Packed with tremendous energy, great visuals and fun music, the ad captures the spirit of the ubiquitous Indian street cricket with superb authenticity and gripping drama. The ordinariness of its characters, giving it the everyday familiarity that connects with the audience far greater than ads with star cricketers would. Contrary to many previous Nike ads which ride on the backs of sports stars, this ad depicts two star cricketers -- Zaheer Khan and S Sreesanth -- as onlookers, who even get their car bashed up while the game is being played in a chaotic traffic jam. "watch boy watch, how your game is played on our streets"
Based on the concept of 'Gutsy Cricket,' some of those involved take us through the making of the Nike commercial. Cricket in a traffic jam: "We wanted to show how cricket is played on the streets in India. These players are as tough, mean and hard (as international cricketers). On our streets in India, cricket is played in the toughest, meanest and best way. It also shows a microcosm of India," says Agnello Dias, 41, Senior Vice President and Executive Creative Director, J Walter Thompson.
Inset: Agnello Dias, the creative spirit behind Nike's first-ever cricket commercial
For all of us who have played cricket on the streets, we know we have to play a quick game -- to bowl or strike the ball -- before the next car comes by," says Dias. "The game in the ad is being played in a traffic jam and captures the chaos and disorder of an everyday cricket field in India, where there could be 21 matches being played at the same time!"
'Gutsy Cricket' was the concept behind the Nike cricket ad. In advertising, cricket is mostly shown as being played by star cricketers or by cute kids. In keeping with the concept, stars were not central to the ad. It shows them as onlookers. Here we have the game being played by 16-17 year olds -- kids who will bowl the heads off anyone who comes in the way of the game!"
How it began: The JWT servicing and planning team in Bangalore led by Dhunji Wadia and Rajesh Gangwani got the 'Gutsy Cricket' concept approved by Nike headquarters in Portland, Oregon, USA.
'Balcony, ball dena,' the statue of a Parsi gent with a raised finger, " screaming Out boy Out"
Featuring a Konkani song in the ad was Dias' idea. He shared the idea with ad filmmaker Abhinay Deo and made him hear Konkani music on his car stereo while eating vada pav in Kalbadevi, south Mumbai. "Nike says it is amongst their best Nike commercials of all time. In dealer conferences in the US, they are showing this ad at the beginning and at the end. It may later be shown in the UK and elsewhere also," says Dias.
Time taken to write the script: Half hour.
Biggest challenge while working on the ad: "The challenge was that this was the first mainstream Nike commercial not made in Portland. This was also the first Nike cricket commercial in the world. We wanted that it be showcased amongst its best." "We wanted to show that cricket is not a game that is just played by gentlemen in white in elite clubs but it is also played by tough, macho men on the streets in the largest democracy in the world."
A mind blowing idea: "When I was given the brief of filming the ad in a traffic jam, on top of cars and buses, I thought it was a mind blowing idea. Abhinay Deo, 36, at Ramesh Deo Productions. "What you see is fleeting glimpses of shots. It is shot by two hand-held cameras in natural light. Only at the end, the shot freezes and the logo appears. I wanted the audience to be in the middle of the game, so that they experience the game rather than seeing the players as exhibits." "It had to be raw, very realistic and hardcore cricket played by general people that we see everyday. To capture the roughness of the game -- the running, jumping on the roof of cars and buses -- without it looking like they were doing stunts."
Inset: Abhinay Deo, the filmmaker who shot the ad
Where it was shot: On a set in Karjat, near Mumbai.About 45 people were cast in the ad. The buildings shown are facades with nothing behind. "We did not want people who looked like models," adds Agnello Dias, "we wanted them to be tough and have lean, sportsmen-looking bodies. They are not models, they are actually stuntsmen."
Time to shoot: One month.
The challenge: "I wanted complete authenticity," says Abhinay Deo, "That it should look like a huge street in a metro. The challenge was being pitted against Nike commercials which are the most incredible ads. We had to stand up to the international level without losing sight of Indian-ness. What usually happens is that international ads become universal and lose the local flavour, and vice versa, (where local ads lose international appeal because of being too rooted in a particular culture or region). We did not want that to happen."
Why a Konkani song? "What you usually hear in ads is either North Indian/Bollywood music or classical music. We wanted to show the fun side of Indian music like in Konkani music. We have our own rock 'n' roll history, you know. So the track is a reinvention of old Goan music," says its composer Ram Sampath, 31, who has scored the music for films Khakee, Let's Talk and numerous commercials.
"The ad depicts aggressive energy needed to play the game in the spirit of the game. The reason it worked is because it has certain energy. Inset: Ram Sampath, the composer
Lyrics [Literal translation (intended meaning)]
Rao, Patrao, Rao
[Wait, boss/partner, wait]
Khelu mhaka di muntao
[Let me play]
Khelu mhaka di na zaalyaar tuze photelle toklao
[If you don't let me play I will break your head (I'll chase you down)]
Kheluch amche osle
[Our game is like this only]
kenna-ch raunk nasle
[never waited (to think)]
Undeer-Maazraache khelu kosle
[like a cat and mouse game]
Moraun dhoraun podaun sonkol
[fighting, pulling, falling]
Noseeb mhoje kosle
[my fate's caught in it]
