By Malay Desai
From: Various
A musical campaign song from Gujarat Pradesh Congress Samiti gets popular local singers atop a vehicle which travels through various locations in the state. It shows common people – farmers, teachers and students and housewives wearing blindfolds and going about their chores. Toward the end, the troupe works up a seemingly impromptu gig at a town square where the blindfolds come off one after another. The film eventually ends with a little girl waving the Congress flag, followed by the party logo.
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First things first – the upcoming Assembly elections in Gujarat are perhaps the biggest political event before the 2014 national polls. Should the Congress, i.e., the advertiser here, succeed in pipping current CM Narendra Modi, it would have a direct outcome on who becomes PM later. This music video, launched at Congress President Sonia Gandhi’s massive rally in the State last fortnight, is one of many open punches both the parties have exchanged over the past month.
That motormouth manager Modi has transformed his State with swanky infrastructure and shiny industrialism is evident; his fascist tendencies, manipulative practices and murky past are no secret either. The video hits nail on head by showing the electorate as blindfolded. Willingly looking away from misgovernance is naivety, says the underlying lyrics of ‘bholu’ Gujarat. The lines are provocative, hummable and importantly for the ‘client’ here, bear strong branding (evoking ‘haath’ many times) and a call to action (‘Let’s create a new State’. Old but effective.)
The production metes out a classic music video treatment – multiple locations and slow-mo visuals, and the quality is commendable. The ‘road trip’ approach works, this is an election call after all, and is strong enough for us to recall the fabulous ‘Mann ke Manjire’ by Shubha Mudgal. This, at a time when the incumbent BJP has been dishing out shadily produced TV commercials, scores many brownie points for the Congress. (Tune in to the GEC ‘ETV Gujarati’ any time these days to know about these).
This video, distributed in CDs containing two more tracks (which are different in character but by the same artistes) is just round 10 of several more to come. The State goes to polls only in December third week but we’re glued in to the biff-bang-pow currently underway. Whether any of that would influence the voters who in the last election chose Modi despite his ‘lifestyle over human life’ truth, remains to be seen.
To watch this spot, log on to - Goo.gl/lIy0D
