Priyadarshan lends Congress ad campaign its rural touch

India lives in its villages. That is the quintessence of the Congress's poll campaign being aired on television. And to capture that essence, the party has roped in ace filmmaker Priyadarshan -- whose cinematic opus involves large dollops of the countryside -- to shoot videos in which the common man is portrayed as the real hero.

The campaign, titled Aam Aadmi Ke Badte Kadam, Har Kadam Par Bharat Bulund (loosely translating as, The common man marches on, taking India to greatness),  features Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, Sonia
Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi.

Bowled over by his depiction of rural life in the Shahrukh Khan-starrer Billu, Viraasat and Maalamal Weekly, ad agency JWT, which along with another agency Crayons had bagged the party's poll account, and the Congress leadership roped in Priyadarshan to shoot the videos.

Priyadarshan, a versatile ad filmmaker as well, accepted the challenge gleefully.

"I did it because it was a beautiful concept. I have really enjoyed the work, mainly because it was a fantastic idea to shoot. Let me tell you, it is not like India Shining. It focusses on the soul of India -- its villages," a palpably exuberant Priyadarshan told rediff.com.

The video was picturised in Tamil Nadu's Pollachi -- his favourite location where, incidentally, SRK's Billu was shot -- besides Mumbai and New Delhi. Shot under a cloak of secrecy, even the crew members did not know that the campaign was being shot.

In Pollachi, in fact, the campaign was shot at the same spots where Billu was shot.

Made in 13 languages, the 13-second to 10-minute video mainly focusses on the Right to Information Act, mid-day meal scheme, National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme and the pan-India presence of the Congress party.

Unlike the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance's India Shining campaign, the Badte Kadam campaign does not intend to glorify the United Progressive Alliance's achievements. Instead it is a look at the
Congress party's "proud heritage, culture and history".

"It basically aims at portraying the culture of Congress throughout the years. It also talks about the successive Congress governments' achievements," says a source closely associated with the campaign.

"The interesting thing was that it was not about proclaiming the achievements. It is about Congress's proud history, heritage and culture. That is what I specially like about the campaign," says Priyadarshan who has shot more than 100 ad films for several international brands.

But to many, it came as a surprise when the Kerala filmmaker, known as a Communist fellow-traveller, took up a campaign for the Congress party.

Priyadarshan, however, dismisses any such leanings.

"I was never a Communist. People branded me as one because of my close association with friends who are Marxists. Even when in college I was never part of any political party. I would say cricket was my party," Priyadarshan added jokingly.

He also says his critically acclaimed film Kanjeevaram ruffled many feathers in Kerala, with many saying the film "is the story of failed Communist policies".

The Congress promotional, being aired on TV channels, was supervised by the party's poll managers Digvijay Singh, Jairam Ramesh and Anand Sharma.

The much-publicised Jai Ho campaign -- for which the Congress reportedly paid $200,000 (about Rs 1 crore) for the Oscar winning song -- was shot by a different agency.

The party has only used Jai Ho's tune, not the lyrics. Apparently, the party does not want to completely identify itself with the Jai Ho campaign. That is why Congress spokesperson Veerappa Moily said in a recent interview 'that Jai Ho is not the only song, we have more'.