MP’s tourist attractions come to life with the colours of Holi

A new commercial for Madhya Pradesh (MP) Tourism created by Ogilvy & Mather will hit TV screens sometime in early April 2013.

Set against the festival of Holi, the ad shows tourists being welcomed by young locals with a splash of the traditional coloured powder and water. As the colours reach the tourists, they morph into the key tourist attractions of Madhya Pradesh - Kanha's tigers, Khajuraho's famous sculptures, Mandu's Jahaz Mahal, Sanchi Stupa and Ujjain's Mahakal Aarti - in slow motion. The intent is to convey that Madhya Pradesh has several tourist attractions, thanks to its wild life, culture and heritage.

Abhijit Avasthi, national creative director, Ogilvy & Mather, said, “MP Tourism ads have enjoyed a tremendous popular appeal in the past. From its artistic execution to touching the pulse of millions of Indians, we had to come up with another stunning ad in the series of unique MP Tourism ads and that’s what we did.”

Mahesh Gharat, group creative director, added, “The moment we started brainstorming on this campaign, the idea to present the State of Madhya Pradesh through beautiful, vivid colours sort of leapt out at us. After the first sketches were done, we gave a shout to (Prakash) Varma to check how feasible our vision was. Or not? Fortunately, he was as excited to execute this never-seen-before riot of colours as we were. From there on, one thing led to the other. It has been months in the making but now when you sit back and have a look at this ad, all the hard work and detailing seems worth it.”

Unplugged moments

Pradyumna Chauhan, group creative director, Ogilvy & Mather, explained that the ad was easier imagined than done. He added, “Hats off to all our collaborators led by Varma, finally we did pull it off. A special mention for Pankaj Awasthi – he brought so much soul and feel to this ad with the music. Writing the song to the visuals was some task but it worked out great in the end.”
Gharat added, “The throwing of colour and where it was landing was a sight to behold. Most times, no matter how accurately one tried, we’d get it off. But it was played over and over again in high speed to check how the colours were actually falling, especially by the post (production) guy who had flown all the way from Norway. And only with more takes and a bit of luck, we got the final takes.”

Credits

Client: MP Tourism
Agency: Ogilvy & Mather, Mumbai
National Creative Director: Abhijit Avasthi
Group Creative Directors: Pradyumna Chauhan, Mahesh Gharat
Account Management: Ajay Menon, Rohit Sharma
Production House: Nirvana Films
Director: Prakash Varma
Lyrics: Pradyumna Chauhan
Music: Pankaj Awasthi

Also read: Capturing the spirit of Holi