NEW DELHI: A little over a month ago, food-aggregator and delivery platform Zomato, in its ever-quirky way, had announced a unique competition for the people who were tired of seeing their unskippable ‘rich butter chicken’ and ‘creamy pasta’ ads on YouTube. Termed #Zomatoloot, the video creating challenge was an interesting way to incorporate user-generated content in a brand’s marketing strategy, besides promising Rs 25 lakh to the winner as well as a lot of visibility on digital and TV ads of Zomato.
The challenge attracted many interesting entries, but the victory went to Harkirat Singh, who runs a production house called Gath Productions. Singh’s rib-tickling ad depicting the story of every hostel ever was as relatable as it was funny and was a big hit with the Zomato’s social media followers.
Singh is pretty psyched about winning the challenge and the recognition it is getting him. “I have been in the industry for four years now and have worked on a number of brand films as director and cinematographer but never got the recognition for it. At the end of it, ad films become the property of the agency. So, it is very exciting and heartening for me to get recognition for my film.”
On being asked about how he landed upon the concept, Singh shared, “I got to know about it from a friend on the 27th of September, just a few days before the last date of submissions. As time was short, I was not very confident if something can be pulled off and told her that I will only be participating if I can create something good. Luckily, the same night the idea struck me. I was having dinner with my sister, there was something on her plate that I was trying to grab and that’s when it struck me. Then I connected it to my hostel days where I have had similar experiences of my friends taking my orders and eating them.”
He added, “It also happened that just a few days back I had seen this building that looked like a hostel and instantly I knew the location too.”
Singh then shot the entire film within a span of six hours.
Here are all the other entries that made a podium finish:
