Reunion (advertisement)

Last updated
Reunion
Agency Ogilvy & Mather India
Client Google
LanguageHindi-Urdu
English
Running time212  seconds (3:32)
Product
Release date(s)November 13, 2013
(YouTube)
November 15, 2013
(Television)
Directed by Amit Ravindernath Sharma
Music by Clinton Cerejo (composer)
Neelesh Jain (lyrics)
Piyush Mishra (singer) [1]
Starring
Production
company		Chrome Pictures
CountryIndia

"Reunion" is a 2013 Google India advertisement for Google Search. It was directed by Amit Sharma, written by Sukesh Kumar Nayak, produced by an Indian branch [2] [3] of Ogilvy & Mather, and published on YouTube on November 13, 2013. [4] [5] [6] [7] "Reunion" is about the fictional reunion between two elderly men, Baldev Mehra (Vishwa Mohan Badola) from India and Yusuf (Mysore Shrinivas Sathyu) from Pakistan, who were separated as children during the partition of India in 1947.

Contents

The advertisement had a strong impact in both India and Pakistan, leading to hope for the easing of travel restrictions between the two countries. [8] [9] [10] It went viral [11] [12] and was viewed more than 1.6 million times before officially debuting on television on November 15, 2013. [2]

Sequence

Baldev Mehra (Vishwa Mohan Badola) is an elderly Hindu man in Delhi, India, and Yusuf (Mysore Shrinivas Sathyu) is an elderly Muslim man in Lahore, Pakistan. One day Baldev shows his granddaughter Suman (Auritra Ghosh) an old, dated photograph of two children. He tells her that it is himself and his best friend Yusuf when they lived in Lahore prior to the Partition of India in 1947. In front of his house there was a park with a gate made in the stone age and each evening he and Yusuf would fly kites there and "steal" Jhajariyas from Yusuf's family sweet shop. When Partition came, however, Baldev and his family had to leave for India overnight. Many decades later, Baldev still thinks of Yusuf and misses him.

Using details of her grandfather's story, Suman is able to locate Yusuf's sweet shop in Lahore via her laptop and Google. She connects with his grandson Ali (Syed Shabahat Ali) who helps her to plan a surprise visit from Yusuf on Baldev's birthday.

This is the first of a sequence of five ads showing the two old friends reconnecting. [13] The idea and storyline may have been inspired by the 2012 short film, Respect, by Taha Kirmani. [14]

Cast

Production

According to Sukesh Kumar Nayak, Group Creative Director of Ogilvy Mumbai, Google had stated in their brief that "the only thing they wanted was to see [...] how meaningful the search engine is in real life." Nayak also stated that they wanted to make "the connection between real life and Google, magical." [15] "Reunion" was filmed "in different areas in Delhi, including an old Haveli in Connaught Place, Red Fort, India Gate, and a small scene in Lahore, Pakistan." [15] Singer Clinton Cerejo composed the music for the spot. [15]

