The warden is reading "Project Muskan," while a bald, bespectacled gentleman sitting opposite her palpates the edge of a glass full of water. His crooked smirk tells of the game he is up to - demolish Muskan Anathalay and build a hotel in its site.

As the builder gets up to leave, one of the little boys who has seen and heard what was going on ventures to tell him some secret but is dissuaded by an older boy standing next to him.

But there is something about Muskan that no one knows, something that makes the warden and its inmates proudly nonchalant about Project Muskan, about its imminent demolition by Mr Chaukse.

Morning comes, and so does Chaukse with his henchmen to pull down the old building of Muskan. They start by removing the old board at the entrance that says "Muskan Anathalaya - A Ray of Hope." With a gesture of tacit arrogance, the orphans led by the warden look on as the ruthless builder gives his evil signal to his bulldozing friends.

But the first strike fizzles out; it only scares away a pigeon that, like the little boys and girls, has made Muskan its home. The smirk on Chaukse's face now turns into an expression of concern and disbelief. This time, too, the same little boy tries to tell him something but is again silenced.

What is it that he tries to communicate to the old man? Some untold story about Muskan?

And the second, third, fourth strikes… all go in vain. Frantic and confused, Chaukse cannot believe that the Muskan walls stand erect even after volleys of blows. Now the nameless little boy comes to his rescue. Pulling at his coat, the tiny tot tells him, "The same thing happened before - the walls didn't break."

Now, it is the inmates' turn to whoop it up. Chaukse has failed to steal Muskan from the children.

Review: One of the qualities of the ad is its dramatic rendition of the story. The tell-tale atmosphere it creates at the start is maintained till the climax. The characters of the builder and the warden act as a foil to each other: the apparently proud but essentially good warden is a perfect counterpart to the evil but ultimately foolish Mr Chaukse. In between them remains the little boy of the orphanage - innocent yet knowledgeable.

The script has been handled with finesse, and the background score lends filmy credibility to the story. It is filmy because it uses all the paraphernalia of movie making to tell a simple tale in a simple way. The tone and voice in which the message is conveyed at the end - Ambuja Cement - Yeh deewar nahi tutegi - adds to the overall theatricality of the film.

Agency: Grey Group
Production house: Ramesh Deo Productions
Running time: 60 seconds
ITV rating: * * * * *