What Piyush Pandey taught us about short-form storytelling

Piyush Pandey wrote some of the best ads for sure, but through them he taught India to hear itself.

The Cadbury girl running onto a cricket field, Fevicol’s wry universe that felt like our neighbors, public service films that sounded like an elder at home giving sensible advice. His legacy sits in a simple idea that is tough to execute every single day which is…

speak human, stay local, sell with feeling.

This is the energy we want to bring into short form, as a working playbook you can use the next time you open your camera to record a video.

Start with one strong line

The kind you would repeat without rolling your eyes. Write it, say it out loud, then make every shot serve that line. In the video world you have two seconds to win attention, so make best use of that line. Keep it plain, not clever for the sake of clever. For example “Messy desk, calmer brain in sixty seconds” is better than a paragraph about productivity. If your draft sounds like an essay, cut it down until it sounds like a person.

Lead with feeling, not features

Piyush Pandey’s best work made you feel something before it made you notice the product, which is exactly how attention works on a tiny screen. Open on a face, a small situation, a slice of life. Two quick beats of emotion, then the reveal of what helps, a last beat that proves it works, and you are done! When you find yourself explaining, you are already losing.

Show the moment, let the product resolve it and keep it moving.

Write in your audience’s rhythm

He wrote in the music of everyday speech, which is why lines traveled. Listen to how your community talks in comments and DMs, then script in that rhythm. Short sentences, one idea per line. Read it like you are talking to a friend on a call, not like you are presenting to a boardroom.

You will know it is right when the words feel like they came from your people first and from you second.

Cast real, not perfect

Ordinary people make extraordinary memory because we believe them.

Film in the light you actually live in, with rooms that look used, and clothes that you would actually wear and be comfortable in. If you do feature people, include age and body diversity without announcing it blaringly. Try and keep one imperfect moment in the edit, like a fumble, a half laugh, a cat walking through frame. That small human moment becomes the trust hook that separates your reel/video from a generic brand video.

Build a tiny world you can return to

The classics landed but they also returned and grew. Pick a repeatable setup that your audience can recognize in a second, the quirky mug on your desk, the window at four in the afternoon bringing in golden sunshine, your car, the corner of your room, or a favourite couch. Come back to it every week with new videos. Familiarity is key. When viewers know where they are in the first second, they settle in and listen to what is new.

Make the product the punchline

Humour is not a separate act, it should be how the solution arrives. Set up a small problem, let the product solve it in a way that surprises a little, then cut before you over explain. The fastest way to clean an edit is to ask what happens if you remove one sentence. If the meaning stays, remove it. Shorter almost always lands stronger.

Leave a line behind

Memory lives in language, and Pandey’s lines traveled because people wanted to repeat them. End your reel with a sentence your viewers can comment with or duet on. When the comments start repeating the line back to you, you know you are building something that can live beyond one post.

An example is the style in which the influencer Satshya says ‘easy!’ at the end of each video. She now has viewers saying it too or commenting it! Or popular creator Dr. Falguni Vasavada saying ‘ting ting ting ting’ in a sing song voice at the end of every video. Such little lines are not random. They build recall.

So today, let’s keep it simple? Put your phone on the table, breathe, and speak one honest line to someone you love. Press record without fuss. Make something you can stand next to a year from now with your name on it. Post it for the legacy Piyush Pandey left us with and for the people who still listen with their hearts.