DOUBLE
ROLE IN ADVILLE … ENRICHING OR DISTRACTION?
DOES A DOUBLE LIFE IN ADLAND WORK AS
HELP OR HINDRANCE? 4Ps B&M MONOJIT LAHIRI PROBES THIS SELDOM EXPLORED SPACE
My life in Ad-ville
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 &
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 over one fact: the need to have or
develop a hobby or passion outside their work that was likely to
provide fresh, insightful and interesting takes on what they brought
to the table.
In
year 2012, 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” (on the other side),
is it increasingly becoming a problem to ride on two boats, lead a
double life with equal passion and purpose?
Double
lives in Adland, however, are not entirely a new phenomenon. The
great Satyajit Ray started his master-piece Pather Panchali
while employed as an Art Director in the Kolkata-based D.J. Keymer,
in the fifties. The doyen of film crities, the late Chidananda Das
Gupta (also my dad-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 & PR Head of ITC, in the fifties and sixties. In Mumbai,
Alyque Padamsee – Adland's Dorian Gray – continues doing his
number as celeb director/actor on stage. Earlier, Gerson and Sylvie
Dacunha, Kersey Katrak, Roger Pereira, Ronnie Screwvala, Bharat
Dabholkar and Sumit Roy did the same, with Avijit Dutt following suit
in Dealhi. 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, as also taught me discipline
and conciseness of thought. The mesmeric wilful suspension of
disbelief that defines great theatre also influences great
advertising, because ultimately, the world in indeed a stage, and we
charismatic players,” he tells 4Ps B&M.
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 creatives 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. Dramashaama ghar mein
karo...!” Strong words? The
son and heir of the Dacunha (and Amul)
legacy, Rahul, begs to differ. “For me, theatre has always helped
my ad life – and vice versa. The passion overlaps. I try and
miantain my desire to understand audiences while working in both
these media. Would not be able to do one without the other,” says
Decunha. Padamsee agres and states that if ever he were to emigrate
from his beloved motherland “it would be if and when something like
Zia-ul-Haq's infamous diktat of baning all artistic endeavours in
Pakistan 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)
and also holds down a responsible job (Associate Creative
Director, Ogilvy, Mumbai) is up
next. He believes that it is clearly about time management. One need
not disturb or hijack 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,” says Abhijit. Ashish Narendra
disagrees. The 45-year-old Creative Consulting believes “it's
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 and Balki, as heavy-duty, respected, and
successful Bollywood-driven
creative professionals and achievers – are anything to go by, one
can definitely double-life it successfully, cool n' easy. Only, a
word of caution – like in a solid happy relationship or marriage –
keep them apart!
