It has been a while since an ad hit so hard and left the viewers emotional. Goel TMT’s latest campaign, ‘Band Baaja Bitiya’, featuring veteran Indian actor Gajraj Rao, does that job meticulously.
While the ad has been shared on X by Rajya Sabha member Priyanka Chaturvedi, another user called it a “very emotional, heart-touching and impactful video”.
The commercial drops you in the middle of the story, a dilemma, a father’s struggle. He is grappling with something, trying to wrap his mind around what society tells him versus how he feels about his married daughter’s situation. It appears he is drifting slowly into madness. But no. Rao is descending into the unknown; he is celebrating.
Conceptualised by Wisteria Media and directed by Prosit Roy, the ad for the Indian company that makes rebars and other building materials hints at the hidden bars that society inflicts on women. Until the very end, the ad—three minutes and 23 seconds long—does not mention or even show the brand. It focuses on emotional and familial strength.
Moral courage
In the ad, Rao can be seen dancing almost maniacally through the streets with a wedding band marching along as folks wonder and stare at the “mad man”. Voiceovers and past struggles are scattered throughout the ad, as viewers go back and forth between timelines.
Eventually, Rao reaches his daughter’s home, where he meets his son-in-law and his parents. His daughter appears in the doorway, looking frightened with a visible bruise on her face. She rushes to her father when Rao calls for her. He boldly declares that the band is there to celebrate her “returning home”. Rao says, “Na toh yeh parayi hai, aur na toh yeh dhan hai (She is neither a stranger nor is she anyone’s wealth).”
While the ad tackles the idea of a father’s dilemma as his daughter faces domestic abuse and violence in her marital home, despite society and even his wife telling him to let it go, it also very loudly and boldly declares that while a woman‘s marriage should be celebrated, so should her return.
The ad removes the shame from being a victim of domestic violence, reframing it instead as a moment of courage and bravery that should be celebrated.
Goel TMT challenges the usual tropes for construction ads by talking, instead, about moral courage. Sandeep Goel, director of the Goel TMT, told AdGully, “While talking about strength, we could have easily defaulted to construction metaphors, tensile capacity, or durability claims. Instead, our film chose moral courage.”
“By focusing on support amid adversity, it shows that real resilience is not just about standing tall, but about standing by,” he added.
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The inspiration
Wisteria told ThePrint that the ad was inspired by real-life stories of fathers fighting for their daughters’ rights and dignity.
“We stumbled upon stories of fathers who chose courage over convention. Ordinary men, who in a defining moment, did something extraordinary for their daughters. The kind of stories that don’t just move you, they stay. They echo,” OR Radhakrishnan, creative director, Wisteria Media.
He added that they wanted to challenge the tried-and-tested stereotype of their category as a “steel plant”—representing brute force and strength or a “muscle-flexing alpha”. Instead, they chose to focus on a different kind of strength.
“A man strong enough to stand up to society. Strong enough to stand by his child,” said Radhakrishnan.
At a time when Goel TMT is in the middle of a rebrand, telling the stories of their users is the best way to portray themselves as a brand for the new generation and of the people.
“We were moving from the language of strength to the idea of support. This story just sounded like a perfect fit.”
(Edited by Saptak Datta)