Kohinoor Basmati breaks the ice, bridges an Indo-Pak divide.

Kohinoor Basmati Rice has launched an ad film focused on its consumers in the US, conceptualised by Crayons Delhi.

The film is set in New York, and features a young man and woman working in the same office as protagonists. They meet for the first time in the elevator and he introduces himself as Vikram from Delhi. When he mistakes her to be Indian, she corrects him saying she is Shehnaz, from Lahore (Pakistan). The instances that follow underline their nationalities and differences. When an American colleague asks them if being neighbours, India and Pakistan are the same when it comes to people and culture, Vikram is quick to say yes. The Pakistani lady interrupts him, underlining that they ‘are different’. The film cuts to a supermarket where they reach out to the same packet of Kohinoor Basmati Rice simultaneously. Vikram tells her that they aren’t so different after all. After a moment’s thought, she says the biryani from Pakistan is better. He surprises her asking when she’s calling him over (to have some of it). The ice broken, she breaks into a smile. The scene shifts to her house where they are seated in the garden for lunch, varieties of rice (biryani) spread out on the table. A voice over says “No matter where you are, the true taste of Kohinoor will always bring you closer.”

Credits Client: Kohinoor Foods Limited Creative

agency: Crayons Advertising, New Delhi VP: Ranjan Bargotra

Creative director: Rondeep Gogoi

Production house: Venus Productions

Director (film): Ravi Jain

Producer: Anil Jain

Executive producers: Varsha Krishnani, Muskaan Khan Thakur

DoP: Kumara Swamy

Art director: Suresh Selvarajan

Music director: Anurag Saikia

Sound designer: Rishi Oberoi

Post production houses: Prana Studios/Splice Studioz/Nube

Courtesy: Campaign India