An Analysis Of 'The Forest Man Of India'

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"The Forest Man of India" is a television commercial launched by Prudential Investment Managers, a British investment management firm. The company was founded in London in 1848 to provide loans and life assurances to working people. Today Prudential has more than 5 million of customers and it focuses mainly on pensions, investments and savings. The commercial is setted in Assam, near the banks of the Brahmaputra River. It tells the inspiring story of Jadav Payeng, also named "the Forest Man of India". He grew up in an indigent family on Majuili island. When he was a child his entire village had been washed away by the river. At that very moment he decided that he wanted to do something to save his land. He began planting bamboos on one of his island's banks. For nearly four decades, Jadav kept on his work …show more content…

His lined face and his calloused hands are testament to a life of hard work on the land. The voiceover acquires a note of hope and resoluteness: "This is why he plants". This short sentence marks the beginning of a sequence of positive images, in complete opposition to the images of devastation provoqued by the river. The consequent shots are oriented to the protagonist, who travels across the river to implant tiny plants in the bleak and barren landscape. Day after day, the man sows and takes care of the seedlings he plants. "Some say 'what can a man do against the mighty river?'" continues the voice in a rethorical tone. It is clear that the undefined "some" are considered pessimist and too focused upon failure, rather than success. They qualify the river as "mighty", hence nothing can oppose it, expecially not "a man". "Well...", says the voice in an informal tone, "if he plants every day for 38 years, he can do quite a lot", concludes proudly. Here the euphemistic wording is adopted in order to remark the resounding success of "a man" who choosed to challenge the "mighty

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