It was the year 2013. The Google India team was led by Sandeep Menon, who was the marketing director then. When the brand team approached Ogilvy India, their brief was simple: “Everybody uses me every single day. I am a great technology brand but nobody uses me for anything more than just hunting for information,” said Sukesh Nayak, Ogilvy’s Chief Creative Officer (the then executive creative director).
At that time, Google was used for just basic search despite the tech giant being capable of much more, which people in India were not aware of then, remembered Abhijit Avasthi, the then National Creative Director, Ogilvy India.
A lot of new apps were being launched those days with specific use-cases. “Google felt the need to release a campaign which informed people that besides finding out basic information on chemistry or history or economics, there were a lot of other things that Google could do,” added Avasthi.
Genesis
During a conversation with Storyboard18, Nayak recollected that during his boarding school days, his friend had narrated the story of his grandfather who had shifted to Delhi from Pakistan during partition.
Nayak did not know then that decades later this would inspire him to script a reunion story against the backdrop of partition for Google’s campaign.
The story revolved around two friends, Baldev and Yousuf, who were separated due to partition, and who reconnected decades later, all thanks to Google.
The script got a thumbs up from the agency as well as the brand. Once everything was in place, the question arose as to who would direct the film. Avasthi suggested the name of Amit Ravindernath Sharma.
Sharma was captivated by the storyline. It took him back to his childhood days when his grandmother narrated tales of her friendship back in the neighbouring country.
He said, “My grandmother used to tell me the story of her friend Rajjo, in Jhelum, Pakistan. When I was reading the script, I could see these two characters who were separated during partition. If they meet, what would happen? What will be their expressions? What will be their feelings? I tried to recreate that.”
However, Sharma decided to back off from the project owing to his tight schedule. But destiny had something else in store. The ad, which was slated to be released on August 15, got pushed to September, when Sharma was available.
Then came the casting.
Auditions were held across the country, but what caught Sharma’s attention was the performance of the veteran actor, the late Vishwa Mohan Badola. It was something he could relate to. What further worked in Badola’s favour was the fact that he too was from Pakistan and had witnessed the partition, added Avasthi.
He was finalised to play the role of the Indian grandfather.
Well-known director MS Sathyu, who had directed the 1974 partition film ‘Garam Hawa,’ was roped in to enact the role of the Pakistani grandfather. Badola and Sathyu were big names in the theatre fraternity, and were familiar with each other, said Sharma.
Tassaduq Hussain was the DOP (Director of Photography), and the music was done by Clinton Cerejo. The lyrics were written by an Ogilvy veteran, Neelesh Jain.
New Delhi was chosen as the location chosen for the shoot. But Sharma was clear that he did not want any place in India to be passed off as Pakistan as he wanted the film to be as authentic as possible. In the ad, we see the wide shot of a locality when Badola’s on-screen grand-daughter phones Fazal Sweets in the neighbouring country. That place is in Lahore, Pakistan.
“We got in touch with a photographer there and requested him to send photographs of some monuments in Lahore. I requested him to shoot one of them, since I could not go to Pakistan and do the same,” he explained.
The initial edit of the ad film was about five minutes long. After a lot of conversations, three minutes thirty seconds was deemed the ideal length. However, when Avasthi showed the ad to the client, they loved it but advised that it be trimmed as films longer than two minutes don’t do well on YouTube. But Avasthi stuck to his ground, and after a lot of debate, the film’s length was retained. On seeing the ad, then Ogilvy executive chairman Piyush Pandey was moved to tears, said Nayak.
The film was part of a digital-first campaign. There were about three to four shorter films highlighting eight to nine use cases. Google wanted to showcase people looking up weather conditions, flight arrivals, visas, etc, which people hardly used it for then, narrated Avasthi.
Nayak added that the story needed to be authentic, where everything shown in it had to be available on Google. “Hence, information on the embassy, the sweet shop, the weather, etc, was all real. The story had to match the data that came from Google,” Nayak added.
On going live, the response turned out to be phenomenal. The ad, which was meant to be YouTube-led, became such a success that it was eventually released on television as well.
People across the world responded positively, which led the Ogilvy team to subtitle in multiple languages. Among those who appreciated the film were Google’s founders (Larry Page and Sergey Brin) and megastar Amitabh Bachchan, revealed Nayak.
Behind the scenes
Sharma remembers the fun they had while shooting.
There is a scene where the friends meet each other and Sathyu tells his friend, ‘Happy birthday yaara’, after which they warmly embrace each other.
During the shooting, Sharma had told Badola not to hug immediately, and to take some time and respond. This was to indicate that the meetup was happening after decades, and though one’s appearance may have changed, feelings haven’t.
Sharma said that when he was taking Badola’s close-up, Sathyu would not react. Badola requested Sharma to ask him to react so he could perform better. When Sathyu reacted, Badola hugged Sathyu so hard that the latter’s back hurt.
Nayak recalled that a year or two after the film’s release, Ogilvy Pakistan invited Pandey as the Chief Guest for an event. At that time, Fazal Sweets, the establishment featured in the film, also invited him, and welcomed Pandey with drums. They also gifted him four tins of jhajhariya (a type of sweet), which Pandey distributed among some of the cast and crew along with a handwritten note.
Avasthi said that various storylines were considered, but the one around the partition caught everybody’s attention immediately. “This is because it had a canvas, it was an emotional topic, which people would love to see as a story retold well. It beautifully incorporated all the use cases which we had to demonstrate,” he said.
“The story of two people did not just connect with people in that part of the world, but the world over. Not just the ad film, but a piece of India went global,” Nayak said.
Read More: How Tata Tea Premium’s Jaago Re campaign champions social causes