"No one told me to imitate Kanhaiya Kumar": Actor Avinash Dwivedi on Yatra.com ad

A 'behind-the-scenes' on the Yatra.com ad that parodied Kanhaiya Kumar with actor Avinash Dwivedi and director Naren Multani.

With over a million views and more than 5,000 shares on Facebook (and counting), Yatra.com's ad that parodied the controversial Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) student leader Kanhaiya Kumar became an instant hit. The spot was conceptualised and executed by Scarecrow Communications and Puppet Pictures for the Yatra web check-in app.

Raghu Bhat (founder, Scarecrow Communications), Naren Multani (director, Puppet Pictures) and actor Avinash Dwivedi, unanimously agree that the ad has received a "largely positive" response from the audience, thanks to its execution and Dwivedi's acting skills. The actor has been appreciated by critics and admirers alike.

Considering the backlash that brands such as Pepsi and Havells had to face for their recent ads, drawing on the JNU agitation must have been a calculated move on the part of the brand. So, what went into the making of this ad and how did it 'end up' with such striking resemblance to Kanhaiya Kumar? We say 'end up' because the creative team denies any such intentions!

Says Dwivedi, "When I was given the script, my only concern as an actor was to make the act enjoyable for the audience. No one told me to imitate or parody Kanhaiya Kumar."

But, even then, the accent, gestures and also the costume, were all so visibly, well, Kumar-like. Kumar's sartorial choice post-release matched that of Dwivedi's in the ad. Was that deliberate? "I haven't followed Kanhaiya Kumar much, nor am I into politics. When we play a character, it is often inspired by a real-life personality or event. We try to copy their walk, talk or gestures...'Naarebaazi' always involves a lot of screaming and shouting. There's nothing new about anyone doing it," defends Dwivedi.

We get a more convincing answer from director (Naren) Multani who, while maintaining that there was no deliberate attempt to imitate Kanhaiya or recreate JNU, admits that the ad is a satire on the current "political scenario" in the country. "Look around and see. What's happening in the country today is a counter protest to every protest! So, Bhat and I thought why not a protest? Let's parody the situation," he remarks.

The Yatra.com ad is the duo's (Dwivedi and Multani) first viral film. Multani's aim was to keep it as real as possible. "I was in a quandary. Ad films have a certain amount of production value to them, but I was confused whether this would help or harm the film. It had to be viral, and hence, real," he says.

""When Bhat (who wrote the script) and I conceptualised the ad, we knew we are casting Dwivedi. He was to be the central character and because he is from a small town from Uttar Pradesh, we decided to have a set-up that connects with him and allows him be more real. That's why a small town airport studio in a small city such as Mathura was conceptualised. And then, one has to remember that viral films are made on modest budgets," adds Multani

Dwivedi has done close to 15 ad films with Bhat and Multani, and shares a good rapport with them. Talking about preparing for this one, the actor says, "The time that an ad allows is so less that an actor can hardly show his/her talent. The only way it can be made memorable is either through comedy or emotions, and this script did not allow the latter. But, as they say 'There's comedy in tragedy', so I tried to keep my performance as serious as possible and let the audience enjoy."

It's true that Dwivedi has shot to fame with this ad, but the actor from Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh, has been active in the industry for quite some time now. He has featured in ads for brands such as Quikr (a series of films), Aqualite Footwear, Soul Instant Wet Masala, Mahindra First Choice, Do Seat Bikes, Videocon D2H, and Carlsberg. A trained dancer and actor, he pursued theatre for three years in Delhi and also won two dance reality shows 'Ibibo-i-video star' (judged by Bosco-Caesar) and 'Dance Sangram' Season 1 (judged by Saroj Khan). Thereafter, he moved to Mumbai to chase his Bollywood dream.

Dwivedi has also acted in a number of short films including Hum,
Glaani
and
Parwaaz
. He played the negative lead (Rajender) in the serial 'Bin Bitiya Swarg Adhura', which was aired on Doodarshan, and was one of the main leads in the Hindi feature film
Ranbanka
(directed by Aryeman Ramsay). His next film Nachaniya (directed by Sameer Surve) is currently at the post-production stage. Dwivedi will also feature in Multani's first Bollywood film, a supernatural thriller, though his dream role is to play Bhagat Singh.

Dwivedi hopes the Yatra ad will get him the recognition he wants. Sharing his experience of shooting for it, he recalls, "We wrapped up the shoot in just seven hours, during which I had to constantly shout a lot. Because we were not dubbing the ad, and instead, using sync sound, people were really worried about my throat. I was given warm salt water at regular intervals. Everyone on the set was very caring. And, the adulation the ad got me was just overwhelming. Equally overwhelming were the 700 Facebook friend requests that I received in just two days!"

Sharing another anecdote, Multani tells us about the "Magic hour" they had on the sets when Dwivedi gave the first take. "For the 20 minutes when he performed, there was complete silence, and then, after a pause of a second, the entire set burst into applause. There were about 100 people. I have directed so many ads, but this rarely happens and with each successive take the heartfelt applause only grew louder," shares Multani.

Why? Did they spot the Kanhaiya connect? Multani fields the question with counter questions. "Don't you agree that the most important characteristic of a mature democracy is the ability to laugh at itself? Isn't that what Amul does all the time? The biggest achievement of this ad is that it has given us a very likeable character. That's all we had told Dwivedi -- be likeable and not polarising. Be yourself," he says.