Airtel’s new tune has caught the imagination of the country’s youth. Harpreet Khokhar finds out what went into its making.
Trust Airtel to come up with another winner. Even as A R Rahman’s refurbished signature tune for the service provider lingers in the ears, the telecom major has unleashed another TVC that has taken the teenage world by storm. The older listeners aren’t averse to tapping their feet to it too.
‘Har ek friend Zarori hota hai’ has touched the evergreen premise of friendship with its youthful lyrics and catchy tune, and heralds a new communication design for its audience.
Created by TapRoot India, the commercial has been directed by Ram Madhvani of Equinox Films while the music has been composed by Ram Sampath and the lyrics have been penned by Amitabh Bhattacharya – a lethal combination that has been creating ripples in the music industry of late.
The commercial describes the various categories of friends one has and the importance of each in our life. The TVC showcases how, in today’s age which is enabled largely by technology, it is important for youngsters to be in touch with their varied kind of friends. It ends with the tagline “Har ek friend zaroori hota hai’ and the message is – stay connected with your friends.
Says Agnello Dias, co-founder and chief creative officer, TapRoot India, “We wanted to retain the core of the brand and yet strike a chord with the younger audience. The germ root idea was that Internet/telecom has facilitated us to keep several kinds of friends, each of them important in their own way.”
Digressing from its earlier positioning of ‘Dil jo chaahe pass laye’ for a more mature audience to ‘Har ek friend zaroori hota hai’, the telecom giant has tilted its scales to lure the younger audiences. “The commercial touches all generations – not necessarily the youth, since it lingers upon the theme of friendship, though the younger audience is our prime target,” acknowledges Dias.
The track is distinct and stands out for its non-usage of traditional musical instruments. The track uses anything and everything that could create sound in a classroom – from claps to desk banging, chair thumping, hitting books, cheering and even dustbin banging . “The brief for the music was to bring back the classroom nuances which gave birth to the idea of recreating the college days where sounds were created not necessarily by musical instruments but anything that was available in the proximity,” explains Dias.
Talking about the tonality of the song, he adds, “The music had to be much more organic, far less polished. It had to sound like college students came up with it. Hence the use of non-traditional sound effects. The clear mandate was to create a so-called youth anthem.”
Explains Sona Mohapatra, Ram Sampath’s partner and music producer of their production house, OmGrown music, “The track was actually conceived by Ram on a break in Istanbul. He was clear that he wanted pacy, foot-tapping and raw music for the track.”
“No sound in the track was by-the-way, everything was intentional and designed to give a feel of the young college days,” she adds. Explains Dias, “On-air, when most of the music for commercials is engineered for a very polished and expensive finish, we wanted to keep it more rooted and raw.”
The video has been shot all over the city of Mumbai in the midst of a torrential downpour while the classroom scene has been recreated in the city’s Sophia College for Women.
Interestingly, the song has been sung by the models that were used in the commercial. Avers Mohapatra, “Ram was sure that he didn’t want professional singers to sing the track. He wanted a more authentic feel, hence made the models croon for him which in itself was a mammoth task. It was difficult to make the amateurs sing in a professional way.”
The final scratch which is on air took the music director five to six days to record. But even the recording wasn’t run out of the mill stuff. It was done on the sets and later the fine tuning was done in the studio.” Sona adds, “Ram himself has sung a few parts in the harmonies and chorus.”
