Facebook Celebrates Onam with a New Movie that Spotlights Pulikkali Artists

Facebook released a short film as an extension of its "More Together" campaign to celebrate Onam's festive spirit. The basic message of this movie is how the culture is virtualized and how the community gathers together in a unique way on social media platforms to stay connected during the Covid-19 pandemic. Facebook India Marketing Director Avinash Pant said Facebook's core belief is that “people can do more together than alone”.

The film revolves around the popular art of Pulikkali. It shows artists, painted as tigers, dancing in the streets of Kerala for Onam celebrations while featuring Ayyanthole Desam Pulikkali Samghataka Samithi members. They hosted a live performance on Facebook last year under Covid-19 restrictions.

“This film captures the spirit and resilience of people and the different ways in which they come together on the platform in less time than usual. It's a great story and we think it deserves a bigger picture to show the power of online communities in a physically distant world,” Pant added

Facebook teamed up with Dentsu McGarrybowen and director Atul Kattukaran for this film. For Sidharth Rao, CEO of Dentsu Mcgarrybowen, this is a unique opportunity to share the true story of Ayyanthole Desam Pulikkali Sanghataka Samithi for a major global brand. "Although the scale of our celebration of the 10-day Onam Festival cannot be replicated, what happened on the ground in 2020, and how we tried to capture this honestly in the movie, proves Facebook’s philosophy that one person can do more together ," Rao added.

In addition, Facebook will also roll out an AR filter, which will allow users to put on the roaring tiger mask themselves and virtually place them in the Swaraj Round, Thrissur where Pulikkali occurs every year. On August 19th, the “Roaring Onam” will go live