These days Mahindra is known not only for making outstanding SUVs but also for making some exhilarating Television Commercials (TVC)! Just a few week back we talked about such a TVC. To come up with more such fabulous TVCs, Mahindra opened the gates to new ideas and threw in a competition called ‘Short Film Festival Contest’, in association with 48 Hours Film Project, India. More than 200 entries were received from the short film makers across the country. 23 among them were shortlisted, each of them was given a magnificent XUV5OO for 5 days and was asked to make a short film based on the car.
These entries were then judged by the jury members:
- Mr Shimit Amin, Director of ‘Chak De India’
- Mr. Robby Mathew, Creative Director, Interface Communication
- Mr. Carlton D’silva, Creative Head, Hungama Digital
- Mr Vivek Nayer, Chief Marketing Officer, Automotive division, Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd.
The points awarded, were divided in these categories:
- Concept and execution : 50% weightage
- Integration of XUV5OO in the film: 30% weightage
- Technical expertise of film making:20% weightage
These films were the winners:
| Category | Film Name | Director |
| Best Film- Winner & Best story | Deal | Anshul Joshi |
| Best Film- 1st runner up & Best cinematography | Elina | Anupam Mishra |
| Best Film- 2nd Runner up | Memorable Journey | Taranjeet Singh |
| Audience Choice Award & Best music | Junun | Tharun Bhascker Dhaassyam |
| Best Direction | Vanishing Hitch-hiker | Abhijit Kokate |
| Best actor | Shaadi Ka Driver | Shaurya Singh |
| Best actress | Disha | Prashant Sehgal |
| Best Editing | The Legend of Shyamlal Darzee | Ankit Mehrotra |
All the winning short films are available at http://www.youtube.com/mahindraxuv500.
The winner was awarded an XUV5OO as the grand prize and all the runners up received a Canon camera (EOS 550D) and APPLE iPad3!
Commenting on the occasion, Mr. Vivek Nayer, Chief Marketing Officer, Automotive Division, Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. said: “People are constantly seeking new and interesting experiences in their lives that lead to exciting new discoveries. New experiences are the new wealth in today’s world. The XUV500 brand has successfully created fascinating stories in the lives of our customers. Hence, we decided to create this short film contest to bring alive XUV500’s brand theme of ‘May your life be full of stories’.”
