Tata Trusts has launched ‘Vajood Rahe Maujood’, a campaign for World Alzheimer’s Month that focuses on how dementia can affect a person’s identity, relationships and everyday abilities, beyond memory loss.
In India, early signs of dementia are often dismissed as a part of ageing or simply described as forgetfulness. The campaign challenges this perception by drawing attention to the gradual changes in a person’s behaviour, abilities and relationships as the condition progresses.
The campaign’s film features Geeta Agarwal Sharma, known for Laapataa Ladies and 12th Fail, as a mother showing early signs of dementia, and Priyanshu Painyuli, known for Mirzapur and Extraction, as her son and primary caregiver. The story centres on a poem the son writes for his mother on her birthday, using the occasion to explore the emotional challenges of caring for a loved one while recognising changes in their identity.
The campaign also places a son in the role of primary caregiver, with the aim of encouraging more men to take an active role in caring for family members with dementia. The choice of a female protagonist reflects the disproportionate impact of dementia on women.
The campaign comes amid concerns about India’s ageing population. By 2050, the country is projected to have more than 347 million people aged 60 and above, making awareness and early recognition of dementia increasingly important.
Link to the campaign
Shilpi Ghosh, Head, Brand & Marketing Communications, Tata Trusts, said, “Of the various barriers that Dementia faces in India, the biggest is a lack of awareness – the misestimation, the misattribution, the dismissal. Addressing patients exhibiting mild symptoms was therefore a conscious choice of audience for nudging behavior change.”
“And when “loss of identity” and its various dimensions across the stages of the disease, were uncovered as an insight, we knew we had something powerful to work with, that would lead to captivating communication that was persuasive and not preachy,” she added.
“Communication that was not just empathetic but also encouraged action, so caregivers and their loved ones could have an improved quality of life. We’re hopeful that the campaign will be able to move the needle on dementia from ignorance to awareness,” she said.
Kalyan Challapalli, Founder & Chief of Strategy, Wolfzhowl, said, “Our qualitative research showed us that dementia cannot be addressed as a health issue alone. Its impact ripples through caregivers, families, the healthcare ecosystem, and even the economy. We capture this interconnected impact through what we describe as ‘The Butterfly Effect’, highlighting why dementia requires a concerted response across the ecosystem.”
He further added, “An interesting insight that emerged from our interactions was the absence of regional-language vocabulary to describe the diseases and its early changes. This makes the disease easier for people to dismiss. Because you cannot ask people to recognise what they do not have the language to describe. The campaign thus, offers a common ground that hopefully makes the condition easier to decipher, talk about and act on, in homes and communities, not just in clinics.”
Keigan Pinto, Creative Chief, Writer and Director, sheds light on this process, “The creative challenge was to make something as invisible as identity loss felt without reducing dementia to a list of symptoms. That is why we chose to make this a short film rather than a conventional public service announcement. We wanted to give the audience enough time to inhabit an everyday relationship and notice the small shifts that can otherwise be overlooked.”
He added, “The poem which the son wrote for his mother on her birthday is a creative device used to carry the message of care as the greatest gift. Through the poem, the son has a difficult conversation with his mother, while empathising with her. Vajood Rahe Maujood, the tagline sums up the vision of this campaign, to encourage more people to act towards preserving their identity for as long as possible.”
