 Welcome to April in creation. Our guest today is someone who's most passionate about telling untold and memorable stories with life as in makers. Pleased to have with us today, Priya Shivakumar, National Creative Director of Wonderman's Hospital. Priya has won various international and national awards, thanking her among Asia's hottest creative. She's done work with clients across categories and has done great works for the likes of Times of India, the Hindu, Pepsi, Britannia, amongst others. Hi, Priya, it's amazing having you with us today. Hi, so good to be here. Likewise, and we look forward to hearing from you about the work that you've done amidst these constraints. So first of all, I want to speak to you about the new base and opportunities of working that this entire scenario has brought in. What are your lockdown learnings and what have you seen change for good? Because this is something, this is unlike anything we've ever seen before or anything that anyone has ever taught us, dealing with this crisis and creating amidst these constraints. So I think as creative people, right, we are so used to discussions or creative collisions of working with each other. And suddenly overnight, you know, we got into this whole work from home format and I think it's just taught us that we're really very, very resilient, right? Because like you said, the work has actually gotten even better. You know, so many lovely ideas coming on at these times. You know, we have had to figure out this work from home. We've had to figure out, you know, a way to do, you know, calls and chats and still keep the work running, you know, regular work running. And at the same time, really find that new energy to create fresh work. And I think we've really seamlessly adapted to that and kept the work running. So it's been, I think a great lesson. It's also taught us that we are resilient and I think that when we want to do great work, we can do it from anywhere and without any constraints whatsoever. Super. So I also want to speak to you about your, on your ad campaign for AirAsia, flights of imagination, beautiful work. Now, this is not a scenario, a lot of people tell me that this is not a typical scenario where a client gives you a brief and you, you know, go back. So how did this entire thing, you know, come together? Did the client tell you that they wanted to do something or did you go to them with an idea? Because travel as a category, the pandemic has caused it then. So what was this? How did it all come together? Just take us through that. So I think as we know with flights, you know, kind of not having taken off for some time, I think with AirAsia, we wanted to, we realized that flying was not really just about getting on an airplane, right? And we realized it was really, we wanted to tell, give out a message of hope and hope and the human spirit. And that was really the, you know, the attempt with the story that we tried to tell for AirAsia. Because we realized that flying really is an emotion to us. It means so many things to us. It means possibilities. It means freedom. And, you know, that was really the story that we thought was powerful. And with the line that we landed on, which is about humans have actually never stopped flying if you think about it. And with the hashtag flights of imagination, if you see where our flights of imagination have brought us as a human race, there is really no, you know, nothing can stop us. And that's the message of hope and positivity that we wanted to put out. So what we did is it was user-generated all the images. We really wanted to capture the emotion of flying rather than the act of flying. So we had such interesting things. People just flapping their hands to be wings. You know, we had the first act of, you know, like a paper plane. We had people swinging. Anything that really captured the feeling of flying. And this was stitched together. And I directed that film as well as the writing. It was stitched together as a seamless narrative to tell the story that, you know, actually humans have not stopped flying at all. This was entirely a crowd source thing. So what were the challenges really to get it together? Huge challenges because, you know, it's almost like everybody then is kind of co-opted as a content creator for you because you need a lot of different varied images. There are constraints of the lockdown. So everything was shot, you know, observing the spirit of the lockdown. So we really needed a wide canvas of images shot. We had, everybody had to shoot it from their balconies or from wherever they were. And then they had to be torn and ready to give it one visual look. I think music also played and sound design played a beautiful role in that film because we really had a track that gave you the sound of the flapping of birds, the sound of wings, which also gave you the feeling of flying. So yes, a lot of challenges, but yes, we were able to pull it off. Beautiful. I also want to speak to you about the work you did on your own and domestic violence, very beautiful. So I want to just understand that what was really the genesis of that and pulling that together. So, you know, it just struck me at that time that there was a very unexpected kind of side effect of the lockdown, right? That had really not come to light because this was not a COVID-19 war that was fought out in the open against an unknown enemy. It was a war fought inside the home against an all too familiar one. And that was the most frightening part of it. And that's when, you know, if you, ironically, we sign off every conversation or message by saying, stay home and stay safe. And it was very frightening to think that for a lot of women, home that is considered your, you know, your shelter, your, is the most unsafe place for women. And this is what, you know, set me thinking, made me do some research, and the figures are also quite