Disclaimer: This article contains feelings. Reader discretion is advised.

Indian advertising has become very good at explaining itself.

Tragically, it has forgotten how to flirt.

Today, most films are built like legal documents with background music - clear, compliant, and impossible to quote later. A very efficient vanishing act.

This is death by a thousand good intentions.

Multiple stakeholders, real money, real pressure—and suddenly the idea is wearing five seat belts and a helmet indoors. Draft by draft, edges are sanded down. Jokes are explained. Pauses are filled. By the time the film is made, it’s very clear—and completely forgettable.

This is not a talent issue. We are overflowing with talent. This is a fear management issue. Fear runs the room now. Fear of wasting money. Fear of confusion. Fear of silence. Fear of that one person who might say, 'I don’t get it.' So we explain. And then explain the explanation. Add a super. Add a VO. Just in case someone somewhere misses something at 1.5x speed on mute. 

But filmmaking thrives on trust. Not absence of collaboration, but presence of belief. Craftsmen do their best work when they’re allowed to lean into instinct, taste, and emotion. When we constantly wrestle films into functionality, we deny them the chance to be brave, different, or memorable.

The irony? We know better as audiences. We feel it instantly when a film is good. We lean in. We laugh. We watch it again and again. It is discussed. It is referenced and becomes timeless.

Globally, content has moved from being purely functional to being a vibe—something that lives in culture, not just media plans. When we look at international work (Thai advertising, in particular, being gloriously unhinged and heartfelt), we collectively sigh. Not out of jealousy alone, but longing. Not because they’re richer—but because they’re braver. They trust emotion. They trust absurdity. They don’t explain the punchline. They trust us to arrive.

The decline in flavour, the formulaic fatigue—it frustrates us collectively. Being honest about where Indian advertising stands isn’t negativity. It’s longing. Maybe that frustration is fuel to lean into emotional anarchism. To be a little braver the next time we pitch, write, shoot, or protect an idea.

As a wise compliance officer once said, “If everyone approves, no one remembers.”

Take the risk. Let the film breathe.

Worst case? It’s discussed. Best case? It’s remembered.

Sapna Singh is an ad filmmaker based in Mumbai, India and was winner of the Manifest India’s Next Top 10 Directors 2025.

This article first appeared in the April 2026 issue of Manifest, which can be purchased here.