By Tanjila Alam and Waleed K. Rajamiya
If
you've turned on the television anywhere in Bangladesh in the last few
weeks, chances are you've heard and admired Grameenphone's new “Jare
Uira Ja” advertisement. Star Showbiz recently conversed with the minds
behind the ad, “Jare Uira Ja” – Habib Wahid, Amitabh Reza and Shaon. The
trio, along with the voice of Mumtaz, made the ad a stunning success;
and today we discuss how they accomplished the feat.
Why is Star Showbiz presenting this ad as a cover story?
Recently we haven't come across any memorable songs that stayed with us. Suddenly out of the blue, the Grameenphone ad comes out with a song so haunting, so mesmerizing that it is still heard as hums and murmurs while walking down the street. The beautiful union of Habib's score and Mamtaz's voice created a fusion that refused to leave the hearts and minds of the people who heard it. This along with the added implication that a lonely mother's sorrowful sigh carried itself across miles and miles of land to her sleeping son to remind him of her, melted even the coldest of hearts (including ours). This sort of thing doesn't happen very often, but when it does, Star Showbiz makes it their mission to find out the secrets behind the success.
Habib Wahid, a successful name in the Bangladeshi music composition scene, rose to fame with the release of his first album “Krishno” in 2003, and quickly became very popular for reintroducing traditional folk music to the youth of Bangladesh. This was no small feat to accomplish, because the culture scenario of Bangladesh was and still is at a critical phase. The people of our nation still don't know what or who to follow and where, while the ones that do know what they want usually follow things from other countries. What Habib did here was he presented Bangladeshi folk music through his second album “Maya” which re-inspired hope among them with his beautiful music, and regardless of how much we Bangladeshi's shun our folk music, it still lingers in our veins because it is as close to the human soul as we will ever get.
What are your thoughts on the present scenario of the Bangladeshi music industry?
We are living in the era of the internet. Earlier, it was an industry of Audio CDs, and when you have a scenario in which what you want to sell bears no income, an industry no longer exists. Alternative methods need to be thought of and implemented, which is still on-going. One good example is internet-based sales. Moving from CDs to internet sales is something that Bollywood has already adapted to. I use Bollywood as an example because they are a huge influence on our country. They have succeeded in doing this mainly because they have a big market for their movie based songs, unlike us, they do not have a pop industry. The music industry in our country is almost entirely made up of pop music. For example, if you ask people what they understand by the music industry, they won't talk to you about the music from a Bangladeshi movie playing in the cinema, instead they will speak about bands, solo artistes, duos etc.
How should one compare Bollywood songs and TVCs?
Look at Jingles and TVCs for example. To do this, lets consider the Grameenphone ad, the actual message comes out through a plot. They first take an everyday aspect; this can be the relationship between a mother and her child then link it with their telecom products. They market these products through audio (jingles/songs) and video (TVCs), giving the viewers an audio visual treat before presenting their product. Bollywood is doing the same thing, first they launch the songs, then the movie on which the songs are based on is released, and in every movie, there is no connection between the promo songs and the actual movie. But when people get together and talk about the songs, they ask “What movie is that song from?” this in turn puts a curiosity in their heads about the movie; this method is quite common in the subcontinent. The two marketing techniques are the same, applied to different contexts.
What do you think needs to happen to revive the music scene in Bangladesh?
If you want to bring about a change in our country's music industry, you'll have to diversify to another market, like mobile apps, or internet based sales. I say this because almost anyone can buy a smartphone. We need to do something like this because unlike our Indian counterparts, we can't market our songs through movies, because we view music as something done be artistes independently, not something done for movies.
Amitabh Reza, a well-known innovative Bangladeshi ad maker and filmmaker, has set new creative standards for TVCs in the country. He is famous for his creative portrayal of visuals in advertisements and for “Half Stop Down” – a film he both directed and produced.
Do you think advertisements should be heart touching, and does the quality of the advertisements depend solely on their budget?
Budget is not really an issue; I have already made some very good low budget ads. You see, when I make ads, I try not to think about the budget, just the effectiveness of the portrayal. In regards to the first part of the question, the theme of the ads should touch the heart, context should be relevant and it should be presented in the right way. For the Grameenphone ad, research was carried out for about a month to help design its presentation. However, what makes an ad good is the 'big idea', like the one of the mother and child used in this ad. Once you have an idea good enough for people to love and think about, then you know for a fact that your final product is going to be a good one.