horrifying. And that was really the, you know, the motivation to do this film because I really felt this was a thought that was my death. Felt it was a story that needed to be told, you know? It was almost an idea that wouldn't get out of my head until I actually made that film. So... And so many people right now more than ever are going through this abuse. So interesting. So how much time did that take to pull that off from, like, from start to finish? So in fact that, so the director, Shashankar Chaturvedi or Bob as we all fondly call him, he's the director on this. So Bob and me realized that we wanted to tell a story that was very real and, you know, like sensitive portrayal of these times. So everything you see, which is the setting, the characters, the way the film is taken is all very, very real and yet cinematic and beautiful, right? And obviously because we shot this film, like, you know, in the middle of the lockdown, there were a lot of constraints. We knew that we were telling a story of a strong woman character and we needed to cast for this. So the way we cast is we had to cast for a woman who was, cast for a face who was locked on with a DP because that's how we could shoot this, right? So that's how we really sent out our casting call. We were very lucky because we thought we found a beautiful, I think, a face that really had that strength and vulnerability that we wanted in the character who was luckily locked on with a DP. And how we went about doing it is we actually had a pre-shoot where we had the entire action and the sequence shot and then sent to the director and based on that, the entire shoot plan was worked out because we didn't know the exactness of the location, we didn't know anything. We kind of had a test shoot done and based on that, the entire shoot plan was figured out. The director was constantly on video, the staff was sent to. We had to make use of the available light. So everything took much longer than it would ordinarily take. But I think it was worth it because we had really powerful visuals to tell that powerful story. Superb. So another thing I've seen, more and more creatives coming up with their own, with some very interesting work, unlike anything before, because there's so much work and there's such good work and earlier I've seen work, but then this is just a growing trend that I'm seeing right now. So what do you think has fueled that? I think, you know, any circumstances, right? It almost allows you to find your center, right? So I think this is how I've dealt with this. As a creative person, your center is really creating and it's about finding the idea, right? So I've said that you always want to focus on the positive and I said, it's okay. There are things you cannot control, which is the environment, which is the challenges of many things. You know, no point looking at the rising cases because they're only fixed. So you're finding a center is really, how do you put out a work that is meaningful that makes a difference in these times? I think that's what has kept me motivated and positive during these times to do something that's meaningful and to create. Maybe that's what has motivated everybody as well because that's what you feel you have control over. Amazing. So we've almost reached the peak of pandemic advertising and we see a lot of work on mobile. We see a lot of work using user generated content. Although that's some of them is really nice and very interesting work, but do you see a saturation anytime soon? See, I think the trick is in keeping the idea fresh and relevant, right? Because the execution is only going to go where the idea goes. So while I understand, you know, that there is the user generated content has a certain format and things like, I think that in both hidden truth as well as in flights of imagination, we managed to beat that cliche, right? Because I think if you keep the idea fresh and you know, we've been able to do so many things and if you can keep the execution relevant and yet keep changing it around to keep it interesting, I think we can, you know, avoid the fatigue that would happen. Also tell me, how have clients approached this entirely new way of working? I think that clients have been very supportive of ideas also at this time I must say because I'm sure that all of us, you know, are facing it that there are business challenges, there are a lot of things. So I think of course the hidden truth was a passion project, you know, really dedicated to all those, I think those strong, silent women warriors out there who are waging this battle alone. But in terms of energy, I think the client was really very supportive to take on an idea like this and, you know, let it see the light of day. So I think clients are being very supportive. I think they're appreciating the fact that we are, you know, keeping that creative needle ticking and raising the bar on that. So yes, with that support, I'm sure that, you know, we are trying to constantly raise the creative bar and we should see more such exciting ideas out there. Beautiful. So my last question, if you would give out a message to creative on creating through these constraints. I would say the one message is to believe anew in the power of our ideas because really that is so important in these times to believe anew in the power of the ideas and take them, push them if you will to where they haven't gone before. Beyond any and all boundaries or constraints. I think another thing I would say is to just be empathetic and sensitive because these are trying times for everybody. And I think empathy and sensitivity will also make sure that those ideas are not just great in power, but also right in spirit. Thank you so much. It was a very, very optimistic conversation. We need this once in a while. So thank you so much for your time and thank you so much for chatting with us. Thank you. It was really nice.