India is a land rich in languages. Hundreds of languages and dialects co-exist, some of them spoken by only a few hundred people. While it’s not unusual for several different languages to be spoken in one country, India is fairly uncommon not only because of our languages but also our diversity. 

Hindi is one of the most widely spoken languages in the world. The influence and importance of the Hindi language have been strong enough that people have started to study it in various countries all over the world. LinkedIn, the world’s largest professional network, marked a new milestone with the launch of Hindi, the first Indian regional language on LinkedIn, with the goal to support 600 million Hindi language speakers globally. The traction Hindi has gotten on social media platforms is tremendous, and adoptability of Hindi over the Internet has proven to be empowering.

After a significant success of our award-winning campaign in 2020, Amar Ujala launched the second edition of our resoundingly successful campaign Hindi Hain Hum. Being a leading Hindi newspaper, we took this initiative to enhance the glory and pride of the Hindi language and re-emphasise its essence and the high cultural, literary, practical, and everyday value it holds in our lives and in our territory. 

The campaign was launched six weeks before Hindi Diwas (Day), celebrated each year on September 14. On this day in 1949, the Constituent Assembly of India adopted Hindi, written in Devanagri script, as the official language of the Republic of India. The promotional elements — online and offline — included print ads and social media engagement, as well as news articles emphasising the glorious history of the language and its key contributors and educating the readers on Hindi literature.

Calling all budding filmmakers

To bring in some creativity in the second season of the campaign, Amar Ujala introduced its Short Film competition, where aspiring filmmakers shared a two-minute film about their love for Hindi language, portraying its essence and beauty.

The competition was a success with over 1,000 incredible films received, reflecting high interest generation amongst the target audience and achieving the overall objective. The entries were scanned at three levels before they were shared with the jury, consisting of a senior media personality, a filmmaker, a film appreciation expert, along with Amar Ujala board member.

The top six winners of the competition were rewarded with prize money and mementos; the Best Short Film was awarded INR 5 Lakhs (approximately US$6,562) and the other five winners received INR 1 lakh each (approximately US$1,312). The top six short films were screened at the felicitation ceremony and premiered on the official YouTube channel of Amar Ujala.

Celebrating the language

Apart from Short Film competition, our audience engagement initiative also included the requested submission of 30-second videos in Hindi either reciting a poem, singing their favourite song, reading from their most loved book or an article from the newspaper or performing stand-up comedy. Winners were announced on weekly basis and awarded cash prizes.

The stellar participation results cemented our belief that Hindi is a language in which we dream, as it gives life to our emotions and adds soul to our expressions. Such expressions and love are beautifully depicted in the outstanding films. Just like English binds the world together, Hindi in our country is a bridge that connects people.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .