Swachch Bharat asks Indians to take ownership of public place, and keep it clean

Swachch Bharat Mission has rolled out a new 60 second film that has been conceptualised by Grey Group. The film, launched for the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, propagates the dream of a litter-and-garbage-free India.

Shot in four cities-Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata and Chennai- the film cycles through some of the most famous locations in each city such as, Azad Maidan, Marina Beach, Chandni chowk etc. At each location, a man or woman give that location a personal identity by saying lines such as, “Yeh Azad ka Maidan hai” (This is Azad’s maidan) and so on, thus, owning the place. The protagonists in the film go on to tell the audience that they will not let anyone dirty the specific area.

A line from Prime Minister Modi’s New York speech about every Indian making up their mind to not litter follows. The film ends with a voiceover saying 'Ek kadam swachchata ki or' (A step towards cleanliness).

Malvika Mehra, national creative director and EVP, Grey Group, said, “If each of us take the responsibility of keeping even just 'our area' or 'apna ilaka' clean, the dream of a Swachh Bharat can come true, sooner than we imagine. Through this film we have tried to inculcate a 'pride of ownership' amongst the citizens of India, so famous landmarks like ‘Chandni Chowk’ automatically become ‘Chandni Ka Chowk’, ‘Azad Ka Maidan’, ‘Marina Ka beach’ and so on and so forth. With the message and hope that 'if you own it, you will look after it'.”

Goral Ajmera, senior executive creative director, Grey Group Mumbai added, “Most landmarks and places in our country are named after people. And we wanted to play up this sense of personal involvement. We would like the Rabindras, the Laxmis and the Chandnis to come forward and own their streets, bridges, chowks and beaches, and take an oath to keep them clean. While shooting in the four corners of the country I met a lot of interesting people. The experience was great fun, but there was a validation of how little everyone thinks before littering. Hopefully this campaign will make them think a little more.”

Credits:

Client: Government of India
Creative agency: Grey Group
Creative: Malvika Mehra, Goral Ajmera
Client servicing: Samir Datar, Sanghamitra Chakraborty, Titash Dutta Majumdar
Planning: Dheeraj Sinha, Ajay Ravindran, Abhishek Chaturvedi
Film production: Samir Chadha, Sharad Shinde
Production house: Early man Films
Director: Soaeb Mohammed
Producer: Amarjeet Phukan