.

With the concept greenlit, the studio transitioned within a week from preparing props to managing end-to-end film production. Moving fast, the team spent seven days securing approvals, sourcing heavy equipment, and designing a custom industrial set complete with a dedicated bullet-shaped mold.

Breaking the Mold of Conventional Food Ads

Rather than relying on classic food commercial tropes—such as glossy chocolate splashes or floating milk droplets against pristine backgrounds—the campaign fully embraced the industrial, unpolished atmosphere of the Mirzapur universe.

"We were not making a food film in the conventional way," says founder Nitin Tandon. "The idea was to make the food fit into the world of Mirzapur."

To achieve this without compromising practical food behavior, the team combined real bakery equipment, dark atmospheric lighting, smoke, and customized machinery. Rejecting heavy reliance on generative AI, the campaign was shot practically. When standard prop rentals proved unavailable or cost-prohibitive, the crew sourced machinery directly from industrial units and collected heavy chains from scrap markets to achieve the desired visual weight.

Letting the Product Take Center Stage

Despite the campaign's tie-in with a star-studded cinematic release, the studio chose not to center the film on celebrity appearances. With the main cast already driving other primary marketing assets, the studio made the Bullet ice cream itself the central hero of the story.

This project reflects a broader evolution for specialized creative studios. Having directed liquid and food SFX sequences behind the scenes for years for major brands like Maggi, Milkmaid, and Oreo, food specialists are increasingly taking on end-to-end conceptual and directorial duties for full campaign films.

Availability

The new Bullet ice cream is priced at Rs 100 for a five-stick pack. It is available across major quick-commerce and e-commerce platforms—including Blinkit, Zepto, Swiggy Instamart, Flipkart Minutes, Amazon, and BigBasket—as well as through Huber & Holly outlets.