Scarecrow M&C Saatchi & Reliance Jewels pay a cinematic tribute to the royal heritage of Maharashtra

India is a land of many tales. Every year, Reliance Jewels captures the essence of these tales by crafting an exquisite collection inspired by the culture, art & craft and traditions of India.

The journey started with Utkala, a collection that captured the art heritage of Odisha, followed by Kaasyam, dedicated to the divine land of Banaras. Kaasyam was followed by Rannkaar, inspired by the enchanting land of Kutch. 

This year, on the occasion of Diwali, Reliance Jewels and Scarecrow M&C Saatchi pay homage to India’s abode of greatness. Presenting Mahalaya - an exquisite jewellery collection inspired by the royal heritage of Maharashtra to mark the upcoming auspicious & celebratory festive season. The name Mahalaya is a culmination of Greatness and Beauty, MAHA meaning Great and AALYA meaning beauty that is found in almost every aspect of life in Maharashtra.

While Maharashtra has numerous aspects that encompasses the grace and glory of the region, which is found in almost every aspect of life and in their rich heritage. Reliance Jewels’ new Mahalaya collection is an exquisite handcrafted collection of Gold & Diamond Jewellery designed taking inspiration from the lustrous weaves of Paithani silk saree to fascinating visuals of Warli tribal paintings, from scenic beauty of hills and valleys to the grandeur of Gads and Wadas and Royal Regalia, a jewellery worn by the royals. Customers get to choose magnificent designs in Gold and Diamond from a variety of intricately designed and artistically crafted jewellery pieces that encapsulate these inspirations. While their designers draw inspirations from different regions, the final Jewellery collection is designed to suit each and every Indian woman.

Speaking on the campaign & Mahalaya Collection, Sunil Nayak, CEO, Reliance Jewels said “Reliance Jewels has always focused on forging an emotional connection through our designs. Over the years, we have carved a niche for ourselves as we embarked on a journey to celebrate our nation’s rich heritage, art & crafts and culture.

We take immense pride in taking inspirations from our rich heritage, arts and crafts of India. We have been launching exemplary collections for the last 3 years inspired by the rich heritage of India that was well received by all our customers. We are excited to continue this journey with our 6th collection this festive season. Our team of in-house designers and experts explores & celebrates our diverse inheritance through extensive research for months to finalise the inspirations for the collection and then design & craft the finest & exclusive designer Jewellery for our esteemed patrons every season. For the upcoming auspicious festive season we are excited to offer “Mahalaya”, our elegantly created ornate collection inspired by the rich culture, diverse heritage and traditions of Maharashtra while continuing our design legacy and wanted to communicate the same through a campaign that’s as grand, as glorious and as graceful as the region itself.”

Manish Bhatt, Founder Director, Scarecrow M&C Saatchi added “This was a maha (biggest) opportunity for Scarecrow in this series of cultural communication for Reliance Jewels because the range was as wide as the Sahyadri; from showcasing the royal arts/hobbies like sword fighting and horse, the opulence of Wadas adorned by lamps and mashals and shields to capturing a painting like the beauty of a Sitar player and the celebratory formations of Warli dancers. 

Our one-line brief to the Director, Cinematographer, Production designer, Costume stylist, makeup and hair stylist was to cinematically revive the royal paintings of Raja Ravi Verma who has actually captured the grace of Maharashtrian women. We are Maha thrilled that all these things came alive.” 

THE INSPIRATION BEHIND MAHALAYA 

The collection draws its inspiration from the mighty Gads (Forts) & Wadas (Palaces), the lustrous Paithani saree and the immersive Warli paintings. It’s an intricate ensemble of exquisite Gold & Diamond necklaces, pendants, earrings, Mangalsutra’s, rings and bangles.

Before conceptualising the entire campaign, the design team and the marketing team of Reliance Jewels along with Team Scarecrow M&C Saatchi did a lot of research to understand the culture and traditions of Maharashtra. Right from visiting museums to talking to experts from different fields to a cultural recce was conducted. 

CELEBRATING GRACE & GLORY

Coined by Scarecrow M&C Saatchi, Mahalaya is derived from ‘Maha’ which means great and ‘Aalaya’ which means beauty – defining Maharashtra as an abode beauty of greatness.

The grandeur of Maharashtra is captured in its mighty Gads (Forts) and its mesmerizing Wadas (Palaces). Maharashtra also flaunts a rich legacy. Its royal heritage captures not only grace in the form of textile arts like Paithani and paintings of Warli but also captures the glory through the tales of valour and triumphs of the empire. 

Taking glory and grace as the two main elements, the entire campaign was conceptualised around the theme ‘Celebrating grace & glory’.

A SONG OF GRACE & GLORY

A lot of research has been done to understand the different music genres and musical instruments of Maharashtra. 

Right from Patthe Bapurao’s Shubhamangal Charani to genres ranging from 

from Natya Sangeet to Baithakichi lavani to Gondhal to Tarpa music of the Warli tribe was explored. After a lot of discussions and jamming sessions with lyricist Guru Thakur, Composer Aman Pant and Director Mahesh Limaye, the team derived an approach to capture the grace & glory musically. 

The Mahalaya song is an amalgamation of these genres and features lyrics in Sanskrit-led language with pure Marathi and pure Hindi vocabulary. 

The lyrics were penned by Guru Thakur (An Indian poet, playwright, lyricist, and scriptwriter known for writing movies like Aga Bai Arechya, Natrang and Narbachi Wadi and penning lyrics for songs like Apsara Aali, Natrang Ubha, Khel Mandala, Bai Ga, Malhar Wari among others.)

THE MUSICIANS OF MAHALAYA

The beautiful raga of Puriya Dhanashree in the Mahalaya song is composed by renowned musician Aman pant known for his contribution to movies like Janhit Mein Jari, Chup, Good Luck Jerry among others.

The song is sung by renowned singer Shubha Joshi (An accomplished singer of Hindustani Classical Music. She has been trained under the able guidance of Pt. Pandurang Amberkar, who belongs to Bhendi Bazar Gharana), Aarya Ambekar (a renowned Marathi playback singer and actor who rose to fame not only after reaching the finals of the first season of Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Marathi L'il Champs but has also sung the famous Marathi song Bai Ga from the movie Chandramukhi) and Vishwajeet Borwankar (Pupil of Late Pandit Babanrao Haldankar and winner of Sa Re Ga Ma Pa 2011.)  

The ensemble of musicians consisted of artists like Sitar by maestro Purbayan Chatterjee, Swarmandal by Pandit Uma Shankar Shukla, Rhythms by Aadesh More, Prasad Mayekar and Jayant Patnaik, Tarpa by Chandrakant Chaudhary and Santoor by Satyendra Singh Solanki.

THE CAMPAIGN

The campaign for Reliance Jewels conceptualised by Scarecrow M&C Saatchi tells the story of two young girls; A director seeking advice from her fashion designer friend for the costumes of her upcoming war drama. The film beautifully captures the royal heritage of Maharashtra through a cinematic journey. 

THE MAKERS OF MAHALAYA

To give the film a magnum opus period film-like cinematic experience, Scarecrow M&C Saatchi roped in Mahesh Limaye who has captured grandeur in films like Bajirao Mastani & Padmavat, glory in Sasenapati Hambirrao & Balgandharva and grace in movies like Corporate, Fashion among others.