Your Shot: Greenlam Style

With India’s election just around the corner, the new Greenlam spot ‘Beautify Your World’ is fairly ‘on the nose’. A playful satire that skewers political corruption and spoofs the Bollywood sub-genre of patriotic movies, the spot is as spectacular and smart as one would expect from director Ram Madhvani and McCann India CCO Prasoon Joshi, the dream team behind the much-awarded Happydent spot. Laura Swinton caught up with Ram to find out more.

 

 

LBB>What was it about the brief from the agency that appealed to you?

RM> I directed the earlier Greenlam film and I was in New York on holiday when Prasoon Joshi called with the new script. I knew it had to be good if he had called personally and so in my mind I had already said ‘yes’ to it before even listening to the idea. The collaboration with Prasoon I have always cherished from before we made the Happydent film. We increasingly want to be part of popular culture and we want to start conversations with our advertising and tap into the zeitgeist.  We know that if we can do that, the brand will be successful. I heard the script and knew that this had the potential to do that and it was also intrinsically linked to the brands idea of making the world beautiful. The Greenlam client believes in good ideas and I always enjoy working with them. 

 

LBB> The idea seems to really chime with what's going on in India at the moment - do you see the ad as a political statement?

RM> It’s more of a social statement. If you give people beautiful things they will have better thoughts and therefore they will become better people. Better design leads to a better world. 

Yes, it does resonate with what is happening in our country. The election is around the corner. Though the film is a satire, it is pitched innocently. It's not cynical. It's meant to be charming. 

 

LBB> Some of the shots are spectacular - particularly the 'bird’s eye view' shots of the parliament. What did you have in mind when you were blocking out these shots?

RM> We do have this patriotic genre of films and songs in India and they are always mounted with scale. These kind of films are shot in this manner, with cranes and ‘Jimmy Jib’ shots and the idea was to spoof the shooting style of these films. 

Incidentally the set is CG. We built the benches but the walls, ceiling and the structure was done on the computer. Our production designer Anna Ipe worked with one of India's foremost architects and interior designers , Ratan Batliboi and his team to get all the architectural details correct. We had to imagine that we were commissioned to build the Parliament. Mithil Dalvi and his team at After, the post house, worked very closely with Anna and Ratan and the incredibly committed DOP Sejal Shah to make it believable. 

 

LBB> In terms of casting there are some great characters amidst the crowd - how did you cast the spot and what were you looking for?

 

RM> The casting was already clear in the song that Prasoon had written.  The corrupt politician who says he will not be corrupt any more needed to look like he was definitely corrupt. Not only did they have to feel real and believable but they also had to be innocently funny. The more sincere they were the funnier the film would be. That was the contradiction and the casting brief. Seher Latif, the casting director of the movie ‘The Lunchbo’x was very clear about which actors could bring about this balance. The acting style is also inspired by that patriotic genre. Basically in this kind of genre the characters are all always very pious with very pious eyes . 

 

LBB> The aesthetic is very clean and crisp - I guess to reflect the purity of these newly optimistic politicians! What was the look that you were going for?

RM> We went through many different colours before we came up with this look. The space had to feel airy and open and contemporary, almost like a first class lounge in an Airport. 

 

LBB> In terms of the music, who did you work with on that? And did you have any specific ideas or references for how you wanted the song to sound?

RM> Shantanu Moitra , who is also the music director of Happydent and many successful Bollywood films, was very clear that though the music came from the patriotic genre it should also be contemporary and strident. It needed to be sincere yet funny. 

 

LBB> What was the greatest challenge creating this spot? And what is your favourite memory from shooting it?

 

RM> We had a day to shoot the film and about 35 shots . Thanks to an excellent team headed by Manoj Shroff our producer, Priyanka Ghosh our line producer and Siddhartha Luther our 1st AD we finished an hour before schedule . I got a letter from one of the actors after the shoot who said that to see the team work so fast and efficiently was like seeing a well-choreographed dance.

 

The client released the 100 second version of the film across 70 channels as a road block and with appointment viewing ads in leading newspapers. The reaction has been very heartening  All credit to Prasoon Joshi, and the McCann team, the team at the clients end and finally the Equinox team. 

 

GREENLAM
Client (Brand): GREENLAM LAMINATES
Agency: MCCANN
City & Country : DELHI, INDIA
Chief Creative Officer : PRASOON JOSHI
Copywriter/Lyricist : PRASOON JOSHI
Client Servicing : RANJEEV VIJ, NISHANT SAURABH, SHOURABH VERMA, TANWEER HASAN
Agency Producer : JEET KALRA
Director: RAM MADHVANI
Production Co & City: EQUINOX FILMS PVT. LTD, MUMBAI
Producer: MANOJ SHROFF
Line Producer: PRIYANKA GHOSE
Director of Photography: SEJAL SHAH
Assistant Camerman : AKHILESH
Chief AD : SIDDHARTHA LUTHER
2nd AD  : KAPIL SHARMA
Directors Chief Assistant: RHEA PRABHU
AD Department : NISHAD SEN, PRATIK SHAH
Storyboard: CHETAN SHARMA
Parliament Architecture and Design : RATAN BATLIBOI, MANDAR KARMARKAR, JEREMY VAZ, UMESH MISTRY, ANNA IPE
Production Designer : ANNA IPE
Art Director : ANNA IPE, SHEKHAR MORE, RICHARD VIAGULAM
Costumes : AASHIMA BELARPURKAR, SUCHITRA AGARWAL
Casting Director: SEHER LATIF
Assistant Casting Director : TRISHAAN SARKAR, SHIKHA GUPTA
Production Manager : NIKHIL BOPANNA
Production Assistant : RAHUL POTDAR
Sound Design : ANMOL BHAVE
Sync Sound : KETKI
Gaffer, Mumbai : AHMED
Post Production Supervisor : SANAJAOBA NONGTHOMBAM
Post Production Manager : SURYAKANT BHAYDE
Post Production & City: AFTER STUDIOS, MUMBAI
Editor: RACHIT MEHTA
Online editor: AMIT CHITNIS, ROHINI 
Colourist : AMIT CHITNIS
CG House : AFTER STUDIOS, MUMBAI
CG Supervisor : MITHIL DALVI
CG Line Producer : PRASANNA AYRE, NIDHI OZA
Lighiting and Texturing : MUKESH RAHPUROHIT
Composite : NISHANT SHINDE, AURINDAM KUNDOO, GAURESH THACKERAY, GIRISH ADAM, JITESH SHINDE, KAUSHIK BERA, NETRA MANKAR, DIKSHISH MISTRY
Matte Painting : ANITA CHAUDHRY, NETRA MANKAR, SIDDHARTH TURI
CG Dynamic and Matchover : PRIYAL MHARDOLKAR
Modeler : SAILESH KESARKAR, ARUN SHINDI
Animator : SOUMYA PRADHAN
3D Animator : RAJESH PATRA, DIKSHISH MISTRY
Roto : ABHINEET SALASKAR, BHARAT CHAUHAN
CG Trainee : ANKIT PATWA
Animator Trainee : ARJUN BABU. BISWAJEET BHATTACHARYA
Music & Music Publisher: SHANTANU MOITRA
Music Arranger : GEORGE JOSEPH
Singers : JOLLY MUKHERJEE, TORSHA, HUMSIKA IYER
Voice Over: SUNIL GROVER
Sound Engineer : JITEN SOLANKI
Studio: BOING STUDIOS, MUMBAI