After this, all we needed to do was to sit together and present our thoughts in a very unique way. We needed Habib's lyrics, Shaon's music, Mumtaz's voice and a filmmaker for direction. When we got together, Shaon added his magic and Habib, someone who I have personally known for more than 12 years, understood what I wanted to make; he knew the image I wanted to portray. Taking this into consideration, he produced the music based on the pre-visualization of the theme. When all of it came together, the ad became an instant success. This happened because the screenplay was thought of in such a unique way that it touched the hearts and minds of every single person who saw it.
Why are you not making any films now?
That isn't entirely true, I want to make films; I really do. Nevertheless, whenever we sit down and talk about an idea we never have the time to turn it into a screenplay, and we never come across good screenplays. What we need for a good film is a dedicated writer with the skills and patience to work with us, someone we've been desperately lacking for the past 5 or so years. If we had such a person working with us, we would have been able to complete about 6 or 7 unfinished scripts that we already have. You see, I am ready to start filming if and when I get a writer dedicated to give me two months of their time. Because right now, I am willing to giving my time, my thoughts, my money, my team, my producer everything, I'm practically standing on one foot waiting for a good writer and a good screenplay!
Shaon, the popular and successful lyricist and Managing Director of Grey Dhaka, was the brains behind the concept of the successful “Grameenphone” ad “Jare uira ja” was also its creative director. The entire project was his brain-child. Not only is this person a creative, witty and unorthodox idea generator but also one of the youngest creative ad makers of Bangladesh.
What is your take on the Grameenphone ad? How did you develop the lyrics?
I think the Grameenphone marketing line “Cholo Bohudur” represents the eagerness of the company to keep pace with the speed and dedication of the youth of our nation. The ad in question, is the known yet unsaid story of the young generation; it's the long story of 50,000,000 told in a very short time frame. I wrote the lyrics keeping the theme in mind, which centers on trust while celebrating every emotion and it is the very same trust that is the core story of the Grameenphone TVC. The main purpose is to create a platform where people from all walks of life can have one singular and understanding point. You can notice the thought put into the design and overall direction when the story begins with the mother taking a deep breath and ends with a response from her son. We portrayed the emptiness of the human heart and the joy in having that emptiness refilled. Now, the ad's theme song, “Jare uira ja” has become so popular that there is an increasing pile of requests for the full version of the song!
Gausul Alam Shaon
Recently we haven't come across any memorable songs that stayed with us. Suddenly out of the blue, the Grameenphone ad comes out with a song so haunting, so mesmerizing that it is still heard as hums and murmurs while walking down the street. The beautiful union of Habib's score and Mamtaz's voice created a fusion that refused to leave the hearts and minds of the people who heard it. This along with the added implication that a lonely mother's sorrowful sigh carried itself across miles and miles of land to her sleeping son to remind him of her, melted even the coldest of hearts (including ours). This sort of thing doesn't happen very often, but when it does, Star Showbiz makes it their mission to find out the secrets behind the success.
Habib Wahid, a successful name in the Bangladeshi music composition scene, rose to fame with the release of his first album “Krishno” in 2003, and quickly became very popular for reintroducing traditional folk music to the youth of Bangladesh. This was no small feat to accomplish, because the culture scenario of Bangladesh was and still is at a critical phase. The people of our nation still don't know what or who to follow and where, while the ones that do know what they want usually follow things from other countries. What Habib did here was he presented Bangladeshi folk music through his second album “Maya” which re-inspired hope among them with his beautiful music, and regardless of how much we Bangladeshi's shun our folk music, it still lingers in our veins because it is as close to the human soul as we will ever get.
Habib Wahid
We are living in the era of the internet. Earlier, it was an industry of Audio CDs, and when you have a scenario in which what you want to sell bears no income, an industry no longer exists. Alternative methods need to be thought of and implemented, which is still on-going. One good example is internet-based sales. Moving from CDs to internet sales is something that Bollywood has already adapted to. I use Bollywood as an example because they are a huge influence on our country. They have succeeded in doing this mainly because they have a big market for their movie based songs, unlike us, they do not have a pop industry. The music industry in our country is almost entirely made up of pop music. For example, if you ask people what they understand by the music industry, they won't talk to you about the music from a Bangladeshi movie playing in the cinema, instead they will speak about bands, solo artistes, duos etc.
