Through a Facebook page and YouTube channel, a group of advertising professionals are using visual stories to remind the world that there is still kindness around
Advertising professional Aatish Dabral who has made a number of ad films along with Harsh Gupta and Raghuvendra Rathod has started a Facebook page and YouTube channel called ‘The Human Touch’. In November last year, the ad film director decided to make a few films that would be a ray of light and brighten up ones day.
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The men behind Human Touch, an effort to show the wonderful faces of humanity using visual stories – Harsh Gupta, Aatish Dabral and Raghvendra Rathod. Pics/ Sameer Markande
He said, “Like Prem Chand who I read a lot during my growing up days, I wanted to use the digital medium to tell stories of positivity. So I went on to use the money I earned from my work to make films of 2-3 minutes with a message that shows the wonderful faces of humanity. I got my friends to pitch in and help. Raman Chauhan funds the videos, Sukhamrit Soin makes music for the films, Utsav Bhagat edits them, Ravi Sharma helps with colour correction.”
Prateik Babbar and Sahil Anand have acted in two of the seven films. The views of the films have crossing one million. Harsh Gupta, a freelancer and independent filmmaker who is also a part of Human Touch said, “We have made one real life story based film while the others have been based on a fictional story line. The stories are of everyday life. We hire the camera and equipment and shoot for a day or two, then edit for a day with all the money coming from our pockets. The aim was to make a film every month, but we do not end up getting that much funds.”
The cost of one film ranges from Rs 1 lakh to 2 lakhs, though the actors work for free, the equipment fees have to be paid by the filmmakers. Film making student Raghvendra Rathod interns with them and has also made his own film for the venture.
Harsh Gupta and Aatish Dabral behind the scenes while shooting ‘Mawa Cake’ one of their short videos
“The films get a lot of response from people from across India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and even Pakistan. I get many emails thanking me for making the films which motivates me to keep going. A number of people also ask when the next video will be made. There are also ideas of what the theme of the next film should be,” said Dabral.
Gupta sums up their video film venture well, as he says, “The Human Touch helps us sleep better at night. It has stories of inspiration of people which is our way of doing our bit to make the world a better place.”