While the country still stands divided on the portrayal of India in the recent Coldplay video, an ad by a prominent airline company paints an entirely different picture. Shrabasti Mallik and Riya Sharma look at the other side of the spectrum. The latter video, which claims to be inspired from a real life incident of a British stewardess, shows a female flight attendant being asked to be part of the cabin crew of the flights departing from Heathrow Airport, london to India.
Though she seems apprehensive at first, her maiden journey to Hyderabad changes, or rather frames, her perception of the country and its people. As she comes across an elderly woman struggling to fasten her seat belt, like a diligent attendant, she helps her with a smile.
The attendant, never used to such kind gestures, is touched. Further in the ad, the woman tells the young lady that she misses her son. Helena tries to cheer her up and does so by putting on a movie. As they arrive in Hyderabad, the woman insists that she must come and visit her house. Helena spends a day with her family and as it comes to an end, the woman gives her a dabba of ghar ka khana, and advises her not to eat packaged food, reminding us what our mothers and grandmothers do for us.
As the video comes to an end, Helena accepts that her journey to India has changed not only her perception but she has developed a new found love for the country, the people and the sentiments attached to them.
Ghaywan told us that the ad was shot in four days in Mumbai and london. They had to recreate Hyderabad in Mumbai but the shot of the woman walking in london was shot on location. The sentiments are very real. The angle of the grandmother was needed because they have a beautiful side to them. On the other hand, we have nothing against the Coldplay video which depicts the stereotyped image of India sans the snake charmers, as pointed out on social media.
