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In 1984, Ridley Scott, the director of the cult movie Blade Runner, was approached by Apple’s ad agency Chiat Day to make a television commercial. “We want to take on the mighty IBM, reposition them as clunky and outdated”. Steve Jobs, the client, had approved a 60 sec script idea, using George Orwell’s book 1984, to suggest that the real computer had arrived. The spot was to be aired during the Super Bowl. Known for his extravagance, Scott built a huge set, cast 100 skinheads and made history, spending $900,000. The TVC ran just twice, successfully de-stabilising ‘The Big Brother’. Ridley Scott was asked, how he approached TV ads, considering he flip- flopped between the ‘sixty second’ format and spectacular cinemascope.
As an ad guy, I have often danced on the edges of making a feature film, but always stopped short. Perhaps the sheer magnitude of the task ahead has been too daunting. An entry into Bollywood needs passion, astonishing patience, pots of money, an open minded producer, and a Pied Piper-esque ability to pull a bunch of experts along to realise your vision.
Some of my favourite Hindi films over the last few years - Vicky Donor, Piku, Cheeni Kum, Lucky Oye Oye Lucky, Khosla ka Ghosla, Airlift and Neerja, share one thing. They’ve all been made by advertising men.
Shoojit Sircar, R Balki, Dibakar Banerjee, Raja Menon and Ram Madhvani have all either dabbled, directed or are still knee deep in advertising and ad film making, between writing their screenplays and shooting their stories.
Shoojit Sircar, made ads till he finally put the finances together to make his first feature. But it was the later Vicky Donor that placed him on the Bollywood map. And the Deepika/Bachchan starrer Piku confirmed it. What stands out, for cinema-goers, is the uniqueness of his stories and the fullness of his characters.
Raja Menon, director of the epic Airlift is very clear in his demarcation between the relative skills required for the two formats.
Ram Madhvani, undoubtedly one of India’s top advertising directors, saw a very distinct similarity on how he approaches the two media.
Whether it’s his recent hit Neerja or the award winning Happydent advert, it is still essential to answer three vital questions, he says categorically –
Dibakar Banerjee, straddles all kinds of cinema. It was his debut in the 2006 film Khosla Ka Ghosla that gave him cult status.
One thing is clear with all five of these men – their Bollywood feature films have a cosmetically crafted feel about them that has come from their years of advertising filmmaking. The detailing is spot on. Which brings us to the issue of product placement in cinema. Clever marketers realising the huge potential of this. Badly done it looks like an obvious addition for commercial purposes. Subtly done, like where Shoojit Sircar places a Tetrapack of milk, in a Piku breakfast scene, is pretty seamless.
Dibakar’s final comment to me sums up the whole issue of the medium in all its avatars,
(Rahul DaCunha balances his life between advertising, theatre and his two cats. He’s on Twitter @RahuldaCunha)
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