Plumbing is one of India’s most essential yet underdeveloped trades. At the time of making this film in 2019, less than five percent of India’s 487 million workers had received any formal skills training, and in the plumbing sector alone, nearly eight lakh people were employed, of which almost 90 percent were untrained. This gap had resulted in low employability, poor job satisfaction, and a lack of dignity of labor for thousands of young workers.
As a leader in water management solutions, Ashirvad Pipes saw an opportunity to address this skills gap as part of its commitment to corporate social responsibility. The company launched the Ashirvad Plumbing School - a one-of-its-kind, Gurukul-style institution offering practical training, technical knowledge, and holistic personality development for aspiring plumbing engineers. Designed to uplift the profession and create sustainable livelihood opportunities, the initiative aligned business expertise with social impact.
In its initial years, the school had already completed five batches, trained 154 plumbing engineers, and facilitated placements in leading companies such as Sobha, Shapoorji Pallonji, and Prestige.
Ashirvad approached us with a clear brief: create a film that captures the essence of this pioneering CSR initiative. But more than that, the brand wanted a narrative that would humanize the school’s impact and go beyond the expected CSR reel. The challenge lay in making the story resonate with diverse stakeholders while staying authentic and aspirational. We needed to create a piece that was both a compelling human story and a credible representation of Ashirvad’s commitment to the plumbing ecosystem.
Our solution was to transform this institutional success story into a deeply human one. We began by conducting in‑depth pre‑interviews with several students and alumni, uncovering the personal stories that best reflected the school’s transformative impact. Through this process, we identified Sunil and Siva as the strongest voices to bring the narrative to life. Sunil, an engineering graduate who struggled to find meaningful employment, and Siva, a BCom graduate who had drifted through multiple unsatisfying jobs, embodied the aspirations of thousands of young Indians seeking dignity and growth in their careers. Their journeys became the emotional core of the film, taking viewers on a before‑and‑after journey - from career dissatisfaction to newfound purpose and opportunity.
To balance this emotional storytelling with authority, we featured Rajiv Pandya, CFO of Ashirvad Pipes, who articulated the vision behind the Plumbing School and the company’s commitment to uplifting the trade. We complemented these narratives with on‑ground visuals of the school’s infrastructure, hands-on training sessions, and interactive classrooms, bringing the Gurukul‑style approach to life on screen. The film interwove these human stories with compelling statistics, creating a narrative that was both emotionally resonant and anchored in measurable impact.
The film successfully delivered on two fronts - engaging audiences emotionally through real student journeys while simultaneously meeting the needs of corporate storytelling with clarity and credibility. The project resulted in a 3.5 minute film used across digital platforms and offline presentations to communicate the Ashirvad Plumbing School initiative. It documented the school’s early milestones - five batches completed, 154 plumbing engineers trained, and placements in leading companies - providing a clear, data‑driven snapshot of the program’s scale and purpose.