MUMBAI, INDIA – On the auspicious occasion of Akshaya Tritiya, jewelry brand Reliance Jewels and creative agency Scarecrow M&C Saatchi paid homage to Thanjavur, a mystical Kingdom and the cultural capital of spellbinding art and Dravidian architecture.
Along with Scarecrow M&C Saatchi for Reliance Jewels, this is the fifth comprehensive endeavor to narrate thousand-year-old stories of India’s cosmic art, dance, culture, traditions, and heritage.
The inspiration behind Thanjavur: Be it the intricately carved stones of the temples or the excellent craftsmanship of Poompuhar ships, the artistic traditions of Bommai Dolls, or the vibrant interiors of Darbar Hall, the collection reflects every little nuance and effort and pays tribute to the artisans of Thanjavur.
Where art is worshipped
Before conceptualizing the entire campaign, the marketing team of Reliance Jewels along with Team Scarecrow M&C Saatchi did a lot of research to understand the 1000 years of history, temple architecture, relief sculptures, bronze statues, artistic Bommai dolls, ancient musical instruments, Carnatic music, Bharatanatyam dance form, murals and frescos of the royal Kingdom. Right from visiting temples to talking to experts from different fields to a detailed cultural recce was conducted.
After four months of groundwork, research, and rounds of recce, Thanjavur history seemed overly engrossed in artistic traditions and rituals. Its mystical aura, majestic temples, and mesmerizing art forms make it a holy pilgrimage. People visit Thanjavur not just for holy temples but also for intricate and breathtaking art and architecture. Needless to say, it’s a pilgrimage where not even the art but architecture is also worshipped.
The musicians of Thanjavur
The research gave us an idea about the vastness of Thanjavur in terms of art, craft, and culture. Music plays an integral part in its culture. So, we roped in the next generation of musicians to capture the vividness of Thanjavur.
The music is composed by award-winning music composer Ambi Subramaniam, son of maestro Dr. L. Subramaniam and a renowned violinist, composer, and educator who is helmed as the “New king of Indian classical violin” by the Times of India and “India’s Itzhak Pearlmann” by Ozy Magazine. The Thanjavur song is inspired by the beauty of Thanjavur. It captures the traditional and vibrant essence that make Thanjavur the cultural capital of Tamil Nadu. The composition has been written in Gambheera Nattai raga and pays tribute to the ancient temples.
The Tamil version of the lyrics is penned by lyricist Madhan Karky, son of eldest son of seven-times National Award-winning lyricist Vairamuthu and the most sought-after lyricists in the Tamil film industry while the Hindi version is written by Manish Bhatt.
Vocalist Sharanya Srinivas, daughter of prominent singer Srinivasan Doraiswamy and who is also known for her movies Thenali, Ambikapathy, July Kaatril, Mersal, has infused magic in the melody of the song with her mesmerizing voice. The music was produced by Varun Murali, an award-winning musician and producer, popularly known as the lead guitarist behind the Indian folk-rock band Swarathma.
THE CREATOR OF THANJAVUR FILM
The campaign revolves around two young girls; a dance choreographer and her friend. The film captures the beauty of Thanjavur, its architecture, its royal palace, and its artistic traditions through the musical journey of these two friends in precisely three minutes and 27 seconds.
The film has been produced by Sunil Nair of Thinkpot Productions with cinematography helmed by Harshvir Oberai, a renowned cinematographer known for Rocket Boys, Aarya, and Navarasa.
The campaign also consists of print ads shot in the temples of Thanjavur by Tarun Khiwal, one of the most awarded and leading fashion photographers in India. The campaign also features a product shoot which was shot by famous photographer Prathamesh Hembade.
Manish Bhatt, Founder Director, Scarecrow M&C Saatchi, said, “It often takes a three-hour long feature film to capture the 1000 years old history, the tradition, the rich heritage, the dance culture, the ancient musical instruments, the Carnatic music and the many facets of Thanjavur. The challenge and the most delightful part of this campaign were to encapsulate all of this in precisely 3 minutes and 27 seconds.
