Written by new-contact on Jun 22, 2010. Posted in Production News

New VW ad shoots in India and uses Uruguay as a double

Major vehicle manufacturer VW has filmed the latest commercial for its Amarok pickup truck on location in India and Uruguay. Korama tells the story of an Indian man’s relationship with his elephant – named Korama – and ends with the animal riding in the back of his Amarok pickup truck when it gets too old to work.

For budgetary reasons most of the commercial was filmed within only a few hours’ drive of Mumbai, in Panvel, Pune and Saswad. Pune was the furthest away at three and a half hours’ drive. The production worked hard on local casting and getting the right elephants for the job, with five different ones eventually being used for the shoot.

Mariano Avellaneda, a Producer with Rebolucion, said: “Looking for the elephant and doing the casting involved deep research and looking in local theatres and small towns. We wanted the real look of the people from India, not the ‘Bollywood look’.”

Although the police helped with crowd control in some locations, they also caused transport delays at the beginning of the shoot. Avinash Shankar, of Stratum Films in Mumbai, said: “At the last moment the police decided that the trucks carrying the hero elephant could travel only at night so this meant that we lost the planned travel time during the day. This also meant that the truck had to travel at a lower speed than normal given the unusual nature of the cargo.”

The commercial ends with the main character driving his Amarok pickup truck across off-road terrain in an eye-catching scrubland setting with Korama in the back. These scenes were shot in Uruguay, with the elephant added in post-production. Uruguay was chosen to avoid the various bureaucratic delays and documentation needed to send a vehicle from South America to India.

Click here to view the ad.

Credits
Client: VW
Agency: Almapp BBDO
Copywriter: Rynaldo Gondim
Art Director: Andrew Nassar
Production Company: Rebolucion, Buenos Aires
Producer: Mariano Avellaneda
Production Service Company: Stratum Films, Mumbai
Producer: Avinash Shankar

Creative Directors: Dulcidio Caldeira, Luiz Sanches, Marcello Serpa
Director: Armando Bo
Director of Photography: Marcelo Camorino