Taproot Dentsu, the creative agency from Dentsu international, launched a 7-minute-long film for Facebook to celebrate and Welcome the auspicious festival of Diwali.
The film opens with Pooja Didi reading about job losses due to the pandemic, she decides to put out a FB post about hiring for her shop, soon a motley set of people are hired. Her struggles to maintain the extra staffs are highlighted by her brother often. On Diwali day her new set of workers decide to put out an emotional post on FB about her and the shop, soon she and her shop are the talk of the town. A heart-warming film with a tag line,’ Dil kholo, Duniya khulegi’.
We spoke to Pallavi Chakravarti, Executive Creative Director, Taproot Dentsu on this film and as to how it came about.
The world has been through a tough time since the pandemic, this film comes as a refreshing thought, what was the thought when you ideated on this?
2020 has affected all of us adversely. Everyone has battled their own demons, dealt with their personal struggles. While the extent of strife may differ from person to person, we have all faced doubt, fear, anger, frustration and more as we have made our way through these trying times. The film was born out of this realisation – that we are all in this together, that we all have been hit, in ways big and small, and that if there ever is a time to stand together, it is now.
This film is so touching, how in this pandemic did you shoot it?
Full credit to Amit and the team at Chrome Pictures for pulling this off so seamlessly. Once we all zeroed in on Amritsar as the city that was home to Pooja Didi, the team pulled out all stops to pick out superb actors who blended in beautifully with the locations and gave performances that were straight from the heart. Of course recreating the lockdown in bustling areas of now unlocked Amritsar was no easy task. The story of the film spanned about 6 months – and the production team had to recreate the atmosphere of the early days of March right up to the buzz of pre-Diwali days. And all this keeping the strictest testing and safety protocols in place.
Are we going to see many more such films?
If the occasion demands it, if it is the need of the hour, then yes, why not? This was a story whose time had come. If another such opportunity presents itself, we will be glad to try and spread some hope and optimism once again.
