It is the reign of Onam commercials till the mythological exiled King Mahabali, whose annual visit to Kerala is celebrated as Onam, departs. Of the lot Onasadyakku ready aano? (Are you ready for Onasadya), a campaign by food delivery platform, Swiggy, has gone viral, clocking over 8.6 lakh views and counting in five days.
The 1.27-minute commercial has captured the spirit of Onam, especially the flavours of the Onasadya. The highlight of the ad directed by filmmakers Mridul Nair and Sajimon is that ‘Padakali’, a high-energy, fast number from Yodha, composed by AR Rahman, is used with a twist — the original lyrics has been replaced by the name of dishes of the sadya.
Since the song in the film is picturised as a singing contest between the characters played by Mohanlal and Jagathy Sreekumar, the advertisement starts off as a tug-of-war between two families. But once the sadya is announced, the competition is forgotten.
“The concept and lyrics are by the ad agency, Mind Your Language. The copyright of the song was with Johny Sagarika and we obtained the rights from him. It wasn’t an easy project but we had a lot of fun,” says Mridul, who runs The Filmy Joint, a media production house, in which Saji is the executive producer. Ten singers have crooned the song recreated by singer-composer Niranj Suresh.
Mridul adds that nearly 20 Malayalam actors from the film and television industry feature in the advertisement because the client wanted familiar faces. Shivaji Guruvayoor, Gokulan, Balaji Sarma, Geethi Sangeethika, Sudheer Paravoor and Amalraj Dev are some of the actors. The location was a house in Vaikom.
Cinematography is by Jimshi Khalid, whose works include movies such as Neelavelicham, Thallumala, Oruthee, Love, and Kappela. “We didn’t expect the ad to go viral. It has a lot to do with the song, the actors and the frames by Jimshi. And, of course, it is about the sadya,” says Sajimon.
While Mridul debuted as a director with Asif Ali’s BTech, Sajimon, an associate director for 15 years, turned director with the Fahadh Faasil-starrer Malayankunju. Mridul’s next directorial venture, Kasargold, written by Sajimon, is releasing next month.
