Metro Plus
Bangalore
Chennai
Hyderabad
Utterly butterly Dabholkar
|
Advertising or theatre, Bharat Dabholkar leaves a lasting impression
|
Metroplus caught up with `Amul-boy' Bharat Dabholkar for a short chat. Remember, the Amul ads that earned Dabholkar awards for Advertising Excellence, 14 years in a row. Even after 22 years in advertising, he is able to straddle both worlds (advertising and theatre) with ease. He has to his credit 25 plays brought out over a span of 18 years. These are testimony to his love for the stage. "Bottoms Up", in fact, had the longest run with over 400 shows.
"Bharat, tu Bharat ka `amul' ya `cheez' ho!" How do you react to such comments from people?
Bharat: Just as every show of Zakir has the audience shouting "Wah! huzoor..." the visual medium is powerful, and combine it with lines of mass-appeal. The result can be rewarding. Even if I was just penning the lines for Amul...people showered praises on me. This was more because Verghese Kurien, the director of Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation and the NDDB had given me a free-hand and said, "Lines that make sense are as important as lines that make a product sell."
Your association with Chennai...
I have wonderful memories of the city. I used to come here often when I worked with Rajiv Menon on several jingles. I had staged an English play here ("Tango goes to Heaven"). Veteran R. S. Manohar took care of the special effects. And most important, in the mid-1970s when MGR's flick "Unnai Vidamattein" was running to packed houses, I based my lines for an Amul ad which had MGR clinging to a packet of butter saying "Vennai Vidamattein." MGR wrote to Kurien asking for a print of the ad!
I also played the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu in "Baba". I got an opportunity to star with Rajnikanth, one of the most unassuming actors I've ever met.
Your favourite ads and theatre productions...
My theatre productions bridged the language gap and introduced Hinglish, which is people-friendly.
Some of Dabholkar's hits are Money Business, Funny Thing Called Love, Carry on Bombay, Last Tango in Heaven, and Good Night Baby Dino.
I've done ads for L'Oreal, Nestle, LIC, Bank of India, Tata Tea, Frooti, Born Tough, Rhino of Ceat.
RANJANI GOVIND
Printer friendly
page
Send this article to Friends by
E-Mail
Metro Plus
Bangalore
Chennai
Hyderabad
|
