A traditional middle-class South Indian housewife is burning the midnight oil to learn Punjabi as her husband goes to sleep. Twhada naam ki hai, she says like a diligent learner, repeating twhada, which means "yours." When next morning she is busy in the kitchen, the vegetable seller comes and she greets the woman with a Sat Sri Akaal. Visibly bemused, the woman gapes at the lady of the house.

Alone in the house, the woman has only one fascination: to speak Punjabi. Thus, in the afternoon, she talks to a doll in her newly learned language. She falls asleep and is woken up by her husband, who offers her a cup of coffee. To her husband's utter visible astonishment, this time, too, she proceeds to appreciate her husband's coffee-making skills in Punjabi.

Now she, along with her husband, waits at the airport for the arrival of her son. The son arrives and introduces her travelling companion as Jaspreet. Immediately, she smilingly says something in Punjabi, which she herself translates as "She part of the family." The son's fiancée, now so affected by her soon-to-be mother-in-law's words, thanks and gives her a big hug.

Review: The television commercial (TVC) probes various kinds of relationships - between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, husband and wife, mother and son. The sight of a fairly traditional middle-aged South Indian lady learning and practicing Punjabi is apt to intrigue the viewers. The entire effort of learning a new language is shown through amusing and endearing situations. And only in the final sequence, where the couple is seen waiting expectantly at an airport, it is revealed that she has been learning the new language as a special gesture to welcome her son's Punjabi fiancée into the family. The authenticity of the locale and situation is unmistakable. Shot in a house in Jayanagar, Bangalore, the TVC captures every detail and nuance of a Kannada household.

Like many memorable ads, the TVC does not explicitly use the brand's name or picture to communicate the message; it is flashed at the end as "Canara Bank - We all change for the ones we love." The viewer immediately relates the brief message to the brand and its new look. And herein lies the strength of this new Canara Bank commercial.

Agency: Ogilvy & Mather
Production house: Rajeev Menon Productions
Running time: 47 seconds
ITV rating: * * * * *