I wish I had made these
?There are hundreds of ads that I wish I had done. And perhaps, if the combinations were right (insightful idea, intelligent client, less layers) I would have. Unfortunately, ?if? is a complicated word,? says Bodhisatwa Dasgupta, associate creative director, Grey India.
?To narrow things down, the first Indian ad that I absolutely love is Happy Dent ? City of Light. I have a weak spot for the slightly bizarre, and this hyperbole is at its executional best,? he says.
The second ad is a more recent one ? ?He?s always on Facebook?. ?I?ve written plays before, and this is one film/ jingle I would have had a fun time writing,? he adds.
Thank god, it isn?t me
According to Dasgupta, naming the two ads he dislikes is hard because the standard of Indian advertising has upped spectacularly. ?Ideas that used to be done purely for awards before are now being bought by clients all over India. As a race, I?d say we?ve smartened up. Having said that, a few of us haven?t. The guys at Lancers International, for example. I feel like killing myself in the most painful ways when I hear their radio commercials. Perhaps it?s the accent, perhaps it?s the concept of kids talking like kids gone bad in America. I don?t know,? he says.
?The second one I remember choking over some pretty decent mutton was the ?Nissan Sunny?Caaaar? commercial. It?s not that I don?t understand the idea, I do. It?s a bigger car, hence the stretched word. But sometimes, a film that sounds incredibly funny at a meeting looks awkward after it is shot. Fact,? he says.
My first ad
Dasgupta’s first ever big campaign was the Sprite?s ?Univer-sity of Freshology? campaign that happened early last year. ?Sprite wanted to own ?freshness? but take it to another level completely. Although the core idea was cracked by the very talented duo, Saumya and Kartik, my art partner and me had a really fun time doing a couple of films and the print campaign. Nothing to write home about perhaps, but decent work, I?d say,? he says.
Bodhisatwa Dasgupta currently works as assistant creative director, Grey India, and is based out of its Delhi office. He has worked with agencies such as Bates, Ogilvy India (first time in 2006) and Rediffusion Y&R for about 11 months and then moved back to Ogilvy as creative controller copy. His portfolio includes brands such as Motorola, HTC, Honda, Sprite, Limca, Wildstone, Bacardi, Fujifilm, National Geographic, among others.
His biggest career highlight has been the Longhand competition he created which had judges such as Indra Sinha, Neil French, Ashish Chakravarty, Satbir Singh and Nima Namchu. The aim of the competition was to revive ‘long copy’ ads.
?I don?t think anything I?ve done in my eight years of advertising has created so much of impact as Longhand did. At one point, when my inbox had just one entry from an eager participant, I told Neil French in jest that in the worst case scenario, I?d have to write two more entries myself, and award all of them gold, silver and bronze. Thankfully, it didn?t come to that. The judges I had on board were terrific,? he says. He plans to have another Longhand competition soon.