How should one compare Bollywood songs and TVCs?
Look at Jingles and TVCs for example. To do this, lets consider the Grameenphone ad, the actual message comes out through a plot. They first take an everyday aspect; this can be the relationship between a mother and her child then link it with their telecom products. They market these products through audio (jingles/songs) and video (TVCs), giving the viewers an audio visual treat before presenting their product. Bollywood is doing the same thing, first they launch the songs, then the movie on which the songs are based on is released, and in every movie, there is no connection between the promo songs and the actual movie. But when people get together and talk about the songs, they ask “What movie is that song from?” this in turn puts a curiosity in their heads about the movie; this method is quite common in the subcontinent. The two marketing techniques are the same, applied to different contexts.
Amitabh Reza
If you want to bring about a change in our country's music industry, you'll have to diversify to another market, like mobile apps, or internet based sales. I say this because almost anyone can buy a smartphone. We need to do something like this because unlike our Indian counterparts, we can't market our songs through movies, because we view music as something done be artistes independently, not something done for movies.
Amitabh Reza, a well-known innovative Bangladeshi ad maker and filmmaker, has set new creative standards for TVCs in the country. He is famous for his creative portrayal of visuals in advertisements and for “Half Stop Down” – a film he both directed and produced.
Do you think advertisements should be heart touching, and does the quality of the advertisements depend solely on their budget?
Budget is not really an issue; I have already made some very good low budget ads. You see, when I make ads, I try not to think about the budget, just the effectiveness of the portrayal. In regards to the first part of the question, the theme of the ads should touch the heart, context should be relevant and it should be presented in the right way. For the Grameenphone ad, research was carried out for about a month to help design its presentation. However, what makes an ad good is the 'big idea', like the one of the mother and child used in this ad. Once you have an idea good enough for people to love and think about, then you know for a fact that your final product is going to be a good one.
After this, all we needed to do was to sit together and present our thoughts in a very unique way. We needed Habib's lyrics, Shaon's music, Mumtaz's voice and a filmmaker for direction. When we got together, Shaon added his magic and Habib, someone who I have personally known for more than 12 years, understood what I wanted to make; he knew the image I wanted to portray. Taking this into consideration, he produced the music based on the pre-visualization of the theme. When all of it came together, the ad became an instant success. This happened because the screenplay was thought of in such a unique way that it touched the hearts and minds of every single person who saw it.
Why are you not making any films now?
That isn't entirely true, I want to make films; I really do. Nevertheless, whenever we sit down and talk about an idea we never have the time to turn it into a screenplay, and we never come across good screenplays. What we need for a good film is a dedicated writer with the skills and patience to work with us, someone we've been desperately lacking for the past 5 or so years. If we had such a person working with us, we would have been able to complete about 6 or 7 unfinished scripts that we already have. You see, I am ready to start filming if and when I get a writer dedicated to give me two months of their time. Because right now, I am willing to giving my time, my thoughts, my money, my team, my producer everything, I'm practically standing on one foot waiting for a good writer and a good screenplay!
Shaon, the popular and successful lyricist and Managing Director of Grey Dhaka, was the brains behind the concept of the successful “Grameenphone” ad “Jare uira ja” was also its creative director. The entire project was his brain-child. Not only is this person a creative, witty and unorthodox idea generator but also one of the youngest creative ad makers of Bangladesh.
I think the Grameenphone marketing line “Cholo Bohudur” represents the eagerness of the company to keep pace with the speed and dedication of the youth of our nation. The ad in question, is the known yet unsaid story of the young generation; it's the long story of 50,000,000 told in a very short time frame. I wrote the lyrics keeping the theme in mind, which centers on trust while celebrating every emotion and it is the very same trust that is the core story of the Grameenphone TVC. The main purpose is to create a platform where people from all walks of life can have one singular and understanding point. You can notice the thought put into the design and overall direction when the story begins with the mother taking a deep breath and ends with a response from her son. We portrayed the emptiness of the human heart and the joy in having that emptiness refilled. Now, the ad's theme song, “Jare uira ja” has become so popular that there is an increasing pile of requests for the full version of the song!
Published: 12:00 am Saturday, November 22, 2014
