By HARI CHAKYAR
JACK IN THE BOX WORLDWIDE
A few days back, when 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 was however pleasantly surprised to see them in a lovely TVC for Kerala-based jewellery brand Kalyan Jewellers.
The film, which ends with the tagline ‘Vishwaasam, adu alle ellaam?’ literally meaning ‘Trust. Isn’t that everything?’ in Malayalam, is shot beautifully, with a wonderful colour tone and bears a simple background score. This spot comes like rain on Malayalam television which is parched by blatant product displays, exaggerations of product benefits and language dubs of TVCs originally made in Hindi.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, Kairali etc. are bereft of thought or advertising craft. Except for a few stray gimmicks, they have hardly evolved to offer anything new. For instance, an ad for hair oil will 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! There is hardly any insight, minimal creative input and zilch creative strategy.
Those who’ve grown up speaking Malayalam at home will undoubtedly enjoy the dubbed ads. The voiceovers, often done in studios in Mumbai’s Worli and Mahalaxmi by non-Malayali artists often systematically destroy diction and speech constructions.
One might argue that a tagline that talks about trust is more apt for a banking ad or an insurance policy, but one must understand where the brand comes from.
Kerala is obsessed with gold. From a pure audience perspective, it can be seen that gold jewellery ads rule TV and outdoor advertising spaces in the state. It would be difficult to travel inside Kerala and not spot hoardings with gaudily oversized faces of actresses overflowing with gold ornaments. Some of these hoardings are even hand-painted!
In such a competitive market, the quality of gold, fair and transparent price for jewellery etc. is a general topic of discussion. Isn’t it only natural then, that a brand would want to adorn the halo of the ‘trust’ to stand out among its competitors?
Thus, it is heartening to see a brand make such good use of its tagline. Armed with a hefty production budget (a part of their annual 90 crore marketing budget), this 2:08 minute film manages to break clutter and clearly deliver its message - that Kalyan Jewellers is a brand to be trusted. Hearty congratulations to the team at PUSH, Bangalore for attempting to rake the muck and bring out the jewels.
Then again, if the objective of this TVC was to tap markets in Mumbai, Gujarat and North India, I wonder if this will cut any ice here. Opinions by non-Malayalis on Facebook bash it for the ridiculousness of the student reading his old teacher’s mind and deciding to do the needful, Sudaama style. A few even ask how this is an ad for a jewellery store considering the only jewellery in the film is where; in an out-of-focus shot, Bachchan looks at Dileep’s wife who’s ‘subtly’ wearing too much gold for an average day at home.
Maybe this film will be followed by its shorter versions but as gold jewellery doesn’t mean the same to the western or north Indian market as it does to people in Kerala, I hope Kalyan Jewellers have a better targeted campaign for elsewhere.
Feedback: hari@jackintheboxworldwide.com
