MUMBAI: "If you wanna make the world a better place, take a look at yourself and make the change."
King of Pop, Michael Jackson, sang these lines in his 1987 song ‘Man In The Mirror.’ Ironically, the lines still haven't lost its relevance, as we continue to procrastinate from acting upon that much needed social change from within.
Reinforcing the idea of ‘starting with oneself’, the celebrated lyricist and McCann Worldgroup South Asia chairman has penned the phrase ‘Shuruaat Hoon Main’ or ‘It starts with me’, which strikes the core sentiment behind the Indian chapter of Global Citizen, that the Global Education and Leadership Foundation (tGELF) launched recently.
“We need to realise that the change has to start from us. We can keep blaming the government, keep blaming the society or organisations and corporations, but we forget we can be a start of a change as well. We should at least do what is within our control. The line ‘Shuruaat Hoon Main’ should be a pledge to ourselves to spearhead change,” Joshi elaborated on the thought behind the line.
Global Citizen has launched an ambitious plan to eradicate extreme poverty in the world. The India chapter has initiated a 15-year long campaign that will focus on creating a meaningful impact in three key areas: quality education, gender equality, and clean water and sanitation.
Celebrities such as Amitabh Bachchan, Farhan Akhtar, Kareena Kapoor, AR Rahman, Aamir Khan and others have pledged their commitment to the social cause, each resonating Joshi’s line ‘Shuruaat Hoon Main’.
Mobilising a generation from 1.2 billion population to act on social change is not a mean fete, and thus Global Citizen has aggressively made strategic partnerships leveraging its brand power, to reach far and wide. McCann Worldwide Group’s association with the movement is a fine example. "This isn’t a regular commercial deal. Of course, the cost of production of the campaign is being met, but it has been done in complete spirit of philanthropy. Wherever we could, we have tried to cut down the cost as a goodwill gesture,” Joshi frankly states about the nature of the collaboration.
Apart from McCann Worldgroup, Global Citizen India has also roped in Wizcraft International Entertainment, Viacom18 and Times of India group as partners to aid in media management and coverage of the campaign across media.
Infact, Wizcraft and tGELF chairman Shiv Khemka had approached Joshi to seek McCann's association with the movement and lend his pen to the cause.
Asked if McCann is committed to the campaign for 15 years, Joshi stated, "We would love to have a long-term association. I personally believe that a cause like this requires an extended commitment to see worthwhile change. Otherwise, it just remains as flash in the pan. It is important that there is consistency to what a brand like Global Citizen says. We would like to have a unceasing association depending on how other variables align."
The inaugural Global Citizen Festival India, scheduled in Mumbai on 19 November 2016, will be headlined by Coldplay, Jay Z, Aamir Khan, Ranveer Singh, Katrina Kaif, AR Rahman, Farhan Akhtar, Shraddha Kapoor, Arjun Kapoor, Arijit Singh, Dia Mirza, Shankar Ehsaan Loy and Monali Thakur.
While a video shot by actor Aamir Khan has been launched at the inaugural event of Global Citizen India, McCann’s team is in the process of making more creatives leading to the festival in November, based on the feedback of the first audio-visual. The upcoming parts may feature more celebrated faces from Bollywood.
Association of several major artistes and international guests will be announced at different stages of the campaign.