Reception

The Star notes that "Reunion" has "gone viral online, reflecting demands in the two countries for closer people-to-people ties [....] Internet users left thousands of comments on social networking sites describing how the advert had brought them to tears and renewed their hopes for improved relations between the two neighbours." [17] Max Fisher of The Washington Post states that "if you are from South Asia, have family from South Asia, or are merely friends on Facebook with someone who has ties to the subcontinent, you've already seen this video posted to social media in the 48 hours since it went up. In case you haven't, it's a Google advertisement, about three and a half minutes, well worth your time. Yes, it's an ad, meant to prod people in one of the world's largest markets into using Google services. And in that context it can be a bit syrupy. But take a step back for a moment, and try to appreciate what makes this video so powerful that it's already been viewed 1.8 million times." [18] India Today states that "the new Google ad, titled 'Reunion', touches the raw nerves that linger dormant under the skin of those who were separated during the heady days of Partition [….] While this may have been only an ad, there are many people both in Pakistan and India who will be able to relate to this emotional ad." [5] Affan Chowdhry of The Globe and Mail states that "with nearly a million YouTube views over two days, a new Google ad that tells the story of two old friends reuniting after six decades of separation following the creation of India and Pakistan in 1947 has touched a deep nerve for many South Asians." [6] Nilanjana Bhowmick of Time observes that "despite the tensions between the governments of India and Pakistan, this commercial, released by Google India on Wednesday, makes the point that the personal connections between Indians and Pakistanis run deep." [4] Journalist Beena Sarwar states that "if it doesn’t move you, you’ve got a heart of stone." [2] Sunny Peter of the International Business Times argues that "at a time when governments in both countries continue to be suspicious of each other's intent, the Google video comes as a welcome relief. [If only] the visa regime between both the countries was as easy as Google search." [11] Ritu Singh of Zee News states that "Reunion" struck "an emotional chord with its viewers not only in India but also in Pakistan" as it "depicts the pain of partition which still haunts the mind of people who got separated from their loved ones and places." She also states, "this heart warming ad is sure to overwhelm you." [19] Mrigaa Sethi of Quartz talks about her family's experience with partition, noting that "Google’s India office has created a tear-jerker ad that is deeply resonant for Indians and Pakistanis with family stories like mine. It shows an aging Hindu Indian man waxing nostalgic to his granddaughter about his Muslim childhood friend in Lahore before the partition [....] The ad, created by Ogilvy, has struck a particularly emotional chord by refusing to take India and Pakistan’s historically adversarial relationship as a given." [20]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Partition of India</span> 1947 division of British India

The Partition of India in 1947 was the change of political borders and the division of other assets that accompanied the dissolution of the British Raj in the Indian subcontinent and the creation of two independent dominions in South Asia: India and Pakistan. The Dominion of India is today the Republic of India, and the Dominion of Pakistan—which at the time comprised two regions lying on either side of India—is now the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and the People's Republic of Bangladesh. The partition was outlined in the Indian Independence Act 1947. The change of political borders notably included the division of two provinces of British India, Bengal and Punjab. The majority Muslim districts in these provinces were awarded to Pakistan and the majority non-Muslim to India. The other assets that were divided included the British Indian Army, the Royal Indian Navy, the Royal Indian Air Force, the Indian Civil Service, the railways, and the central treasury. Provisions for self-governing independent Pakistan and India legally came into existence at midnight on 14 and 15 August 1947 respectively.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saadat Hasan Manto</span> Indo-Pakistani Urdu novelist, playwright and writer

Saadat Hasan Manto was a Pakistani writer, playwright and author born in Ludhiana, who was active in British India and later, after the 1947 partition of India, in Pakistan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amrita Pritam</span> Indian writer

Amrita Pritam was an Indian novelist, essayist and poet, who wrote in Punjabi and Hindi. A prominent figure in Punjabi literature, she is the recipient of the 1956 Sahitya Akademi Award. Her body of work comprised over 100 books of poetry, fiction, biographies, essays, a collection of Punjabi folk songs and an autobiography that were all translated into several Indian and foreign languages.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Radcliffe Line</span> Boundary of the Partition of India

The Radcliffe Line was the boundary demarcated between the Indian and Pakistani portions of the Punjab Province and Bengal Presidency of British India. It was named after Cyril Radcliffe, who, as the joint chairman of the two boundary commissions for the two provinces, had the ultimate responsibility to equitably divide 175,000 square miles (450,000 km2) of territory with 88 million people.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">M. S. Sathyu</span> Indian film director

Mysore Shrinivas Sathyu is a film director, stage designer and art director from India. He is best known for his directorial Garm Hava (1973), which was based on the partition of India. He was awarded Padma Shri in 1975.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Baldev Singh</span> Indian entrepreneur and politician (1901-1961)

Baldev Singh was an Indian Sikh political leader, he was an Indian independence movement leader and the first Defence Minister of India. Moreover, he represented the Punjabi Sikh community in the processes of negotiations that resulted in the independence of India, as well as the Partition of India in 1947.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Artistic depictions of the Partition of India</span> Overview about artistic depictions of the partition of India

The Partition of India and the associated bloody riots inspired many creative minds in the republics of India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh to create literary/cinematic depictions of this event. While some creations depicted the massacres during the refugee migration, others concentrated on the aftermath of the partition in terms of difficulties faced by the refugees in both side of the border. Even now, more than 60 years after the partition, works of fiction and films are made that relate to the events of partition.

