Amazon's Republic Day ad is reminiscent of a Sanjay Leela Bhansali film...

Amazon's Republic Day ad pays tribute to the different handicrafts and artisans of India. Amazon Karigar’s latest campaign is titled ‘Handcrafted, with love’ and aims to highlight the e-commerce giant's Karigar platform. It allows the artisans to earn a living from their work by selling to buyers all over the country.

The campaign takes you into the world of Karigars (craftsmen), where their hands create art, day in and day out. The ad has rich hues, spoken Hindi poetry and artistic visuals of the Karigars and their pieces.

It transports you to a magnum opus journey of Karigars that romances the intricacies of the finest detailing in every craft. The ad aims to be an exhibition of artistry from different corners of India.

This campaign aims to bring forth the Karigari (craftmanship) by giving them the Amazon Karigar platform to showcase their products. A platform where people from across India can access Karigari from every nook and corner of the country.

Conceptualised by Team Ogilvy India – South, the campaign is directed by Rajesh and Vidya for Lucifer Films.

Piyush Pandey, chief creative officer worldwide and executive chairman India, Ogilvy, said, “I applaud Amazon’s effort to recognise the artists and the artisans that have made India famous for centuries. As a child, I have been exposed to artists of various kinds due to the involvement of my sisters, who wanted to promote fine artistes of every kind, including folk musicians.”

“As a partner to famous Indian businesses like Pidilite (promoters of furniture artists) and Asian Paints (promoters of the use of colour and paint in Indian household and cultures), I am delighted by the effort of Amazon and my colleagues in Ogilvy South. And also the filmmakers, who did ample justice to the magnificent heritage of art and craft in various parts of India.”

Pranav Bhasin, director, MSME, and selling partner experience at Amazon India, said, “Karigar was launched by Amazon India in 2016 to enable artisan and weaver communities to benefit from e-commerce, and grow and scale their businesses in the process. The program has positively impacted lives of over 10 lakh sellers that include weavers, artisans and craftsmen.”

“Today, over 60,000 products, including 270-plus unique arts and crafts from over 20 states, are showcased on Karigar storefront on Amazon India. ‘Handcrafted, with love’ is an ode to the undying spirit and exquisite skills of Karigars, artisans and weavers, many of whom are helping to keep various art forms alive.”

Mahesh Gharat, chief creative officer, Ogilvy India – South, said, “The association of Amazon with Karigars from across India goes a long way. Over 10 lakh Karigars make lakhs of products and Amazon wanted to introduce these Karigari to consumers. Varun Bharadwaj, our client, saw the bigness of the idea and had the vision to make it big. That’s why he kept the brief simple – tell the world the magic our Karigars weave with their hands, day in and day out.”

Gharat mentions that this brief prompted him to dive deep into the artisans and their craft. “The team created five different worlds where our Karigars operate. The idea was to tie these visuals with a magical storytelling, and who better than the Karigar of words, Gulzar Saab. He helped us describe these five different worlds with his spectacular poem and voice.”

“Also, the creation of the set of five different worlds wouldn’t have been possible without the vision of Rajesh, Vidya and Gaurav, and most of all the craft of production designer Sabu Cyril. These are the ones who brought the entire vision alive. When all of this came together, it seamlessly brought out the visual drama packed with oodles of emotion that pay a fitting tribute to our Karigars.”

CREDITS

Client: Amazon Sellers India

Brand team: Varun Bharadwaj, Anjori Arora, Siddharth Samant

Agency: Ogilvy South (India)

Chief creative officers, Ogilvy India: Harshad Rajadhyaksha, Kainaz Karmarkar, Sukesh Nayak

Chief creative officers, Ogilvy South: Mahesh Gharat, Kiran Anthony

Group creative director: Muki Sablania

Creative team: Harshad Salian, Gururaj Biradar, Prem Thyagarajan

President, Ogilvy South: N. Ramamoorthi

Vice president, Ogilvy South: Kamala Gowri V

Account management: Nikhil Nair

Head of planning, Ogilvy South: Anirban Roy

Planning: Barsha Chakraborty, Divyoshri Chatterjee

Production house: Lucifer Circus

Director: Rajesh & Vidya

Executive producer: Gaurav Chanana

Lyrics and voice: Gulzar Saab

Production designer: Sabu Cyril