Describe the creative idea

Diwali, the festival of prosperity upon us, we knew we had an opportunity to tell an extraordinary story that spoke to the moment. After all, 2020 and prosperity simply don’t sit well together. So, we thought why not try and bring alive the old maxim that ‘prosperity too grows only when we share it with others. What better time to inspire people to do so than the current difficult one we all find ourselves in the midst of. The idea behind the campaign was that many people have faced difficulties in this period in different ways. However, that has not taken away people’s spirit to do good for others, which is why people relate to the film. Almost everybody has endured varying degrees of struggle this year. And yet, a lot of us have also managed to do good for others.

Describe the execution

One of the challenges faced in making the film was the time constraints as the festival of Diwali cannot be pushed, and setting up the feeling of lockdown near the festive season. The opening sets up both the gravity and the largeness of what Pooja is trying to accomplish. She isn’t a mega-rich business owner. But she believes she can do some good, even if it means stretching herself and her resources that get much thinner and she goes all in. It’s this selflessness even in the face of adversity and even at the cost of losing a lot is what sets up the story for the viewer. The story of the film spanned about 6 months - and the production team had to recreate the atmosphere of the early days of March right up to the buzz of pre-Diwali days. And all this keeping the strictest testing and safety protocols in place. Once we decided to base the story in Amritsar, all other elements started getting processed through that very lens. We wanted to be as authentic as possible to the local sensibilities. We were very keen to make sure the actors were cast as locally as possible. Apart from the message of the advertisement, people are also talking about the music and the execution of the film, which makes it very real and relatable. Facebook has always believed in the power of people and connections at scale. That power, we continue to believe, can be leveraged for a variety of reasons. We will keep telling stories of the multi-faceted ways in which people use Facebook for both the greater good and their own progress.