<i>Garm Hava</i> 1973 Indian drama film

Garm Hava is a 1973 Indian drama film directed by M. S. Sathyu, with Balraj Sahni as the lead. It was written by Kaifi Azmi and Shama Zaidi, based on an unpublished short story by noted Urdu writer Ismat Chughtai. The film score was given by the classical musician Ustad Bahadur Khan, with lyrics by Kaifi Azmi, it also featured a qawwali composed and performed by Aziz Ahmed Khan Warsi and his Warsi Brothers troupe.

<i>Har Ghar Kuch Kehta Hai</i> Hindi television serial

Har Ghar Kuch Kehta Hai is a Hindi television serial that aired on Zee TV from 16 July 2007 – 18 April 2008. It was based on the story of 3 girls: Prarthna, Sidhhi, and Sanskriti. Even though they all have different lives and a different outlook of life, destiny is not always on their side, and when the unexpected happens their dreams, hopes and desires come crashing down.

<i>Bhabhi</i> (TV series) Indian television series

Bhabhi (Sister-in-Law) is an Indian Hindi language soap opera which aired on Star Plus from 18 March 2002 to 23 May 2008 during weekday afternoons. The series was produced by UTV Software Communications.

The Delhi–Lahore Bus, officially known as Sada-e-Sarhad, is a passenger bus service connecting the Indian capital of New Delhi, Delhi with the city of Lahore, Pakistan via the border transit post at Wagah near Attari. The Routemaster bus number 10 was of symbolic importance to the efforts of the governments of both nations to foster peaceful and friendly relations. In its inaugural run on 19 February 1999, the bus carried the then-Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who was to attend a summit in Lahore and was received by his Pakistani counterpart, Nawaz Sharif at Wagah. In August 2019 Pakistan decided to stop the service in the wake of India revoking Jammu and Kashmir's special status.

Indians in Pakistan typically refers to Indian nationals working, studying or generally residing in Pakistan as expatriates. It also includes Indian emigrants to Pakistan, Indian spouses married to Pakistanis and Muhajirs

Jamaat Ali Shah (1834–1951) was a Sufi of the Naqshbandi order and an author. He was President of All India Sunni Conference and the leader of the Shaheed Ganj Mosque. He was an influential leader of the Pakistan Movement.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hindi in Pakistan</span>

Modern Standard Hindi is mutually intelligible with Urdu, the national and official language of Pakistan. Both are standard registers of the Hindustani language. As a result of linguistic and cultural similarities, Hindi has had notable influences in Pakistan and is taught as an academic subject in some institutions; before the partition of colonial India, Hindi was taught at major universities in the provinces that came to form Pakistan. While Hindi and Urdu both have a predominantly Indic (Indo-Aryan) base, Hindi uses more Sanskrit words in its educated vocabulary while Urdu incorporates more Arabic, Persian, and a few Turkic words for the same. Most poetry, ghazals, qawalis & lyrics use many Urdu words.

<i>Lahoriye</i> 2017 Indian film

Lahoriye is a 2017 Indian-Punjabi drama film written and directed by Amberdeep Singh. It stars Amrinder Gill, Sargun Mehta, Yuvraj Hans, Nimrat Khaira, Sardar Sohi and Guggu Gill.

Amit Ravindernath Sharma is an Indian director and producer working predominantly as a director of television commercials.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Feroz Nizami</span> Pakistani film score composer

Feroz Nizami, was a Pakistani film score composer, music director and classical singer. He composed music for bollywood films in British India and after partition, he remained actively involved in Pakistan film industry. He is primarily recognized as a music composer for a music blockbuster Indian film Jugnu (1947), which helped him to appear among the prominent composers in both India and Pakistan cinemas. His last composition in Bombay films was released in 1947, leading him to retain his position for more than twenty years in South Asia's music industry during the 1940s. Before he returned to Pakistan while working in Indian films, he was referred to as "Ustad of Bombay" by the Indian artists such as Lata Mangeshkar, Mohammed Rafi, and Dilip Kumar.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">S. M. Yusuf</span> Pakistani film director, producer (1910-1994)

