iWorld
‘Siri- the living scarecrow’, short film with dash of fiction but sea of truth
MUMBAI: Imagine the life of a man living like a mere scarecrow with no one to share his emotions with! Much disturbing isn’t it? Neeru Khera’s The Creative Gypsy has come up with a new short film titled as SIRI – the living scarecrow. The movie talks about Siri, a worker and farmer in the earlier times working for big landlords and getting paid 1 /13th share of the harvest as his compensation.
As times changed and technology took over the farm work, Siri was reduced to just a farm servant living a life of almost a scarecrow. The share now turned into salary per month and he became just like a guard man of the farms.
“This is not a preachy film. We have not gone into the hardships of a farmer’s life. This film is a story of a 75 year old farmer living alone in a large agricultural land. He misses his family his wife his only son who are not there with him. So much happens in one night that it will surprise you though not with overly dramatic emotional presentation. We had a great time interacting with the farmers and knowing the stories of their lives,” said Khera.
Slated to launch today, this moving short film depicts the world of the aggressive rich and rude urban youth clashing with a poor farmer which changes everything for them.
Though abandonment of parents is a truth touching people from all walks of life, the reality is much more graver than what we hearsay. In those times, lot of poor families abandoning their old parents to fend for themselves who started taking up for jobs at farm merely became scarecrows in a life of total loneliness.This story is based on one such man who waited for his son to come and take him after he abandoned him. He waited for his son for years but he never came .
The story is a slice of life from the farmlands of India but its core emotions finds its voice in various parts of the world and echoes for eternity.
She further added, “This is not a anti system film, it’s pure heart and a slice of life of a farmer where loneliness is the biggest enemy.”
The 20 minute film is made by Dabboo Malik and has an interesting song composed by Sukhwinder Singh. The theme song has been sung by Armaan Malik.
Shot on Cannon 5D and GoPro for some interesting and difficult shots, the lead in the movie does not come from an acting background. The film was shot in patiala and in the heart of Punjab and stars Abhay Attri as the lead man as a hardcore patiala boy.
“I gave a freehand to Dabboo to make this movie. I only sat for the editing work. It was very difficult for us to shoot as Siri’s are only found in inskirts and were not keen on coming in front of the camera.”
The role of the protagonist has been played by Mehar Singh who has spent his entire life at the fields. He has never been out of there and virtually spends his life as a living scarecrow.
“Mehar Singh has never acted in any film before and he still lives there doing his duty. It’s so real that it makes you feel the pain and loneliness of this man,” added Khera.
In the past, Khera’s channel has also been credited with the revolutionary web series All About Section 377 directed by Amit Khanna. The duo is all geared up for the second season of the series which will be taken to the villages of India. Apart from being in touch with various sponsors to get on board, the series will have a transgender angle to it and is estimated to launch by October.
With the success of her last two series, one thing that is bound to happen is a larger appetite for concepts like these. Kudos to her and the team for such wonderful efforts!
iWorld
Meta introduces new AI tools to boost discovery-to-purchase journey
From shoppable Reels to generative video, platforms get smarter at turning attention into sales.
MUMBAI: Meta is turning “scroll and stop” into “scroll, stop, and shop” and it’s using AI to make the whole journey feel almost effortless. The company has announced several new tools and enhancements designed to help brands guide people from discovery to purchase more effectively, while delivering more relevant and personalised experiences across its platforms.
Creators can now add product links more broadly on Instagram Reels, turning their content into shoppable moments. Businesses in 22 countries, including India, will soon be able to share their product catalogues with creators, opening up a new sales channel for brands and fresh monetisation opportunities for creators.
The Creator Marketplace has also been upgraded with enhanced target audience filtering, integrated with Ads Manager. This helps businesses quickly find creators who are a strong match for their goals. Campaigns using Partnership Ads deliver, on average, 19 per cent lower CPAs, 13 per cent higher click-through rates, and 71 per cent higher median brand lift.
Meta is expanding Reels Trending Ads inventory with new content categories including TV & Movies, Travel, Business, Finance & Investments. According to Meta’s analysis of 59 studies, Reels Trending Ads delivered an incremental 6.6 percentage point Ad Recall lift compared to control groups.
AI-Powered Shopping Enhancements
- Product Set Optimisation is now in testing, allowing retail media networks to promote specific products with detailed reporting. Early results show 17 per cent lower median seller cost per purchase.
- Product Showcase is being expanded so marketers can upload one image or video and let Meta’s AI automatically add relevant products as a carousel when it improves performance.
Meta is expanding its generative AI capabilities with:
- UGC-style videos featuring avatars and voiceovers
- Easier voiceover translation and text overlay translation in a single streamlined flow
- New tools to automatically turn product catalogues into dynamic video ads for Reels
Early testing of the Advantage+ creative video generation tool showed a 10 per cent increase in CTR and 8 per cent increase in CVR on average. Campaigns using catalog product video saw 20 per cent more conversions per dollar, while Reels placements with catalog product video delivered 33 per cent higher incremental conversions.
Industry voices welcomed the updates. Vikas Chawla of Social Beat called Partnership Ads a “flywheel” for authentic content that converts. Niti Kumar of Spark Foundry and Sadhvi Dhawan of Blink Digital highlighted the power of Reels Trending Ads for cultural relevance and guaranteed share of voice. Ramasish Bhowmik of Adbuffs noted that Meta’s GenAI tools are giving teams a clear competitive edge.
In a world where attention is fleeting but shopping intent can spark in seconds, Meta is betting that smarter AI will help brands turn discovery into decisions faster than ever. The message is clear: the future of advertising isn’t just about reaching people, it’s about reaching them at exactly the right moment, with exactly the right product.
