It started in Big Cinema’s movie theaters and spilled over into the consciousness of a nation. It created a medium out a legal requirement. It reinterpreted one of the most hallowed possessions of a nation, its national anthem. And in doing so, it let Big Cinemas start fulfilling their objective of helping make the nation they entertain a little stronger.

To start a social conversation around an issue that is insidiously dividing our nation.

In the days before 26th January, India’s 62nd Republic Day, we shared the Silent National Anthem with journalists, media owners, Bollywood stars and opinion leaders. Then we waited or the idea to work its magic. And it did.

- Leading TV Channels covered the film and ran it free of cost for a few days.

- 38 articles in newspapers and magazines.

- Thousands of blog mentions and tweets. Including those by Bollywood stars and opinion leaders.

- The Creative Review UK, named it the 3rd most viraled campaign in the world Total earned media $5.3 million. Media cost, zero.

Since the domain of the brand is film, we would create one. But not just any film.

Movie theatres in India are legally bound to play the national anthem before every show. So we created the ‘Silent National Anthem,’ a film that reinterpreted the National Anthem, thus turning a national property into a medium for a moving message of unity.

This powerful stimulus became the tool with which we generated almost unprecedented buzz with $45,000 budget (which by the way, was the cost of producing the film).

India is the world’s language capital, with 21 languages and thousands of dialects. This diversity often takes the ugly form of division when people who speak one tongue discriminate against those who speak another.