Indian jewellery ads have long played a predictable tune—ornamentation for brides, dainty femininity, and the unchanging tradition of sparkle being a woman’s domain. Over decades, commercials have cemented the image of jewellery as an heirloom passed down to women and showcased in hyper-glamourised poses. Women became the face of every campaign, and the sparkle was almost always reserved for her.
But this narrow framing is a far cry from India’s own cultural past. For centuries, jewellery wasn’t just a feminine accessory, it was a symbol of power and identity for both men and women. From kings adorned in layered gold to tribal warriors with silver amulets, men wore jewellery not to complement someone else—but to express themselves. Over time, especially with the influence of colonial ideals and modern advertising, the male relationship with jewellery got diluted. The contemporary jewellery narrative narrowed, sidelining male and gender-diverse expressions in the process.
But over the last few years, a quiet rebellion has started to take shape in the richly traditional South India—Malayalam advertising. Here, in a land steeped in cultural pride and cinematic storytelling, men are no longer just side characters in a bridal fantasy. They are wearing the jewellery, feeling its weight, and carrying its stories.
These aren’t men decked in gold for shock value or performative modernity. They are fathers, sons, lovers—imbued with sensitivity, strength, and quiet elegance. For perhaps the first time on Indian television, jewellery isn’t feminising them, it’s humanising them. Through just three campaigns in the last four years, Kerala has offered some of the most intimate and layered portrayals of men in jewellery the Indian ad industry has ever seen.
Vinsmera Jewels, featuring Mohanlal –A Viral Moment
This shift became more evident with Vinsmera Jewels’ latest ad featuring Malayalam superstar Mohanlal, released just a few days ago. The campaign has already drawn significant attention, not just because of the actor’s presence, but for how it positions him. This film captured the actor in a soft, gender-fluid light—donning diamonds not as props, but as extensions of expressions. With no dialogues, just classical music and expressive dance movements, the ad lets Mohanlal’s body language do the storytelling. It’s bold, unafraid, and comfortably tender. The campaign didn’t just trend—it sparked conversations. In just three days, it garnered nearly 2 million views on YouTube, with fans and critics alike lauding the ad for breaking stereotypes and bringing vulnerability into the jewellery space. By casting a male icon in a narrative traditionally reserved for women, Vinsmera isn’t just selling jewellery—it’s redefining who gets to feel beautiful in it.
Kavitha Gold & Diamonds, featuring Fahadh Faasil
But this wasn’t the first time the Malayalam industry has impressed its audience when it comes to jewellery and advertising. If Mohanlal’s campaign introduced vulnerability into the world of men’s jewellery, Fahadh Faasil’s ad for Kavitha Gold & Diamonds had taken that narrative further—with minimalism and nuance. Released in October 2024, this campaign stripped away every layer of performance and left viewers with an image that was striking in its casualness. The ad opens with Fahadh helping his mother pick out jewellery, then hesitates before picking one for himself. In a pivotal moment, his mother gifts him a nose pin with the line, “Why should girls have all the fun?” No heavy dialogues, no dramatic frames—just a man, present with himself. What set this ad apart wasn’t just the casting of a male actor in jewellery—it was the refusal to justify it. There was no need to explain the nose pin, to masculinise it, or to stage it as rebellion. It simply was. And in doing so, the ad did what few jewellery commercials dare to do: trust the viewer to feel, not be told.
In many ways, these advertisements built on the wave of Malayalam storytelling that prizes authenticity over aesthetic. The actors’ calm gaze,minimal dialogue and everything else about the visual language leaned into understatement, making the jewellery stand out not for its sparkle, but for its ease. The ad didn’t ask who jewellery is meant for. It just showed a man wearing it and feeling no need to perform his masculinity in the process.Together, these campaigns aren’t just rewriting jewellery advertising; they’re reclaiming a cultural truth—that adornment, too, is a human instinct, not a gendered one.
Bhima Jewellers – ‘Pure as Love’
While the campaigns by Vinsmera Jewels and Kavitha Gold & Diamonds subtly nudged at the idea of gender fluidity and male adornment, there’s one that took the conversation further. Their film didn’t hint—it declared, placing a trans woman’s lived experience and her family’s quiet support at the centre of tradition.
Perhaps the most defining moment in this evolving narrative came in 2021, when Bhima Jewellers released their ad ‘Pure as Love’. Unlike the other campaigns that explored masculinity through celebrity-driven storytelling, Bhima took a bold, grounded route—depicting the real-life journey of a trans woman, portrayed by a trans actor. The ad follows her across different stages of life, as her identity is not only affirmed but celebrated. At each milestone, jewellery becomes a marker of legitimacy, placed on her not just by herself but by her family—especially her father. It's not a story about sympathy; it’s about visibility, respect, and a rightful place. Jewellery here wasn’t meant to be just decorative, it was declarative.
With over 2 million views and international acclaim, including recognition from LGBTQ+ activists and global advertising communities, Bhima’s campaign set a new benchmark—not just for representation, but for honest, emotional storytelling within the jewellery industry. It redefined tradition not as a fixed legacy to be guarded, but as something that grows stronger when shaped by equality and inclusion.
Together, these three campaigns—Vinsmera, Kavitha Gold & Diamonds, and Bhima—aren’t just about putting jewellery on men or gender-diverse individuals. They are reclaiming jewellery as a medium of identity and self-expression—free from the gaze of performance or gender binaries. Indian history has never shied away from adorning its men, jewellery was always a marker of power, pride, and legacy. What these Malayalam ads are doing is not introducing men to jewellery, but reclaiming a connection that was always there—only lost in the noise of gendered marketing.
