Kangana Ranaut in Swachh Bharat Abhiyan ad shows she's more than a 'celeb' endorser

The first thing you notice about the Swacch Bharat Abhiyan ad starring Kangana Ranaut (also Ravi Kishan, Isha Koppikar and Omkar Kapoor) is that Kangana is the only celebrity who doesn’t play herself in ads. Even Amitabh Bachchan, who narrates the ad, plays himself. Titled #DontLetHerGo the ad shows the common man, who is god-fearing but also litters like there is no tomorrow. This includes the woman of the house who throws out the trash from her window with no regard for the people below (Koppikar), the local panwaari who swipes his station clean but litters the street (Kishan) and the office-going, suited man who throws his trash out of the car (Kapoor). Each of these people have a photo of Goddess Laxmi, played by Kangana, around them, and upon their littering, she disappears. It is then revealed then, that the Goddess only stays where there is cleanliness. Amitabh Bachchan’s voice then urges us to maintain cleanliness, and also suggests that keeping clean shouldn’t be just the Prime Minister’s dream.

Here’s the best part, Kangana only speaks at the end of the ad, asking for people to share the video. Her cameo in the ad is barely 10 seconds long, but as impact as Amitabh Bachchan speaking directly to the camera, endorsing Swacch Bharat. She tells IANS, “Growing up I was a slob, very lazy and I hated having shower. I was a really dirty person. My parents were fed up, nothing good ever happened. I never made friends, no opportunities came my way.” “Then I read a lot about elements, compositions and energies and I learnt energies are of three types, Sattva, Tamas and Rajas.” “The most superior type is Sattva and that is all about cleanliness, truth and anything beautiful, artistic, so it starts with a beautiful environment. And that is what Laxmi is about. Laxmi is an energy which you can attract only if you have Sattvik energy. And ever since I used these things in my life my life changed. So now I love to have shower, love to keep my environment clean and I make sure I never litter.”

It’s important to note that in a time when endorsements work purely on the basis of brand name, and when celebs usually just appear on screen to promote something using their stature and well-known face, Kangana is the only one who treats ads as an acting gig.

Take this Tata Sky ad for example. She plays a homemaker in it, urging people to switch to Tata Sky so that they can pay for TV only when they watch it. This is certainly more likely to stay with you than SRK randomly dancing on screen to promote Dish TV.

Or even this LYF mobile ad, where she plays her character Rani from Queen

Maybe other celebrities can take leaf out of her book? (With inputs from IANS)