By Fizza Naqvi:
Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, India’s biggest cleanliness drive ever, launched by the government of India, has provided the whole nation an opportunity to join hands with the government for the achievement of a common goal – clean India.
B-town stars are also lending support to the initiative. Kangana Ranaut and Amitabh Bachchan came forward along with Ravi Kishan, Isha Koppikar and Omkar Kapoor to spread this message ahead. Their support and encouragement led to the making of a famous ad #DontLetHerGo, that narrates the life of a common man who follows all the rituals of religion, but without understanding the concept and purpose behind them.
This ad includes many people: a woman (Isha Koppikar) who is accustomed to throwing trash out of her window, regardless of thinking about the aftereffects this shameful act will leave on people, a paan shop owner (Ravi Kishan) who cleans his work station at the expense of littering the street; and the other man (Kapoor) who throws waste on the road out of his car.
The interesting part about these people in the ad is that, each of them have a photo of Goddess Laxmi (played by Kangna Ranaut) either placed on the dashboard of the car or kept as a framed picture in a temple at home; and upon them cluttering the streets, her photo disappears. The disappearance of her photo is enough to make people realize their misdeeds.
A cleanliness drive inspired a million to take part in this movement, even Kangana. Many people are aware of how choosy she is, when it comes to movies or ads, so her presence in the ad speaks volumes about the importance of cleanliness. The characters in this ad portray the behavior of different kinds of people living in our society while providing us a chance to judge their acts, to improve our own. We have always been taught about the importance of cleanliness but as we grow up, we forget all what we have learnt. So during such circumstances, it is necessary to remember that “Cleanliness is next to Godliness”.
Watch the ad here.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wlwiJ9gX9s0]