Sabhyata’s new Diwali film is not asking viewers to buy a kurta. It is asking why an independent working woman is welcomed as a customer but treated as a risk by some housing societies.
The campaign
Sabhyata has launched “Ghar Aayi Lakshmi”, a four-minute digital film for Diwali 2026. It stars Seema Pahwa and Mahathi Ramesh and is written and directed by Manish Sharma of P से Picture. The brand has not named an advertising agency in the source.
- Film: Ghar Aayi Lakshmi, four minutes
- Cast: Seema Pahwa and Mahathi Ramesh
- Writer-director: Manish Sharma, P से Picture
Co-founders Anil Arora and Pankaj Anand describe the effort as part of Sabhyata’s vision of women who live with “grace, pride, and the ability to choose their own path.”
What the film says and how
The film uses Diwali’s most familiar ritual—welcoming Goddess Lakshmi into the home—and turns it toward an everyday rental-market barrier. It questions the informal “families only” rule that some landlords and housing societies use to keep single working women out.
Rather than staging an overt confrontation, the story lets an ordinary housing conversation carry the tension. Manish Sharma says the team explored bias through “an everyday situation rather than an overt confrontation.”
For scale, Sabhyata points to the 2011 Census, which counted roughly 72 million single women in India. The statistic gives the film’s housing critique a wider social frame.
The response so far
The source reports the campaign’s early resonance through brand statements rather than view counts or independent audience data. Sabhyata is framing “Ghar Aayi Lakshmi” as a continuation of its Diwali purpose work.
Head of marketing Chayan Verma says the 2024 film called on workplaces to be more welcoming of mothers. This year the appeal is directed at homes and cities. An independent woman who can pay her rent, he argues, is “not a threat just because she is living by herself.”
The category context
This is Sabhyata’s fifth Diwali campaign since 2018. The 2024 edition focused on mothers at work; the 2026 film shifts the focus to housing and women living independently. The brand sells women’s ethnic wear through more than 130 stores across 35-plus cities and 25-plus states.
Diwali advertising often leans on family reunion and product moments. Sabhyata is using the same occasion to name a structural bias, which can make the film stand out while raising the stakes for follow-through.
What to watch next
The key question is whether the conversation converts into action. Sabhyata has not announced rental-market partnerships or policy work in the source, but the film gives the brand a clear issue to extend beyond Diwali.
Watch for whether other festive advertisers take up housing access, and whether Sabhyata pairs the film with practical tools for single women renters.
Watch the original: Sabhyata on YouTube
Source: Afaqs!
