Playing with emotions

Insurance as a gift. Not quite as flashy as diamond ring or the latest gadget. And yet, when you think about it, few other gestures really express love and concern like insurance. Just like love, it’s taken for granted. Or worse, seen as unnecessary.

With these films, Royal Sundaram Insurance was taking a rare and beautiful positioning for its first ever TVC campaign. Right from the moment we received these scripts from I-Prospect we knew just on the merit of this insight we were going to make some of the sweetest films we have ever made. The insight of these scripts - that life’s moments, big and small, could be celebrated with a document that cherished the receiver in a way that went beyond the ordinary - set these films apart from the rest.

We sometimes feel that filmmaking is part method part pure luck. At least when you’re working with tight deadlines. There’s a bit of falling into place that needs to happen, so that you get a team comprising the people you know can elevate your film. Sometimes the people you want to work with aren’t available and you take a chance on someone new and bang, there’s magical fireworks. And we honestly believe that the forces that be made their contributions towards making these films what they are. These are some of the things we think made a difference in the narrative

1. Casting. The cast we worked with on this film was *kisses figertips* They came together with such great chemistry. If Kamal was the cool, slightly detached mum who lets her daughter vent about her brother’s absence but gives her enough room to make her character arc, Swati played the anxious, sweet mother to the hilt. Shweta, with her radiant face and soft voice is beautifully offset by Anand’s helplessness brusqueness - so much that the viewer’s heart goes out to her when her face falls in disappointment. Varsha (daughter) and Suraj (father) have such great stern faces, that they amplified the emotion of those who shared the screen with them.

2. Camera movements. Sahit decided early on that Shweta and Anand would not share the screen until the moment she lovingly gave him his lunch box. The busy camera movements amplified their loneliness in their respective little whirlwind mornings - only getting a breather when she makes this little offering of love. The film slows down from there, giving the audience a chance to feel her pain and then eventually her joy. We’ve used space to establish the loneliness of the pivotal moment, just before things begins to fall into place. In the parent’s film, the tiniest of camera movements and positions making her look tiny and diminutive next to her husband - almost like her hope makes her as powerless as a mouse.

4. Music. Sachin Warrier has a gift. Right from our very first film, he’s been our go-to guy for music that wreaks havoc on the heartstrings.

As for the rest about making this film, why read when you can hear it firsthand from the team on the BTS video made for us by Suraj Boddu.