Once in a lifetime ‘mauka’

The #MaukaMauka campaign, its spoofs and response videos are adding the fun quotient to World Cup 2015

On January 22, the team at Bubblewrap Films was given a thread of an idea by Star Sports for a spot that had to go on air by February 6. “The brief was clear — to build a spot over the 22-year journey of a Pakistan cricket fan and a cracker box,” recalls Suresh Triveni, director of the six-month-old agency.

Triveni roped in Vishal Malhotra, whom he had auditioned for another ad film, to play the part of the cricket fan. Triveni wanted a soundtrack that would act as a foil for the cricket fan’s yearning. Music directors Vinayak Salvi and Rohan Utpat, and singer Alamgir Khan were roped in. “We wanted a song that would make sense even without the video. So no cricketing terms were used. The song has strains of Sufi and qawwali in a ‘Coke Studio’ style and the lyrics give the idea of a wanderer in search of the almighty,” says Triveni.

The song was composed and sung within a day and the Bubblewrap team executed the ad in five days, after which postproduction was done. The timeline in the spot required attention. The interiors of the house, furniture and accessories and the television change according to the period.

The ‘mauka’ suggestion came from Star Sports creative team. “The journey of ‘mauka’ from a word to a hashtag has been incredible. It was meant to be a one-off spot; we didn’t imagine it becoming so huge,” beams Triveni.

Each time, the team conceptualises, shoots and edits two spots that are sent to the channel, one to reflect the upbeat mood when India is winning and the other, just in case the team buckles. “If India had lost the match against Pakistan, the subsequent videos wouldn’t have happened,” says Triveni.

The campaign has triggered a conversation in social media. Spoofs and response videos followed. “Some of these response videos are terrific,” says Triveni.

The Viral Fever (TVF) team, popular for its ‘Barely Speaking with Arnub’ series came up with a #SabkePhodenge video as an answer to all Mauka ads. The folks at TVF previously made a rip-roaring ‘Bhagwaan Zameen Par’ tribute to Sachin Tendulkar. “We are a bunch of cricket lovers and #SabkePhodenge video is from a cricket fan’s point of view. The Mauka campaign had just begun and our team was (and is still is) in great form. So we came up with the idea that everyone else would surrender their patakhas. We spent three hours to shoot the video and another four to five to edit,” says Dwivedi.

Shudh Desi Endings, on the other hand, has come up with animation spoofs #WontGiveItBack. This wing of Click Digital Studios, known for its animation spoofs on Hindi films, took a detour. “The objective is to make content on what is trending, which generally tends to be cinema. But now, it’s cricket. The Mauka spots are well made and rather than calling our videos as spoofs, I’d say we are offering a different dimension,” says Anand Doshi, director, Click Digital Studios.

Despite animation and voiceovers involved, the team tries to be quick to respond to each Mauka spot. The 20-member team that works on these videos has been buoyed with ideas and suggestions from viewers asking them to include Dhoni or Virat in their subsequent spoofs.

On a tangent from these response videos, filmmaker Karthik Subbaraj’s team tweaked the Mauka idea to promote their new Tamil film. The Mauka campaign will continue till the quarter finals and thereafter, hinge on the team’s performance. TVF and Shudh Desi Endings besides other groups like ‘Be YouNick’ are counting on team India’s performance to take their response videos further.

Keywords: World Cup 2015, CWC 2015, Mauka Mauka, Pakistan cricket