Earlier this year I stumbled on this skilled spot of street art, tucked away on a stair well in Haus Khaz Village complex in Delhi. On reflection I mused – not only was it undeniably hip – but also drew relevantly on the prolific costumed capers and adaptive character of it’s inspiration: the iconic Air India maharajah.
I was transported back to airline’s posters which I’d been in awe of as a child travelling to India. Was there any location where the maharajah didn’t feel at ease? Wasn’t he a great host, buddy, traveller – with elegant charm and worldly wit? A bit of digging round proved him to be the brainchild of in-house commercial director Bobby Kooka and illustrator Umesh Rao of JWT in 1946, way back when Air India was Tata Airlines. Initially their character was merely destined for an inflight memo pad, though he clearly had his sights on riding more than paper planes. Impressively the maharajah did not remain grounded as a static image as many brand front-figures of the day – but jetted zealously round the globe in dynamic and debonair style.
The maharajah still continues to make appearances – though he doesn’t seem to get up to quite his old high-flying hijinks, he’s not looking bad for 65! Great to see that at the hands of Delhi street artists, he still manages to show folks that he can spin it grand style.
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Brand Polarities
Busy times as I throw myself across India on projects in Bangalore and Delhi – so a quick post more randomly orbital than usual. The good folk at Idiom Design in Bangalore just sent me this poster, featuring yours truly, which they remixed for an event during last week’s DREAM:IN Conclave. Although the summit was generally focused on more noble pursuits – socialising in the evenings was spiced up with various interventions to get participants interacting. If I ever had Bollywood aspirations these past years, working in and out of Mumbai, it seems like I’ve finally achieved them here. And given that I’m atop Ameer Haque, vice president of Ogilvy & Mather, Bangalore – perhaps I’ve made it in the Indian advertising world as well?!
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The latest Bollywood box-office hit 3 Idiots takes a light-hearted but relevant stab at stereotypical Indian attitudes of education, status and success. The endearing comedy has become the highest grossing national film to date while breaking records for an Indian cinema release in the US, Australia, South Africa and beyond. Noteworthy has been its sustained national marketing strategy which has included online gaming, social media engagement, collaboration with prominent retail chain Pantaloon and the use of its
All is Well theme song by insurance giant Reliance.
I was intrigued by the less lofty and more streetwise use of advertising space on the back of rickshaws across the country – in the form of a sticker which promoted the film while playfully affirming the taxis’ legal capacity of three passengers.
Those who have watched the film already will know that its lead trio are far from idiots. And neither were its marketers who had their workers apply the stickers at petrol pumps – the only place where rickshaws come together between serving the far reaches of urban locales. The drivers had no idea of the nature of the upcoming film but the one pictured above told me that when they mentioned it featured Amir Khan in a comic role that he knew it would be a winner.
Given its spirited celebration of improvised ingenuity, challenging authority and following one’s passions – all packaged in an accessible format for mainstream Indian audiences –
the film definitely fires at full capacity.
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Bollywood Poster-wallahs
Backview Bollywood (Flickr)
Last week I went in search of the handful of Bollywood poster wholesalers at the somewhat obscure Tilak market near Grant Rd Station in Mumbai. These dealers stock posters of the latest films for advertising use by movie distributors, large and small cinemas and a growing number of small DVD projection halls in villages and slums across the state. They also store a selection of older posters printed from hand-painted originals – though this is very much a secondary trade to their bustling wholesale enterprise.
Abid Hussain Vora is 78 years old and originally came to Mumbai from Bhopal in the hope of becoming a movie actor. Instead he got into film production and later started his movie poster business. Like mine, his all time favourite Bollywood film is Mughal-e-Azam (1960).
Rajesh Vora is the most recent in three generations of poster sellers encompassing 65 years of trade. His grandfather, the late Amrat Lal Vora, used to extract the silver from black & white film strips and later set up their poster business. His father, Chandra Kant Vora, notes that the film industry gives so much to this city and that his enterprise is a “soni ka line” (golden job). His favourite film is Naya Daur (1957).
Mansoor Ali Hussain, now in his 60s, was obsessed with film photos as a child but could not then afford to attend movies. Instead he chose this line which now also employs his son. His favourite film is Sholay (1975).
Today I headed to Chor Bazaar (Thieves Market) to seek out dealers of older, collectable posters. Abu Khan is the youngest in a line of antique traders who have done business here since the late 1800s. They buy posters and other Bollywood ephemera from auction and collectors. His favourite film is Aradhana (1969).
Lastly I enjoyed a fabulous visit to Shahid Mansoori’s shop that I have been frequenting on trips to Mumbai since childhood. At 55 he is the third generation of his family to work at Chor Bazaar. As a child he collected Bollywood images that came with chocolates and ice-creams and later this evolved into frequenting auctions, purchasing from collectors and scooping up the remains from rural cinema closures. Eventually he heeded the advice of friends to start a business and he now has 40 people sourcing items for him across the nation. His son, Wahid, is currently collating material for an upcoming exhibition in France. Mr. Mansoori’s favourite film is Nishant (1975).
Related articles:
Viva Vernacular
A Closet Full of Bollywood (Hindustan Times)
And if Bollywood kitsch is your thing you’ll probably also enjoy
my Backview Bollywood set on Flickr.
The Moro Fourth Best Advertisment by New Zealand’s DDB wittily champions losers and brings to mind the recent dig by San Francisco’s Pizzeria Delfina (via PSFK) who had their staff wear t-shirts which showcased unpopular, 1-star online reviews from the social media review site Yelp!
As we become jaded by persuasive advertising – do these examples appeal to our questioning of the dominant models defining success?
A couple of years back, while teaching design at the National Institute of Design (NID) in India, I carried out a study on the visual marketing of Coca Cola for the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT). Viewing Coke’s journey through the lens of glocalisation, I explored notions of branding as a site of negotiation between global business interests and local cultures.
You can download the Glocal Cola PDF (2MB) containing a significant part of the research or if you prefer just looking at pictures you can check out my Cola Collection on Flickr.
