The who’s who of the advertising world, the absolute luminaries have, at one point of time or the other, graced the offices of Rediffusion. The agency boasts of an alumni that resembles, in a manner of speaking, Akbar’s Navratnas. So, starting with this edition of The Fusionist, every once in a while, we will be showcasing one of the jewels in our crown. And the first one to be inducted in our Hall of Fame needs no introduction.
He is the highest common factor amongst iconic and evergreen campaigns like ‘Whenever you see colour, think of us’, ‘Red and White peene walon ki baat hi kucch aur hai’, ‘How young did your God die?’, ‘Do mistresses make major corporate decisions?’, ‘Is it bad to look good?’ and ‘Kholo dabao, brush pe lagao’, to name a few. And yet one who was more than happy with the lowest common designation of ‘Copywriter’. The man who has written over forty feature films, including Bollywood blockbusters such as Tezaab, Dil, Khalnayak, Saudagar, Chaalbaaz, Jalwa and Rang de Basanti. And re-written the rules of advertising and engagement, by being the first to practice buzz marketing when he got Bombay kaali peeli taxis to carry empty Bush TV cartons atop themselves and crisscross the length and breadth of the city!
He is the brains behind Karamchand and his carrot, and the driving force behind a host of popular TV shows such as Tara, Campus, Banegi Apni Baat, Close Up Antakshari, Philips Top Ten and the Zee Horror Show. Most of the time, when he did something, it was usually done for the first time. Like conceptualising a set of four serialised TV commercials with the same characters.
Poet. Writer. Screenwriter. Ad man. TV programming head. Hermit. Philosopher. Thinker. One man creative department. Meet the Pandey minus the pandemonium. The One. The Only. The Original.
Kamlesh Pandey
We doff our hats to you, sir, for everything you did for – and at – Rediffusion. May you keep rocking…