You might have heard the saying “Jack of all trades and king of none”. Exceptions are always there, aren’t they? Here we have a man who truly is the jack of all trades and king of one; Advertising. He has done it all and done it with élan.
Juggling many hats at a time be it advertising, scuba diving, restauranteering or cigar making, he has aptly been called an Ad-hatter. Sporting his cowboy appearance with a degree of élan, Prahlad Kakkar maintains his characteristic - disheveled look carefully. His verve of non-conformism is in fact the core of his entire persona.
Fondly referred to as the ‘madman’ of the ad world, Prahlad today happens to be one of the most creative ad film makers the country has. As a graduate from Fergusson College, Pune, he started work in 1972, with filmmaker Shyam Benegal. His monthly income was Rs. 300, which he spent in setting up an office table at "Khatmal Niwas'' (the place was infested with bedbugs, therefore the name).
For six years, he assisted Benegal in making ad films and art films such as Ankur, Manthan, and Bhumika. He later went on to set up his own production house ‘Genesis’. Initially he accepted anything that came his way. The difference was in the way he presented those ads. With his words they were special, irreverent and over a period of time it became a style. Besides a hectic work schedule Kakkar manages a teahouse in Mumbai, runs a jazz club and trains people in scuba diving in his own school located in Lakshadweep.
Presently, he directs TV commercials, trains assistants and sets them up. He has no qualms about teaching youngsters his style. For Kakkar, being young at heart makes all the difference. Of all the ad filmmakers, Kakkar works for the youngest brands in the market - Pepsi, Kit Kat, Nestle, Maggie Sauces and many more. He believes that ‘To understand the young, you have to be young yourself’. And so he is. When asked where he gets all his energy from, he says, “Essentially I have never really worked a single day in my life. Combining a whole lot of fun and passion into my work days, makes my work much more interesting”. No prizes for guessing where all the ‘fun and passion’ goes. They don’t call him the Ad-guru for nothing.
He is the creator of endless ad campaigns that turned case studies overnight. He has tackled some of the major issues of advertising with ease and come out with flying colours. Celebrity advertising for instance is a very tricky proposition, especially if one is dealing with brand ambassadors like Bachchan and Tendulkar. Mainly because they have been done to death and are common among a whole gamut of brands. But Prahlad Kakkar has been able to deal with the issue with style.
The Navratna hair oil ad is a case in the point. The ad starts off with Bachchan talking about his career in the film industry and the highs and lows that he had to go through. And then the real anticlimax is when he says, that he could manage all this because of Navratna hair oil. The ad aims at amusing the audience and getting a laugh or two at its sheer innocence and in the process also establishes its utility as a stress reliever. The strategy here is essentially reverse branding, so instead of the brand introducing Bachchan, here it is Bachchan introducing the brand. Thus, the ad succeeds in highlighting the star power of Amitabh Bachchan without diminishing the importance of the brand.
Another ad which goes to show the creative genius of Kakkar is the Pepsi commercial where all the kids are wearing mask of Sachin Tendulkar, and while drinking their Pepsi, they start taking off their masks. They’re stunned with delight to see that one of them is actually Sachin Tendulkar. The idea was the brain child of Prahlad Kakkar. What made this ad unusual was that the kids were actually unaware of the fact that Sachin would show up behind one of the masks as Prahlad wanted a natural reaction of the kids. Also, the kids not being professional child actors and the village background gave a real feel to the ad.
With each such ad, Kakkar adds a new feather to his already loaded hat.
Success in the creative world lies in your ability to capture the simple, identifiable, everyday small things. And that’s what our ad-guru has always successfully done – mesmerised the audience with his simple yet captivating style.
- Pallavi Sud
Juggling many hats at a time be it advertising, scuba diving, restauranteering or cigar making, he has aptly been called an Ad-hatter. Sporting his cowboy appearance with a degree of élan, Prahlad Kakkar maintains his characteristic - disheveled look carefully. His verve of non-conformism is in fact the core of his entire persona.
Fondly referred to as the ‘madman’ of the ad world, Prahlad today happens to be one of the most creative ad film makers the country has. As a graduate from Fergusson College, Pune, he started work in 1972, with filmmaker Shyam Benegal. His monthly income was Rs. 300, which he spent in setting up an office table at "Khatmal Niwas'' (the place was infested with bedbugs, therefore the name).
For six years, he assisted Benegal in making ad films and art films such as Ankur, Manthan, and Bhumika. He later went on to set up his own production house ‘Genesis’. Initially he accepted anything that came his way. The difference was in the way he presented those ads. With his words they were special, irreverent and over a period of time it became a style. Besides a hectic work schedule Kakkar manages a teahouse in Mumbai, runs a jazz club and trains people in scuba diving in his own school located in Lakshadweep.
Presently, he directs TV commercials, trains assistants and sets them up. He has no qualms about teaching youngsters his style. For Kakkar, being young at heart makes all the difference. Of all the ad filmmakers, Kakkar works for the youngest brands in the market - Pepsi, Kit Kat, Nestle, Maggie Sauces and many more. He believes that ‘To understand the young, you have to be young yourself’. And so he is. When asked where he gets all his energy from, he says, “Essentially I have never really worked a single day in my life. Combining a whole lot of fun and passion into my work days, makes my work much more interesting”. No prizes for guessing where all the ‘fun and passion’ goes. They don’t call him the Ad-guru for nothing.
He is the creator of endless ad campaigns that turned case studies overnight. He has tackled some of the major issues of advertising with ease and come out with flying colours. Celebrity advertising for instance is a very tricky proposition, especially if one is dealing with brand ambassadors like Bachchan and Tendulkar. Mainly because they have been done to death and are common among a whole gamut of brands. But Prahlad Kakkar has been able to deal with the issue with style.
The Navratna hair oil ad is a case in the point. The ad starts off with Bachchan talking about his career in the film industry and the highs and lows that he had to go through. And then the real anticlimax is when he says, that he could manage all this because of Navratna hair oil. The ad aims at amusing the audience and getting a laugh or two at its sheer innocence and in the process also establishes its utility as a stress reliever. The strategy here is essentially reverse branding, so instead of the brand introducing Bachchan, here it is Bachchan introducing the brand. Thus, the ad succeeds in highlighting the star power of Amitabh Bachchan without diminishing the importance of the brand.
Another ad which goes to show the creative genius of Kakkar is the Pepsi commercial where all the kids are wearing mask of Sachin Tendulkar, and while drinking their Pepsi, they start taking off their masks. They’re stunned with delight to see that one of them is actually Sachin Tendulkar. The idea was the brain child of Prahlad Kakkar. What made this ad unusual was that the kids were actually unaware of the fact that Sachin would show up behind one of the masks as Prahlad wanted a natural reaction of the kids. Also, the kids not being professional child actors and the village background gave a real feel to the ad.
With each such ad, Kakkar adds a new feather to his already loaded hat.
Success in the creative world lies in your ability to capture the simple, identifiable, everyday small things. And that’s what our ad-guru has always successfully done – mesmerised the audience with his simple yet captivating style.
- Pallavi Sud
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