Some advertisements sell paint. And then, some advertisements make it rain- literally, emotionally, and poetically.
Asian Paints’ Ultima Protek chose the latter. Wrapped in melody, mischief, and monsoon magic, the “Baarish ko aane do” campaign didn’t just arrive on our screens; it seeped in, much like the rain it celebrated. Released on January 5, 2017, and crafted by Ogilvy, this wasn’t a commercial in the traditional sense- it was a love story that happened to have walls in it. And walls, as it turned out, that had a lot to say.
The film opens in a setting Indians know all too well: a wedding in full swing. Relatives bustling, rituals racing, and a father, visibly flustered, trying to rush his daughter’s marriage as though time itself were leaking. But the urgency isn’t about muhurats or missing pandits. It’s about the rain. Or rather, the cause of it.
Next door lives the reason.
A mysterious, musically inclined neighbour begins singing Raag Malhar, the legendary raga said to summon rain. And summon it he does. The skies open up dramatically. The rain pours. Romance floats in the air. And the truth about paint, quite inconveniently, begins to reveal itself.
As the monsoon intensifies, the bride’s house, untouched by Ultima Protek, starts to peel, crack, and surrender. The walls, much like the father’s patience, can no longer hold up. Meanwhile, the neighbour’s home stands smug and spotless, freshly painted and gloriously unaffected by the downpour. Rain may be falling cats and dogs, but his walls remain unbothered, almost smugly in love with the weather.
Frustration peaks. Exhaustion follows. And in a moment of beautifully comic surrender, the father turns to his daughter, aptly named Barkha, the very word for rain, and says what feels inevitable: she might as well marry the man who keeps making it rain.
As Barkha crosses the wall- both literal and metaphorical- the music stops. The rain pauses. Two hearts meet. And love, like good paint, finally finds the surface it belongs to. Played by Ranbir Kapoor, the singing neighbour is charm personified, completing a story that feels timeless yet modern, dramatic yet disarmingly simple.
In the end, Asian Paints didn’t just tell us that some paints withstand the storm, they reminded us that when the right things come together, even the heaviest rain can feel like an invitation.
After all, when your walls are strong enough, you can finally say, baarish ko aane do.
