Weeks ago, when the Mumbai Mirror
published a picture of Amitabh Bachchan along with Malayalam actor Dileep, I
expected a Malayalam feature film with a cameo of Big B.
I am however pleasantly surprised
to see both of them in this lovely
TVC for Kalyan Jewellers.
The film opens with Mr. Bachchan
in a school teacher’s garb writing on the blackboard while his students
copiously take it down in a rural school. It’s begun to rain. A few drops of
water drip onto a student’s book. Next, we see all the students outside the
school along with their worried-looking masterji staring the dilapidated
building.
Masterji sets off to the city to
meet one of his old students who is delighted to have him for lunch. Overjoyed
by the prospects of meeting his student after such a long time, proud to see
him successful and yet weighed down by his need of the hour, masterji decides
not to broach the topic of the school and is shown to return with a heavy
heart. To his surprise, when he reaches the school he finds that his
illustrious student is already there, supervising the renovation of his own
school.
The film ends with the tagline
‘Vishwaasam, adu alle ellaam?’ literally meaning ‘Trust. Isn’t that
everything?’
It has no dialogues. Only
beautifully shot scenes in a wonderful colour tone along with a neat background
score.
This film comes like rain on
Malayalam television parched by blatant product displays, exaggerations of product
benefits and language dubs of TVCs originally made in Hindi.
Advertisements akin to regular
programming on Malayalam GECs such as Asianet, Surya TV, Kailrali etc. are
bereft of thought or advertising craft. Except for a few stray gimmicks, they have
hardly evolved to offer anything new. If it is an ad for hair oil, the film
features a film or TV actress oiling her hair and waving it around. If it is a
lungi ad, it’s got to have Mohanlal, Mammootty or Jairam in it almost as if
people would stop wearing what they’ve been wearing for ages if their favourite
stars didn’t sport them as well.
If you are someone who grew up
speaking Malayalam at home, you’ll undoubtedly enjoy the dubbed ads. The VOs,
often done in studios in Worli and Mahalaxmi by non-Malayali voice artists perfectly
destroy diction and speech constructions.
There is hardly any insight, minimal
creative input and zilch creative strategy.
Kerala is obsessed with gold. I
am not equipped with numbers but from pure audience perspective, it can be seen
that gold jewellery ads rule TV and outdoor advertising space in Kerala.
In such a scenario, it is amazing
to see a brand take its tagline to such extents. Aided with a hefty production
budget, this 2:08 minute film hardly shows any gold and manages to break
clutter and clearly delivers its message. That Kalyan Jewellers is a brand to
be trusted.
Only one other ad in the recent
past can boast of such thought and craft.
Unlike other hair oil brands,
Dhatri Hair oil adds a social angle to its TVCs. It positioned the oil as
something that strengthens women’s hair and gives them confidence to face
difficult things. One in the series of
these ads shows a woman oiling her hair and tightly pulling it into a bun
on top of her head as she waits for her alcoholic husband to come home. She has
decided that today she won’t let him hold her hair and beat her up but will
take a stand and stand up to him. It works, as the drunken man walks up to the
gate, senses the wife’s newfound confidence and slinks away.
Hearty congratulations to the
team at PUSH, Bangalore for trying to rake the muck and bring out the jewels.
