My life in Adville has largely been inspired by three mentors - Kersey Katrak, Subhash Ghoshal and Frank Simoes. To the irrepressible and unputdownable Katrak, Advertising was seduction; a backdrop where boring facts were made to pirouette as dazzling fiction to beguile both heart and head. To Ghoshal, it was a setting where serious academics and MBAs comfortably rubbed shoulders with grungry, edgy, eccentric creatives to produce advertising that worked in the mind and market place. To Simoes, it was style that startles even as it empowers with a gift of laughter and a definite sense that the world is mad! All three, however, were in total agreement of one fact: the need to have/develop a hobby/passion outside their work that was likely to provide fresh, insightful and interesting take on what they brought to the table.
In year 2013, does this enlightened thought, wash? In an insanely competitive environment, where stress and tension rules, where accounts and people-grabbing is no big deal and means justify the end, can this indulgence really be entertained? For the few of this "engendered species", is it increasingly becoming a problem to ride on two boats, lead a double life with equal passion and purpose?
Double-lives in ad-land, however, are not entirely a new phenomenon. The great Satyajit Ray started his masterpiece Pather Panchali while employed as an Art Director in the Kolkata-based D.J. Keymer, in the fifties. The Doyen of Film Critics, the late Chidananda Das Gupta [also my father-in-law, guys!] was involved in serious film writing all his life, despite his professional engagements as Servicing Head at D.J. Keymer and later Ad & P.R. Head of ITC, in the fifties-sixties. In Mumbai, Alyque Padamsee - Adland's Dorian Gray - continues doing his number on state. Earlier, Gerson & Sylvie Dacunha, Kersey Katrak, Roger Pereira, Ronnie Screwwala, Bharat Dabolkar and Sumit Roy did the same, with Avijit Dutt following suit in Delhi. Today the great Prasoon Joshi and Balki are red-hot in both Adbiz and B-town! So what's the score?
Appropriately the Big Daddy of this movement, Alyque Padamsee, is first off the block. "My life - as my first book indicated - has always pursued twin-passions, Theatre and Advertising. The first a hobby; the second, a profession that allowed me to earn a living and support my family. Over time one helped, collaborated and enriched the other. Theatre taught me teamwork and handling edgy, creative artistes, which was critical in Advertising. Advertising enabled me to enter new product/brand experiences every day, and taught me discipline and conciseness of thought. The mesmeric willful suspension of disbelief that defines great theatre also influences great advertising, because ultimately, the world is indeed a stage and we, the charismatic players." 35 year old Minnie Vyas dismisses this 'dramabazi' and brings in her own spin. Articulates the Creative Director of Quantum Communication, " Yeh sub tab chalta tha when the angrezi plays were a fashion statement - not now. Clients are looking for focused content substance and creative's that are result-specific and make a definite dent on the bottomline. In this dog-eats-dog world, those arty and self-indulgent types have no place unless they leverage it to guarantee the required results. Drama-shaama ghar mein karo...!" Strong words, huh? The son and heir of the Dacunha [& Amul] legacy, Rahul, begs to differ. "For me, theatre has always helped my ad life - and vice versa. The passion overlaps. I try and maintain my desire to understand audiences while working in both these media. Would not be able to do one without the other." Padamsee agrees and states that if ever he were to immigrate from his beloved motherland "it would be when - like Zia-ul-Haq's infamous diktat of banning all artistic endeavours in Pakistan - the same happens here!" Presently he is busy reviving the Arthur Miller classic, Death of a Salesman.
Young lyricist, composer and singer Abhijit [who, with his partner Ashutosh, has a band, Under the Influence] also holds down a responsible job as Associate Creative Director, Ogilvy, Mumbai, is up next. The popular Rockstar believes that it is clearly about time-management. One need not disturb or hi-jack the other if the love and passion for both is equal. "For me, they are two different zones and music provides me huge enrichment because it is not client-driven, nor does it touch any areas dealing with conventional market-forces. It is totally individualistic and a subjective form of self-expression that is hugely inspirational and satisfying as it leaps from the heart seeking resonance in another." Ashish Narendra disagrees. The 45 year old Creative Consultant believes "its become a fashion and a fad for kids to sling along a guitar - with their laptops - to increase their hot quotient amongst peers. Sure, it gets attention, but excuse me, you are paid for your damn work, not gaana or nautanki, okay? How does it help?"
So were Katrak, Ghosh and Simoes wrong? If Alyque, Rahul, Abhijit - and especially Prasoon or Balki - are anything to go by, one can double-life it successfully, cool n' easy. Only - like in a solid, happy relationship or marriage - keep them apart!
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