Shaikh Muhammad Yusuf, known professionally as S. M. Yusuf, was a Pakistani film director and producer. He made fourteen films in British India and later after the split of India subcontinent, he worked in Pakistani cinema and made thirteen films, including a B/W film Aulad (1962) and a blockbuster film titled Saheli (1960).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pasoori</span> 2022 single by Shae Gill & Ali Sethi

"Pasoori" is a Punjabi and Urdu-language single by Pakistani singers Ali Sethi and debutant Shae Gill. It was released on 6 February 2022 as the sixth song of season 14 of Coke Studio Pakistan and was subsequently released on YouTube on 7 February 2022. "Pasoori" was the first Coke Studio song and the first Pakistani song to feature on Spotify's "Viral 50 - Global" chart. It was featured in episode 4 of the Disney+ miniseries Ms. Marvel as well as on the soundtrack of the off-Broadway production, Monsoon Wedding The Musical (2023) directed by Mira Nair. In August 2022, "Pasoori" became only the third song in the 14-year history of Coke Studio to reach 300 million views on YouTube, and on 14 October 2022, with 410 million views on YouTube, "Pasoori" became the most-watched Coke Studio music video of all time.

References

  1. 1 2 Agarwall, Malini (2013-11-15). "Have You Watched the Google Search Reunion?". Malini Agarwal.
  2. 1 2 3 Johnson, Kay (2013-11-15). "Google ad an unlikely hit in both India, Pakistan by referring to traumatic 1947 partition". ABC News/Associated Press.
  3. ↑ Rangaswami, Anant (2013-11-13). "Exclusive: Watch Google's moving TVC on the power of search". First Post (India). Archived from the original on 2013-11-14.
  4. 1 2 Bhowmick, Nilanjana (2013-11-14). "Why Indians and Pakistanis Find This Ad Incredibly Moving". Time .
  5. 1 2 "Google reunites 2 friends separated by Partition in new tearjerker ad". India Today . 2013-11-14.
  6. 1 2 "Emotional Google ad reunites friends split by India-Pakistan partition". The Globe and Mail . 2013-11-14.
  7. ↑ Ahmed, Talha (2013-11-14). "Google ad connects India-Pak with heartwarming reunion story". The Express Tribune .
  8. ↑ Naqvi, Sibtain (2013-11-19). "Google can envision Pakistan-India harmony in less than 4 minutes…can we?". The Express Tribune .
  9. ↑ PTI (2013-11-15). "Google reunion ad reignites hope for easier Indo-Pak visas". Deccan Chronicle .
  10. ↑ Chatterjee, Rhitu (2013-11-20). "This ad from Google India brought me to tears". Public Radio International.
  11. 1 2 Peter, Sunny (2013-11-15). "Google Search: Reunion Video Touches Emotions in India, Pakistan; Goes Viral [Watch VIDEO]". International Business Times .
  12. ↑ "Google's India-Pak reunion ad strikes emotional chord". The Times of India . 2013-11-14. Archived from the original on 2013-11-17.
  13. ↑ "This Google ad has moved people to tears across India and Pakistan". The World from PRX. Retrieved 2022-08-16.
  14. ↑ Pak Sar Zameen Productions, Respect. Directed by Taha Kirmani and available on YouTube. Kirmani also has a 2013 video comparing his film with the ad, Google Reunion Ad Inspired from Pak Sar Zameen Productions Short Film.
  15. 1 2 3 4 Lakhe, Amruta (2013-11-15). "Searching For Memories". The Indian Express .
  16. ↑ Choudhury, Soumyadip (2013-11-14). "Watch: Google pitches emotion in separated-by-Partition-united-by-Google ad". CNN-IBN. Archived from the original on 2013-11-14.
  17. ↑ "Emotional Google Ad on India, Pakistan partition goes viral". The Star (Malaysia) . 2013-11-17.
  18. ↑ Fisher, Max (2013-11-15). "This powerful video is dominating Indian social media. Here's why". The Washington Post .
  19. ↑ Singh, Ritu (2013-11-15). "Google Search: Reunion Video goes viral, reconnects India-Pakistan". Zee News.
  20. ↑ Sethi, Mrigaa (2013-11-14). "Google's trick for winning over Indians: Make them cry". Quartz (publication) .
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.