Rustom was a period piece loosely based on the real life incident of Naval Officer K. M. Nanavati and businessman Prem Ahuja. I provided content ideas and copy, wrote scripts and shot multiple video segments to populate his and the film pages leading up to the film’s release. Some of this work is given below and the case studies outlines our overall effort.
Building intrigue
An idea was to photoshop Akshay Kumar in full Rustom costume in various historical military photos, for example, in a parade. The photos would be “official” naval images and would serve to transport viewers to Rustom’s time and reinforce the idea that times were very different then.
Video ideas
The time Rustom lived in.
This first video would give an overview of the time Rustom lived in. the social and economic conditions, the mentality at the time and so on. Rustom would not be mentioned in the video but basically, Akshay would provide a background and setting to the era Rustom lived in. This would help the audience get a feel for the time these events took place and therefore give them an idea of how it was like living in those times. Because the socio-economic conditions in that period may have been instrumental in making Rustom do what he did. But maybe not. The point is, it is up to the audience to decide.
Video 2:
Judgement
Now that the trailer is out, and now that Akshay had provided a background to the time Rustom lived in, this video would focus on asking the audience if Rustom was right in doing what he did, or whether he was nothing but a cold hearted murderer. The point of this video is to spark a debate and get a discussion going on, ‘who was Rustom’ and ‘was he justified in his actions’?
Video 3:
Face off
This video would have Akshay facing off with himself. This video would have him playing both roles. One, as an independent observer, asking Rustom (himself) questions on the nature of his actions, and as Rustom, who is defending his actions, and explaining why he did what he did. An interesting and engaging video which would see things from both views and leaves it to the audience to once again decide if what he did was right, and it was an action driven by love and passion, or as the action of a cold-blooded murderer, and nothing more.