Film built from 5,200 ceramic pieces
Diageo India has released a stop-motion short film, The Godawan, made with more than 5,200 hand-painted ceramic pieces, the company said. The film combines stop-motion, 2D animation and live action and draws on Jaipur Blue Pottery; the pieces were painted, arranged and photographed across 15,000 hours.
Made in India over eight months
The film was conceptualised by 22feet and McCann India and directed by Studio Eeksaurus, and was made in India over eight months, according to the release. Its Rajasthani folk score features Resul Pookutty, Taufiq Qureshi and Rajat Dholakia, described in the release as an Oscar winner, a Grammy winner and a national awardee respectively.
Bird numbers grow past 198
The film tells the story of the Great Indian Bustard, known locally as the Godawan, a critically endangered bird that once came close to being India's national bird. Diageo India said it has supported the bird's conservation since before the 2022 launch of its Godawan single malt, working with the Wildlife Institute of India, Gramodaya Samajik Sansthan and the Rajasthan Forest Department. Numbers have grown from fewer than 100 to more than 198 through those efforts, the company said.
What the company says
Ruchira Jaitly, chief marketing officer at Diageo India, said the company's support for the bird's conservation goes back years, and that the film was intended to bring conservation and human craft together at a time when almost anything can be created in seconds. Suresh Eriyat, co-founder and director of Studio Eeksaurus, said the project asked for patience at every step. Rahul Mathew, chief creative officer at McCann India, said telling the story through Jaipur Blue Pottery was painstaking but rewarding.
Diageo India is a subsidiary of Diageo Plc and is listed in India on the National Stock Exchange and the Bombay Stock Exchange as United Spirits Limited. It is headquartered in Bengaluru.