Cover image via
Air Selangor (Facebook)
Subscribe to our Telegram channel for our latest stories and breaking news.
Uploaded to its social media on Sunday, 24 October, Air Selangor has received rave reviews for its Deepavali animated ad.
The two-minute-and-41-second long ad follows the love story of Balan, who just moved into a new neighbourhood.
While he is carrying boxes out of a truck, a woman runs into him, causing him to fall to the ground.
“Siapa tu (who is that), Balan?” asks a neighbour, before another interjects, “Wah, lenglui (beautiful) leh.”
24 seconds in, the beautifully animated ad has enchanted viewers to watch on.
Balan goes from house to house to match his drawing to the faces of his neighbours’ daughters.
When he almost gives up, the woman shows up at his doorstep. The two then confess how much trouble they went through to find each other.
In true Malaysian fashion, the woman says she manages to find him all thanks to the help of her neighbours, who consist of multiracial people dressed in traditional clothes on Deepavali.
The ad ends in the present, where it is revealed that Balan had been narrating his “Deepavali love story” to his son.
The ad is the collective work of Mediabrands Malaysia and Reprise Digital, directed by Hadi Hamid.
According to Campaign Brief Asia, Bram Lee is the lead animator and the copywriters who were involved in the project are Thanendran Thanesvaran and Zaulin Kartin.
Hundreds of netizens said they were stunned by the beautiful animation and the feel-good story.
“This has to be one of the firsts or the rarest times of a wholesome representation of Indian languages in a Malaysian Deepavali ad. Kudos, Air Selangor!” lauded a Facebook user.
“It’s soo good to see soo many [languages] besides Tamil in this. Well done, Air Selangor,” commented a netizen.
“This advertisement is great. Congratulations to the Air Selangor team. You make us proud to be Malaysian citizens who live together in multiracial and multicultural (society),” another person added.