"I got the script sometime in June, 2024. It had the theme, ‘Tree to Treat’ and a broad direction, though it was quite different from what the film is today. It came from the agency, Drink Water Design. Prasad Patil, the creative director who runs the agency and is also a friend, sent it to me. As soon as I read it, I knew there was something there. We spoke about the direction they wanted to take, but I felt their expectations were slightly different from what was on the page. I asked him to give me some time to make something and get back to him.
I didn’t tell him exactly what I had in mind. I went back to the drawing board and made a scratch film, using CLF footage, still images and some AI-generated elements. I then spent around 20 days with my team editing and shaping the mood. Once the rough cut was ready, I sent it to Prasad—and that’s really how the film came into being.
I remember presenting the scratch film to the client, Srinivas Kamath, Raghunandan Kamath’s son, who now runs Naturals. He was blown away. Once the client and everyone else bought into the vision, we knew we had something special. The excitement only grew from there. Even on set, we felt we were making something special, but I didn’t expect the response it eventually received. When the Naturals film came out, old friends I hadn’t heard from in years started calling and messaging. It genuinely felt like the advertising industry was celebrating the film, and that was very special for me.
We had to work within a tight budget, so we chose to shoot the entire campaign in Kerala. The challenge was finding locations that didn’t look like Kerala. For instance, the shot of the Sardarji cutting guava was actually shot in Kerala, but we made it look like a North Indian, Punjab-like setting. We used different locations across the state to create multiple worlds. The only portion we shot in Mumbai involves the food shots, which we did in a studio with Nitin Tandon and his team. Sometimes, as directors, we get too involved and go wild with the camera. I wanted this film to be simple yet engaging, and my editor made sense of everything we shot.
One thing we decided very early on was that the film would not have actors. The beauty in this kind of project is everybody comes together to kind of give their ideas and contribute to it. We wanted real faces. Me and Vikas Vasudevan, the DOP, bonded deeply on the project and kept discussing how to find the right people. Eventually, we decided on street casting. Our casting team went out on the streets of Kerala, met people, sent us videos and photographs, and that’s how we found the faces we needed.
I have multiple favourite frames from the film, especially because every shot was meticulously thought through and pre-visualised. There’s this man sleeping on a giant pile of watermelons; women with their backs to the camera, flaunting flowers in their hair; the opening tree shot with a Rajasthani man and a boat; and the tribal women. Each of these moments carries a part of the film’s soul.”
IMPACT’S PICK
‘Tree to Treat - Natural’s’
ABOUT HARSHIK SURAIYA
Harshhik Suraiya, a filmmaker and founder at Studio Zuno, boasts two decades of experience spanning advertising and film direction. Having spent over 10 years on the agency side—at Ogilvy and McCann, he brings a sharp creative director’s instinct to storytelling. Over the past decade, he has channelled that instinct into crafting ad films rooted in visual wit and emotional detail. Around a strong visual, Suraiya is like a kid in a candy store.
BEST WORK
‘Beauty Tips by Reshma - Make Love Not Scars’
‘Date’ – Savlon Handwash
CAMPAIGNS I LOVE
‘Sleep Solves Everything’ – Sleepy Cat Mattresses
‘Tanishq Solitaires’ - Tanishq
