If you’ve been emotionally overwhelmed watching the now viral British Airways ad — Fuelled by Love — about a grandmother from Hyderabad and an air hostess, then the person you have to blame is filmmaker Neeraj Ghaywan.
After the critically-acclaimed Masaan, Neeraj has continued his narrative style in the ad. “One of the reasons why I stay away from ads is because I see myself as more of a narrative guy. I’ve seen some brilliant ads and I couldn’t see myself doing that. But when I got this chance I realised that the ad was not going to be just about a product, instead I worked on creating an emotional connect and so I was more than happy to work on it,” says Neeraj.
“When you think of love,” says Neeraj, “One of the first thoughts that comes to your head is that of a grandmother... that is the emotion that we were tapping in the ad. When the team got in touch with me they wanted to show a family in Delhi, then I realised that they would show a Punjabi family, one with a very sweet grandmother and a fun-loving family. That image is not new to people, they are familiar with that kind of a family which is why I insisted that we showcase a family from Hyderabad,” he says.
Still from advertisement
“It worked two ways, one because they have regular flights to Hyderabad and two, it was my way of giving back to my city.”
Neeraj is known for his eye for detail and that reflects in this ad too. Whether it is the photo of Lord Balaji, something that you find in most Telugu households, or the food that is served, from palakura pappu to payasam, Neeraj made sure nothing was compromised.
“Having grown up in Hyderabad I had friends whose homes I would visit. The families were always so hospitable and they would never let anyone step out of the home without feeding them. Those are the details I wanted to bring out in the ad,” he says.
Neeraj Ghaywan - Maasan director
Neeraj adds that the idea came from one of his holidays in Kerala. “I had gone on a vacation gifted by my sister and there I happened to meet her friend. It was a festival and the friend invited me home. There were close to 13 siblings and they made me feel so comfortable and it was then that I realised how amazing the hospitality here is,” he explains.
The two actresses, the airhostess and the grandmother, were first-time actors. Neeraj says, “I didn’t want them to get overwhelmed by the entire process. The only thing I asked them to do was to channel their inner feelings. The grandmother herself has a son abroad so she tapped into those feelings. When it came to Helena the airhostess, I asked her to go back and think about her family. That did the trick.”
