When maternity break becomes work experience on your resume, thanks to Tanishq

Made by Bengaluru-based ‘Talented’, it’s the leading jewellery brand’s Mother’s Day campaign.

They first look at you, then your resume, find something amiss and say, “We’re sorry, but you aren’t the right fit.” Most, if not all, of us have faced this during a job interview. Mothers face it more than others, when they return from their maternity break.

“It’s so difficult for moms to make a comeback because everyone talks about the time they were not around and consider it a break, when it was anything but that,” says Binaifer Dulani, founding member and creative at Talented, a Bengaluru-based company.

This incorrect assumption about maternity break, meets an exceptionally potent wall in leading jewellery brand Tanishq’s new Mother’s Day spot.

We see a woman, Radhika, give a new spin to maternity leave. One that would leave the most notorious of ‘thought leaders’ on LinkedIn scrambling for leave. From rebranding the leave as ‘Life Bootcamp’ to training a complete newbie to listening to elderly advice (read unnecessary advice from elders), but learning to trust her own decisions. The interview is a refreshing detour from Mother’s Day tropes we’ve grown accustomed to over the years.

Speaking about the elderly advice bit, Dulani says that she and Kopal Naithani, founder and director, Superfly Films, “revisited the script a few times. The seniors’ advice came from her first-hand experience… a mom behind the lens added nuance.”

Naithani added, “The film spoke to me on a personal level as a mother. A maternity break is not easy, it tests you at every level and has a transformative impact. There’s so much fear about what life will be like after, for working women.”

“I hope our character, Radhika, inspires more mothers to add ‘Life Bootcamp’ to their resumes and negotiate for better, more powerful roles when they make their comeback to work. At Superfly Films, furthering the arc on progressive womanhood, is core to our mission. We’re honoured to partner with Talented and Tanishq to put this discourse out there and inspire action.”

Nisha Singhania, director and co-founder of Infectious Advertising, had this to say about the ad, “As always, it is another masterpiece from Tanishq. A completely new take on motherhood and maternity breaks, but so true and relevant. I think motherhood teaches a woman a lot, which she can implement in her work life. It’s also a wake-up call to companies to relook at the way they perceive women who’ve taken a break and are ready to return.”

Mother’s Day falls on May 8 this year. We also saw Prega News talk about the life of working mothers in its latest campaign.