Trending in India: The Great Indian ‘Chamcha’
As the week coursed by, one of the most hilarious advertising campaigns that was trending in India this week was from the national daily, The Times of India (TOI). TOI was committed to creating ‘awareness’ around the concept of ‘Chamchaasans’, the people serving as Chamchas or devotees to distinguished people in the country (not to be used unless the intention is to be mean to someone). The video takes an unprecedented approach to the India story.
Chamcha is used for people who tend to the needs to wealthy and powerful figures in India. It shows following at a level which is beyond rationality. On the face of it, the video may seem too glorified but it is a representation of what India is going trough during the current times. It has a unique take on corruption in India.
Great Indian launched a 2-minute video, The Great Indian Chamcha, which features Chamchas in their oiliness best under three heads – politics, music or entertainment industry and corporate India. With the tagline of ‘If Oiliness is next to Godliness, meet the Divine’. The satirical video on corruption and lethargic organisational structure in India portrays the people who serve to the rich and powerful to gain and succeed.
The Great Indian Chamcha highlights one of the perennial problems in the political system in India. It shows the supreme level of ‘devotion’ experienced by the politician in India even if they are held due to any unlawful activity (which most of them are!). In the political India there is no dearth of Chamchas who are always ready to serve the ones in power.
Another different level of Chamcha was a teary Chamcha when his master was delivering a musical performance. Further, the video shows a snippet of Corporate Chamcha, and top management bosses who are bribed by people to get a certain job done.
The satire says a lot without leaving behind any social message explicitly. The ad portrays the current situation in the country and how Chamchas are serving the powerful ones. In my opinion, the ad was hilarious and yet powerful in the message it was trying to deliver. This is actually a complete wrap up of what’s trending in India every week. So, this time we did not come up with two specific incidents that were trending in India but it was pretty much that is trending in India all the times…
