DDB Mudra Max recently executed an activation across 6 cities of UP to spread awareness about Star Plus’ new show Aarambh that saw Ventriloquist, Puppeteer & Puppet Maker Satyajit Padhye put together a show featuring 3 specially designed puppets.
The activation took place over 15 days, where DDB Mudra Max was asked to conceptualise and execute the same. The activity was done in Meerut, Allahabad, Agra, Lucknow, Varanasi, Kanpur. In addition, the activity was also done for 2 days in Mumbai at the Andheri Station. The brief given to DDB Mudra Max was to create an activity for GEC viewers (weekend viewers exposed to multiple genres of entertainment), to make them familiar with the premise and setting of the show. While the viewers had to be intrigued and excited by the show, it was important to communicate that it wasn’t just another historical saga.
Directed by Satyajit Padhye, the puppet show used three puppets created by India’s leading Ventriloquist and Puppeteer Ramdas Padhye. The puppets were designed to represent the 3 lead characters of the show, named Varundev(the guy with the beard), Devsena (the lady with the axe) and Hahuma (the old lady with snakes).They are the main characters of the show Aarambh, and Star Plus wanted to establish these characters in the minds of the people. And so the 6-minute show was directed so that each character is introduced, where Hahuma narrates the story of Varundev & Devsena.
Padhye had a team of 3 puppeteers who were trained in 3 days. On conceptualising the show, Satyajit Padhye, Ventriloquist, Puppeteer & Puppet Maker said, “When I got the script from DDB Mudra Max, they told me to work on the screenplay of the whole story. What was really important was, this entire show was an outdoor activation, and hence the narration had to be quick. There was a need for lot of small actions. This is because the attention span of people is limited when we do outdoor campaign. Hence, I worked out a very interesting screenplay and used lot of props like Horse, Elephant, Cut Outs to make the whole story interesting. And it worked out very well. I also added lots of sound effects and co-ordinated the actions of the puppets. The response was amazing and we had a huge footfall. It was a very unique activation.”
On designing the puppets, Padhye added, “The half battle was won, when my father Ramdas Padhye, India’s leading Ventriloquist, Puppeteer & Puppet-Maker designed the puppets exactly as per the characters in the serial. We achieved 100% perfection in all respects i.e. the dress, accessories, the looks, features etc. The client Star Plus was happy when they first saw the puppets.”
