MUMBAI: The on-going elections have caught the nation’s imagination like none other; be it the political parties themselves or the media which includes print, radio, television and digital.
The latest to join the brigade is Bollywood music channel, 9XM, which has taken upon itself the onerous task of encouraging people to step out and vote. The channel has created a music video titled ‘Who is the Idiot’ in collaboration with Artist Aloud, Rapper BlaaZe, and Paul J, which urges viewers to wake up and cast their vote.
‘Who is the Idiot’ was launched on 9XM on 3 April and will be played across 9X music channels including 9X Tashan, 9X Jalwa, 9X Jhakaas and 9XO. “This is the way to talk to today’s youth- through music and dance. And that’s how we are educating them. We are playing the video every hour currently,” says 9XM content head Sunder Venketraman.
The video shows a school annual day function, where kids are dressed up like politicians and elders are shown blind-folded. “We are not portraying any politician or political party in a negative way. The video is about being happy and enjoying the right to vote,” says Venketraman. “The idea was to show how, at times, we are so engrossed in our day-to-day work that we tend to take things that are of national importance, lightly. Our effort is to convey to our target group that there is a need to wake up and vote. We are urging the youth to take the elections seriously and take out time and vote.”
To its credit, the video, choreographed by 9XM’s in-house creative team, features the channel’s lovable toon duo – Chhote and Bade. “9XM is a house of Chhote and Bade. At times, a message sent out by them is impactful and so, we had to use them in the video,” says Venketraman.
The shooting was completed in one day. “But the pre-production took us almost 20 days and the post-production took five days. Since we were shooting with kids, we had to manage them well. Also, kids require a lot of attention. We were conscious about casting them,” informs Venketraman.
‘Who is the Idiot’ is also being promoted on YouTube, which has already got nearly 23,666 views. Apart from the main video currently being aired, eight 30-40 second videos have also been created. “The agenda is to wake up the youth. We are circulating the videos through Twitter, Google+, Facebook, WhatsApp, WeChat, BBM, Pinterest, Instagram and Vine.” Says 9XM SVP- Digital Vibha Gosher.
Interestingly, the videos draw attention to unique characteristics of the now well-known names in politics in a humorous manner. “Through these videos, we are portraying the ordinary life of these politicians. So, like in one of the videos, we show a Sardar and how while he is trying to talk to everyone in the class, the teacher calls him and reprimands him, and so, he decides to stop talking. In another video, we show a kid who refuses to eat lunch, because he is fasting,” explains Gosher.
How many youngsters will actually go out and vote is difficult to predict but 9XM deserves a thumbs up for the effort.
