Mumbai: Child trafficking, though a disturbing reality, has hardly any takers as a subject of concern. Or even if it does, it isn’t as significant in the pie as much as women’s rights or matters of DEI at the workplace. In an evocative short film put together in tandem with Schbang, Mukul Madhav Foundation (MMF) seeks to give missing children a voice, narrating the tragic tales of children who lose their childhood due to child trafficking.
The film uniquely captures the essence of childhood innocence through the lens of a cherished soft toy, Balloo the teddy bear, which is a witness to the trauma faced by his best friend, Bittu. Balloo's presence throughout the narrative mirrors the stark reality of countless children whose voices are stifled and their dreams shattered.
Bittu and Balloo’s story is more than just a film; it's a public service announcement (PSA) call to action. It serves as a potent reminder of the thousands of Indian children whose potential remains unfulfilled. Through this film, MMF prompts us to remember and act for those fighting for their freedom.
Mukul Madhav Foundation (MMF), the CSR partner of Finolex Industries Ltd., is a registered charitable trust under the Bombay Charitable Act 1950. It has dedicated itself to uplifting underprivileged and vulnerable communities with opportunities that pave their path to success.
Indiantelevision.com spoke to Finolex Industries Ltd. vice president & head - marketing & communications Ashok Jaiswar, Schbang group creative manager Rishabh Pande, and Schbang for Good associate vice president Varsha Rohani about the creative thought behind the film, about MMF’s efforts on various issues, the research in putting this film together, and more.
Edited excerpts:
On touching upon the child trafficking issue
Jaiswar: Mukul Madhav Foundation, as an NGO, works on multiple causes across all 17 different UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) right from healthcare to education to child rights, women empowerment, and more. And every single cause that we choose to work on is extremely close to our hearts. In the past MMF has also worked on raising awareness on various sensitive causes. This particular time, we wanted to work towards raising awareness about child trafficking because it often hides in plain sight. To the extent that we are almost desensitised to it, we see a 6-year-old innocent child begging on the streets and we barely question it twice.
Our work towards rescuing and rehabilitating children has made us understand the importance of citizen awareness and action.
On the brief given to Schbang for the film
Jaiswar: We have been working with Schbang for the past 7 years now, and they are just as aware of our initiatives, the impact, our reasons to believe, and our vision. Our brief for them was simple, we need to move people and touch their hearts. At no point do we want to go down the route of dramatizing the plight of the victims. We have a responsibility towards them and we didn’t want to sensationalise the cause in any way. The brief was to be gentle yet firm with the messaging. And the juxtaposition of a toy’s innocence against the harsh realities of child trafficking does that beautifully.
On the creative thought behind the campaign
Pande: If you look at the data, trafficking in India is a strikingly harsh reality. But that’s really it. The fact is that this reality is still in the data. This reality has not intersected with ours because it’s a conversation that unfortunately has not risen to the surface. No one is talking about it. And that was always the intent of the idea. To talk about it.
And because the topic would have been extremely new to people, it can also be extremely triggering. And that is why we had to approach this from a very sensitive lens. Hence the decision to tell the story through the lens of someone who is probably as aware of the reality as us, a soft toy that has been accidentally trafficked with the child. This creative device also allowed us to tell the story sensitively and without a lot of visual triggers. The idea was to tell half the story that Baloo could see and let the smart viewers complete the rest of it in their heads.
On the kind of insights & research helped in putting this film together
Pande & Rohani: There was a fair bit of research that we had to do, and interestingly enough a lot of this happened when we believed we already had the idea. While the data on trafficking was a good starting point, we had to make sure that a lot of the stuff we were writing about was being validated by research and wasn’t just a pre-existing notion or belief. Questions around where trafficking takes place, what the age group of the children that are victims of trafficking is, and what we can even achieve with this idea. All this needed a lot of finding, discussing, and changing.
On the media mix planned for this campaign
Jaiswar: We believe in the strength of this message and the simplicity of the film and we know that it will and has also already traveled far organically. We want to focus our efforts and resources on increasing the digital footprint of the film and are purely focusing on digital promotions to amplify this.
On the kind of response received for your efforts on child trafficking
Jaiswar: We have been supporting victims of child trafficking by collaborating with NGOs and initiatives that rescue and rehabilitate children. For causes such as this, our focus is on vertical efforts so we go deeper instead of going wider. Rescue operations are rather challenging and that’s just the tip of the iceberg. A lot of work also goes towards the rehabilitation of each child. Being exposed to such harsh realities at a tender age leaves an almost indelible mark on their minds.
On Schbang’s involvement in cause marketing
Rohani: Schbang has a dedicated team for cause marketing called Schbang for Good. Since the last three years, the team has exponentially grown and is serving some of the leading CSR brands in the country. We have been supporting these brands with a variety of services, right from fundraising to brand-building and social & behavior change campaigns. In our experience, the make or break for working on such campaigns and brands boil down to intent. The creative device, the strategies, and everything else in between can be figured. We have intentionally, always chosen to work with brands who have the same values as ours. Brands that put people first, care about representation but don’t stop at just that, they also always back these intentions and representations with the right actions to move the needle. Our fundraising campaigns have led to raising millions for many causes, our Diversity & Inclusion campaign has led to workplace policy changes and our awareness campaigns always touch hearts and leave an impact on people.
It’s been extremely gratifying and rewarding for the team to support India’s growth journey by supporting the brands that are working for the most marginalized communities in India.
On the difference between working for a social cause and brand marketing
Pande: While some of the principles of storytelling never change, there’s a lot more caution that one needs to take when writing for a cause. We think and rethink every line we write, and every visual we decide to write because writing for a cause as sensitive as trafficking comes with a great responsibility. There are many nuances, many intersectionalities and we should be ready to put in the work to understand those.
I also feel that when writing for social causes, you need to access a very different part of you and that process can take time.
On some of the other topics that MMF would like to touch upon in the future
Jaiswar: We work with a single goal of empowering people with dignity and opportunities. The causes can change, and so can our ways of amplifying them but our goal is clear. We have a lot lined up for the year, hopefully, just like Balloo & Bittu, others will also touch many hearts and create a deep impact.
