Elections are on and brands are riding high on this election wave asking voters to exercise their right. Samsonite’s two-minute short film titled #EkDinKiChutti, conceptualised and created by Autumn Grey, takes a step further by encouraging Indian working professionals to travel to their hometown to vote.

In many cases, urban migrants are not registered as voters in the cities where they currently reside. Travelling just to vote is unheard. Samsonite takes this insight as its theme for its #EkDinKiChutti initiative.

The short film opens with the frame of the Dehradun airport. As it progresses, we understand a young professional is visiting his home in Dehradun for a brief period. In the background, the narrator describes his journey in a poem, bade din baad ghar aa raha hai, jaane kis bahane? Itna lamba safar taer karke, ek din ki chutti manane (he decided to take such a long trip only for one day off). On the way home he savours the sights and sounds of his birthplace and greets his friends . He visits home only to have lunch with his family before he leaves for his destination.

The scene cuts to his destination in a polling booth where he is recognised by an old acquaintance whom he informs that he is returning the same day. An Indian soldier overhears the conversation and complements the young professional to which he replies that he is just doing his duty like him. Soon he is seen casting his vote.

Apart from the plot line, the poetic narration stays with us, a technique employed by the brand in its previous campaign #KeralaisOpen. Samsonite was lauded earlier for taking up a social responsibility of reviving tourism in Kerala which suffered a substantial economic setback owing to the devastating monsoon floods last year. The film, portraying the essence of the state, invites tourists from across the globe to visit it.

#EkDinKiChutti adds another feather to Samsonite’s cap of social responsibility. It creates an impact without trying hard. For instance, the casual mention of festivals by the narrator like Diwali, Eid and Christmas, raises the question: If we can take off during festivals to visit family why can’t we do the same to exercise our right to vote?

Samsonite succeeds in urging the viewer to make an extra effort to do his/her bit for the country with this timely short film.