Sunil Nayak, CEO of Reliance Jewels, said, “We are proud to present our Thanjavur collection this Akshaya Tritiya across India. It captures the essence of the rich heritage of Thanjavur in Tamil Nadu. Our thematic jewelry collections are an ode to the diverse culture of our country, and we are happy to continue our legacy with the launch of season 7.0. Our customers have always appreciated our thematic collections, and we are confident that they will love this one too.”
CREDITS
Creative Team: Manish Bhatt, Raghu Bhat, Kapil Tammal, Kunal Parkar, Lalit Sakurkar, Yuvraj Gorule, Uttam Kumar, Rohit Khedkar, Krupa Mehta, Kalpita Powale, Antara Shinde, Tanvi Deorukhakar, Yamini Rehal, Atul Mishra, Narendra Naik, Aashlesha Parab, Mansi Patil, Simran Tandon, Shreya Kshirsagar, Prachiti Borate, Sushmita More, Sakshi Udhwani, Varun Shah, Vasavi Parikh.
Account management: Mangesh Mulajkar, Namita Gupta, Saransh Pandey, Nikhil Sawant
Studio: Subhash Gade, Mangesh Kasekar, Vikram Dalvi, Sandesh Rane
Team Reliance Jewels: Sunil Nayak, Priyanka Thapa, Rohan Patankar, Prajith Nair, Dipali Sable, Abhishek Ranjan, Shaswat Doctor, Shribandhu Gupta, Sumeet Deoda & Shilpa Ullattuthodiyil
Film credits:
Production House: Thinkpot
Managing Director: Geetha Chalattil
Executive Producer: Manoj Pillai & Sunil Nair
Creative Producer: Krithika Manohar
Music Director: Ambi Subramaniam
Singer: Sharanya Srinivas
Music Producer: Varun Murali
Music Director Manager: Pavan D
Cinematographer: Harshvir Oberai
Associate Cinematographer: Arpit Bharde
Production Designer: Shweta Sebastian
Art Director: Prakash
Casting Director: Mathew Varkey
Second Unit Cinematographer: Sukesh Vishwanath
Steadicam Operator: Harman Meet Chahal
Focus Puller: Gagandeep Bawa
Costume Stylist: Aasia Abbas
Makeup and Hair (Models): Dhanya Raghavan
Makeup and Hair (Dancers): Akhila
Model: Pragati Srivastava (Purple Thoughts)
Model: Priya Singh (Aura)
Dancers: Rasika, Vidya, Dhanusha and Dhiksha
Choreographer: Anusha
Chief AD: Ayush Saini
Line Producer: Siva Konnar
Production Controller: Karan Kandhari
Production Manager: Ankit Satarkar
DA: Gaurangi Soral
2nd AD: Krithika Dhawan
2nd AD : Vignesh Kumar
Local Line Producer (Thanjavur): Somasundaran
Local Production Assistant (Thanjavur): Rajan
Post Producer: Mithun Jayaraj
Editor: Suraj Jagtap
Online Editor: Dev Nayak
Post Supervisor: Nagesh
Colorist: Vineesh Vijayan
Voiceover: Aditi Thirani
Dubbing artist: Sneha Suresh & Aditi Thirani
Illustrations & storyboard: Deelip Khomane & Uttam Kumar
Model shoot:
Production House :- Karma production
Photographer:- Tarun Khiwal
Photo asst :- Abhishek Verma
Stylist :- Harshad Gadhvi
Makeup Artist :- Dhanya Raghavan
Models :- Pallavi Singh & Hussna
Producer :- Himanshu Bhasin
Production Head :- Luv Bhagat & Prateek Anand
Product shoot:
Production: Raka Entertainment Pvt. Ltd.
Producer: Rakesh Shirke
Photographer:- Pratthamesh Hembade
Product Stylist:- Shamika Malegaonkar
Production Manager:- Mangesh Girkar
Special thanks to:
Pt.Venugopal Pillai
Muttu Kumar
Smt. Revathi Srinivasraghavan
Smt. Anjana Dongre
S. Ramachandran
Priyanjali Rao
