South Indian Bank’s Diwali campaign ‘Is Diwali, Khushiyon ke Deep Jalaaein’ captures acts of kindness that can light up lives. Directed by filmmaker Martin Prakkat, the film shows a little girl receiving a gift from her neighbour, a young boy. The boy, who had longed for a cricket bat, is surprised by his grandfather, a security guard, who gifts it to him. The grandfather, in turn, receives an unexpected Diwali gift from a woman at his office. As the woman waits for her cab, she, in turn, is surprised by her family with a new car. While gifting, the characters use the South Indian Bank app and card for seamless payments. In the final reveal, the little girl at the start is shown as the daughter of the office woman, completing a beautiful circle of generosity.

In the bag

Bag brand Zouk’s festive campaign packs in humour as it paints men as a “walking storage unit”. Ever seen a brother, father or husband juggling phones, chargers, lip balms, keys and more, dumped on them by their womenfolk? The Zouk ad picks up on that situation and has one frustrated man gifting Zouk bags to his wife and sister for Diwali. Good one, though, in our view, the boot is on the other foot usually — it’s the men who dump their wallets and keys on their spouses.

Behind the scenes

Titan Company’s new campaign, ‘Humari Diwali’, is dedicated to its frontline retail staff and captures the everyday efforts of store teams who help create memorable shopping experiences for customers during Diwali. Set across Titan’s retail spaces, the film shows the personal gestures of store executives — assisting customers in choosing gifts and wrapping them with care. The film concludes with a simple but powerful message: “Celebrating those that make our celebrations special.”

Gold rush

After last year’s nostalgic nod to Bollywood actor Karisma Kapoor’s iconic ‘Sona Kitna Sona Hai’, Instamart comes up with another pun-filled take on sona (gold) for this year’s Dhanteras and Diwali, featuring Sonakshi Sinha. Conceptualised in-house, the film puts a humorous twist on the idiom “born with a silver/golden spoon”, portraying Sonakshi as literally born with a golden spoon in her mouth. The narrative traces her life from an ultrasound scan revealing the golden spoon to childhood moments hula-hooping with a golden hoop. In the present day, Sonakshi is seen striking a pose in a grand, Versailles-like setting, where the gleaming spoon catches attention.

Nothing subtle

Nothing’s Diwali campaign ‘Go Subtle or Go Nothing’ is an anti-ad, spoofing the traditional festive storytelling. The film starts off like a typical Diwali commercial, complete with sentimental gifting moments, before flipping the script with sarcastic commentary. What follows is a playful exaggeration of how Nothing products could fit into Diwali rituals in the most quirky ways — Nothing phone used as fairy lights, headphones as diya stands, and buds arranged into rangoli. Voiced by comedian Samay Raina, the film produced by Braindad leans into humour, meta-storytelling and quirkiness.

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Published on October 19, 2025