The Heartland Story — Twenty-five years of Bharat in idiom

Bharat is not nostalgia. It is the living, breathing centre of a billion stories — told in mother-tongues, sung at weddings, whispered in WhatsApp groups, performed at panchayats. To work with Bharat is not to translate it for India; it is to let Bharat speak in its own voice, in its own time.

For twenty-five years, the work has been this: to sit between the village and the boardroom, the temple and the timeline, the elder and the algorithm — and to find the line, the frame, the script that holds them all. Some call it advertising. Some call it brand-craft. We call it listening, then telling.

From Ogilvy and McCann to Ulka, JWT, and DDB Mudra. From category-defining FMCG to channel launches that became cultural events. From films for the nation's skill mission to campaigns for the police force that keeps a capital safe. The thread is one: stories that earn the right to be heard.

The Founder · The Heartland Story

$Devraj Tripathi$

Co-founder · Creative Director

Devraj Tripathi

25 years of advertising · scripting · brand-craft

For a quarter-century, Devraj has written, directed, and shaped some of the country's most-watched campaigns. From early years at TBWA and Euro RSCG — where he coined Deewana Bana De and worked on the Jassi Jaisi Koi Nahin phenomenon — to leading creative across Ogilvy, FCB Ulka, McCann Erickson, ADK Fortune, and DDB Mudra.

His work has lived on television, in cinemas, and on the lips of viewers across भारत — for Hutch/Vodafone, Dabur, Zee, Sony Max, Colors, Tata Salt, Skill India, NABARD, and many more. He helmed creative at Bhaav, the specialist healthcare agency, before co-founding The Heartland Story.

His training, tellingly, is not just in advertising. It is also in Modern History, in Journalism, and in Hindustani vocal music at Bhatkhande, Lucknow. Perhaps this is why the work always carries the राग and the राज of Bharat together.

Notable lines · coined & carried

Deewana Bana De SET Max · Euro RSCG · coined

Jassi Jaisi Koi Nahin Sony Entertainment · Euro RSCG · creative team

Honours & Recognitions

5 × Abby Hutch / Vodafone campaign
Shortlisted · Abby 'Look Alike' film, SET Max
Silver & Bronze · Mirchi Kaan Otrivin & BNHS
Featured in Campaign Asia Hutch campaign showcase

Education

M.A. Modern History University of Allahabad
PG Diploma · Journalism & Mass Communication University of Allahabad
JR Research Fellowship University of Allahabad
B.Music (Vocals) Bhatkhande University of Music, Lucknow

01 Ogilvy Where the David & Goliath sentences were learned — and the discipline of the long idea. The early years
02 McCann Truth, well told. A practice in scale and the global craft of campaign architecture. ·
03 FCB Ulka The Indian sensibility at full volume — where Bharat-thinking met mass-media muscle. ·
04 JWT Heritage brands, heritage craft. Where scripting became second nature. ·
05 DDB Mudra Influence at intersection — where digital first arrived as a serious idea, not a slide. ·
06 Bhaav Heading a specialist healthcare agency — the science of the body met the poetry of belief. As Head

01

Brand strategy & 360° solutions

From positioning and architecture to launch playbooks that travel across television, print, OOH, retail, and the open feed — built for Indian markets first.

02

Creative direction & scripting

Hand-written scripts for films, campaigns and brand chapters. The kind of writing that gets memorised, mimicked, and quoted at the chai stall.

03

Digital communication & social craft

Native-first thinking for the Indian internet. Reels that don't feel imported. Threads that earn the scroll. Campaigns built for vernacular speed.

04

Consulting & advisory

For founders, marketing leaders, government missions and institutions — sharp counsel on what to say, when, and to whom. Quietly, when needed.

05

Innovation & new formats

Format-bending work — branded content, long-form film, mission-led storytelling, AR/voice experiments where they earn their place in the brief.

06

Government & institutional storytelling

A specialist practice for ministries, missions and PSUs — translating policy into pride, scheme into story, intent into image.

A working sample, in placeholder form. Films and case studies will sit here — clickable, watchable, readable. Hover for the gist.

Some of the most rewarding work has been in service of the public good — for ministries, missions, public-sector undertakings and institutions building भारत. Translating policy into pride. Schemes into stories. Intent into image. Below, a selection.

01 Skill India Mission · Films
02 NABARD Rural Banking · Campaign
03 GAIL India PSU · Brand
04 Copper India Industry · Storytelling
05 Delhi Police Institutional · Public Trust
06 and more On request

Let’s begin

Have a story that
needs telling?

Brand chapters, films, campaigns, public-good missions, consulting mandates — the conversation begins with a single letter.

hello@theheartlandstory.in ↗ Read the philosophy ↗

Stories rooted in भारत. Spoken in the present.

A note on the heartland.

The voice behind the story.

Devraj Tripathi

A quarter-century, six classrooms.

What the practice covers.

Brand strategy & 360° solutions

Creative direction & scripting

Digital communication & social craft

Consulting & advisory

Innovation & new formats

Government & institutional storytelling

Campaigns, films, chapters.

A short, partial list.

Story, engineered.

Work for the nation.

Have a story that
needs telling?

A note on the heartland.

The voice behind the story.

Devraj Tripathi

A quarter-century, six classrooms.

What the practice covers.

Brand strategy & 360° solutions

Creative direction & scripting

Digital communication & social craft

Consulting & advisory

Innovation & new formats

Government & institutional storytelling

Campaigns, films, chapters.

A short, partial list.

Story, engineered.

Work for the nation.

Have a story that needs telling?

Have a story that
needs telling?