The Big C is a daunting prospect. It’s not just the physical trauma, it’s the mental and emotional trauma of this ailment and all that goes with its treatment that could haunt survivors. And this is what Dabur Vatika is addressing with its long “made for YouTube” film.
The film takes you through the gamut of emotions a woman feels when she has lost her hair, probably due to chemotherapy and she decides to go to office without the normal emotional crutch of a wig or some headgear that hides a bald pate. One has to be a woman to understand how it must feel to be bald. Suddenly the cancer story almost seems to step aside while the issue of how a woman faces the world sans hair takes centre-stage.
This is a very real issue. Men seem to cope better because the incidence of male balding is so high, compared with female balding, it seems almost inevitable and therefore if one is faced with the prospect a little earlier, it doesn’t seem so scary. So here you have this young woman in the film who is completely shorn of her tresses and is preparing to go to office for the first time after her illness. The supportive husband places the black dot on the side of her head instead of at the centre of her forehead as if to ward off the evil eye. The young lady then enters her office with great trepidation only to be hugged from behind by one happy female colleague who also takes off her
The film, made by Lintas Linen, ends with an exhortation from Dabur Vatika to share similar stories of survivors. And a super indicates that not every woman needs hair to be beautiful. Another mnemonic says Brave and Beautiful. So what’s the verdict? First, the cause is very real and I am glad it is being addressed. Second, it is rather bold for a company that manufactures and markets hair care product to be projecting the “bald and the beautiful”. I liked the idea of showing the supportive husband. Men have never had it so good. My compliments end here.
As a film, I can’t see it being edited without losing the overall feel of the well-made film. The young lady gives a stellar performance. The black bindi thought is nice but too much of a good thing is cloying. After the third bindi on her head I was squirming. Tell me, what happened to the 30-45 second TVC where we prided ourselves on being able to say it and show it all in a tight format?
Much fire, little spark
To be really good at something you need fire in your belly. That’s an adage we’ve heard for years and even believe in. We never knew some day O&M and KFC would take it literally.
There's this young boy whose height spurt doesn’t quite keep up with that of the rest of his classmates. And so this kid, who is truly passionate about basketball, gets rudely booted out of the team. One day while he is eating and watching his kid brother watch Tom and Jerry on the TV, he gets inspired by the little mouse who nimbly avoids the cat.
And so … no no, wait! Rewind a bit. And pay attention closely. In case you miss it, the kid is eating some KFC chicken while he is watching the brother watch TV. OK, coming back to the narrative there is this very well made film that shows the basketball-crazy kid practise his ball control skills like a maniac, and then there’s the big game and a player has to retire and the short kid gets his chance. He shows his magic and as in a dazzling display of ball control bests the opposition.
Nice. Very nice. I like everything about this film except the link between this kid and the fiery ghost chillies that KFC has put into its fried chicken. So that is the link to an athlete who has fire in his belly? Or are we saying that the chilli-hot fire is the inspiration to great athletic endeavour? Really? Feed the fire!! What will people think of next?
Addendum is a weekly column that takes a sometimes hard, sometimes casual, sometimes irreverent, yet never malicious look at some of the new or recent advertisements and comments on them.
Ramesh Narayan is a communications consultant. Mail your comments to cat.a.lyst@thehindu.co.in