Internal Affairs

She turned the humble doorbell into a potent weapon.

She turned the humble doorbell into a potent weapon. Sonali Khan,country director of Breakthrough,a Delhi-based NGO,which launched the Bell Bajao campaign to fight domestic violence two years ago,has another reason to be happy. At the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival,two television films of the Bell Bajao campaign have won the Silver Lion in the Public Awareness Messages category. The Golden Lion was presented to Australian firm Leo Burnett for its campaign on environmental awareness.

Breakthroughs award-winning films Bus Driver and Software Engineerare the latest in the series of TV campaigns against domestic violence. These were inspired by stories of real people who intervened and rang the doorbell of their neighbors houses to prevent instances of domestic violence, says Khan.

The 60-second films were directed by Bauddhayan Mukherji of Little Lamb Films and created (or produced) by Mumbai-based advertising firm Ogilvy and Mathers.

Software Engineer shows a young man getting ready for office when he hears a couple quarreling in their flat upstairs. He walks up to the flat and rings the doorbell to create a brief distraction,and thus avert a potential incident of domestic violence. In Bus Driver ,two men are playing cards when the sound of a loud argument between a couple shatters the peace. One of the men gets up from the game and rings the doorbell of the couples house.

We have deliberately used men in the campaign to portray them as responsible and committed individuals. For long,men have been treated as the problem,whereas they are actually part of the long-term solution, explains Khan.

This is also Indias only award for a commercial campaign in the Film category at this years Cannes Lions.

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