Accidental brilliance? Looking at #Dhara Jalebi 20 years later

 

Many a times, the post analysis of what appears to be a simple enough movie or ad appears to throw up a lot more than what met the eye in the first instance.

Are these cases of the analyst reading too much in a simple narrative? More than its creator?

Or of the story having hit a much larger insight, unconsciously?

I would like to believe it is the latter. That explains the scale of success of the story even though the creators themselves do not proffer the same background understanding as the analyst!

The Dhara ad is simple enough – upset boy leaves home, comes back to Mom’s cooking.

Place this ad in the larger context of India 20 years ago. Early days of liberalisation and nuclearization of families. Boys were leaving home for greener pastures for the first time in unprecedented numbers. The idea of family as we knew it, was coming apart.

Family’s bonds, mother’s love, all proving to be powerless to halt or reverse this trend.

Even as we celebrated the new opportunities, the coming apart of the home as the price hurt too.

This Dhara ad recreates the same narrative in a playful metaphor (lessening the pain). It has all the trappings of homes as they used to be, including the presence of a Ramu kaka, not to speak of home made jalebis.

The story reassures the viewer with the restoration of order, mother’s cooking and love being a potent enough force to ensure homecoming of the son.

And Dhara, THE national brand of cooking medium being the best suited brand to fly the flag.

What do you think?

#Dharajalebi #ddbmudra #nddb #mudra