22feet and McCann India bring Godawan’s Great Indian Bustard story to life by hand

Godawan has always been built around an idea larger than whisky. Born in Rajasthan and named after the Great Indian Bustard, the brand has used its platform to bring attention to the region’s wildlife, craft, culture and the people working to preserve them. That purpose has meant supporting the bird’s revival, and this year, for World Wildlife Week, the brand is telling that story through The Godawan, a handcrafted stop motion film about the bird itself.

Since 2022, Godawan’s conservation journey has taken many forms. In 2023, Godawan 100 marked the milestone rise in numbers to 100 birds. In 2024, Durbar was created as a platform to celebrate and experience Rajasthan’s culture, music, food and craft. In 2025, Godawan 173: The Collector’s Edition marked the next milestone: the bird’s population increase through 173 individually crafted bottles inspired by Jaipur Blue Pottery, connecting the bird’s story to a fragile local craft and the artisans sustaining it. On World Environment Day earlier this year, the bird’s revival story was projected onto the Qutub Minar in a stunning display.

Now, the story comes alive in this short film. In an age of instant creation, every frame of The Godawan carries the mark of a human hand, and the medium lets Godawan bring together everything the brand champions: purpose, conservation, craftsmanship and Rajasthan.

The filmmaking followed the same philosophy. Created by 22feet and McCann India, both part of Omnicom Advertising India, in collaboration with Studio Eeksaurus, one of India’s most awarded animation studios, the film combines handcrafted stop-motion, 2D animation, and live action, with more than 100 artists and craftspeople contributing to its creation. Its visual world was built from more than 5,200 individual ceramic pieces, inspired by Jaipur Blue Pottery. Every ceramic composition was physically made, arranged and photographed by hand, making patience and care as much a part of the process as they are of the conservation story.

The music, too, belongs to the bird’s landscape. Created by Oscar-winning sound designer Resul Pookutty, Grammy-winning percussionist Taufiq Qureshi, and national award winner Rajat Dholakia, the score draws from Rajasthani folk traditions and regional instruments including the Ravanahatha and Morchang.

“Our support for the Godawan’s conservation goes back years, and seeing a purpose we have believed in for so long come to life has been incredible. We have commemorated the bird’s journey in many ways over the years, but this is perhaps the most exciting way yet, through a film that brings together conservation, craft, culture and storytelling. At a time when almost anything can be created in seconds, we chose to take the time to make this by hand. That human touch is what this story of conservation needed,” said Ruchira Jaitly, Chief Marketing Officer, Diageo India.

“The moment I heard the story of the Godawan, I knew nothing could stop us from making it. There was a cause, an art form on the edge of disappearing, and a bird almost nobody had seen. We may never make another film quite this way again. The time it took, the ceramics, the filmmaking process, all of it was built for this one story, and it asked for patience at every step, the same patience it takes to protect an egg or rebuild a population,” said Suresh Eriyat, Co-Founder and Director, Studio Eeksaurus.

Rahul Mathew, Chief Creative Officer, McCann India, said: “We’ve heard the adage ‘It takes a village to raise a child’. It’s especially true when it comes to conservation of the Godawan. Which is why, along with supporting the conservation, Diageo is also supporting the artisans of the region and their craft. And we knew that to tell a story about their craft, we had to make sure it was one that used great craft. To tell the story of the Godawan and its conservation using the medium of Jaipur Blue Pottery was painstaking, but also very rewarding. Much like the conservation itself.”

Every part of the process that spanned over eight months, from the story and music to the art and post-production, was made in India, by Indian hands, to share the story of the Great Indian Bustard.