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Noticed in 30 seconds

A. K. Vinod's commercials are refreshingly different and have won him many awards. K.PRADEEP talks to him about his creative ways

PHOTO: H. VIBHU

VISUAL IMPACT A. K. Vinod the award-winning ad-filmmaker and frames from some of his works

The scooter slows down and the hitchhiker promptly perches himself behind the driver. He then begins to bluster in that typical Thiruvananthapuram slang. Irritatingly, he asks the helmeted driver to move a bit forward to give him more space, orders him to drive faster, pulls down the collar of his shirt to check the brand and finally gets off with a huge smile. The harried driver is left to seriously think of finding a second-hand car to escape such travails... .

This is one in a series of television commercials for a classifieds column of a vernacular daily. This series, which went on to win a clutch of awards, has catapulted A. K. Vinod to one of the hottest filmmakers in the business today. And it took this Kochi-based filmmaker hardly four years to establish himself in a cruelly competitive business.

Mumbai stint

But in the beginning it was a real grind. Vinod worked for two established advertising firms in Kochi, basically involved in client servicing. Though it did provide him the early lessons in advertising and help build contacts he found it reaching a point of saturation. "I fled to Mumbai with no particular aim in mind. Wandering around for some time hunting for another job was what I did there. Then when funds drained out I went back to advertising, as that was the only job I knew. But I went around trying to land a job in filmmaking, perhaps in conceptualising. It did not work. I was fortunate to have a couple of friends there, like Uttam, my mentor in advertising, Radhakrishnan, an excellent photographer and filmmaker, whom I knew from Kochi. They were always inspiring to do creative work," says Vinod.

Returning to Kochi, Vinod started Virtual Eye (V Eye), which was primarily involved in communication solutions before specialising in making commercials. "All the work I put up in client servicing helped. It helped to understand the client, the product and their communication requirements in their perspective. I ventured into making films on my own. The first work, a commercial for a marble and granite company was a different one in that category."

Commercial break

The commercial that really `changed' his career was the one for a fairness cream. "That one, for Kaveri, which went on to be dubbed in other South Indian languages, is still beamed these days. We worked on the concept of a girl transformed into a beauty and the change in the attitude of the people around after using the product. The catchword was `enthoru change,' and it clicked."

The offers began to flow and Vinod went on to make some eye-catching commercials. "Ad-filmmaking is all about finding your way through a visual maze, standing up and being noticed in just 30 seconds or lesser than that. I was fortunate to work with some excellent creative people of some good advertising agencies. Some great cinematographers and technicians work for my films. Above all, a consistent and hardworking team, who pursue any length to achieve the desired results. A good commercial is the output of the convergence of a great deal of talents. The script and basic idea comes from the agency. Once we get the brief we have detailed discussions to decide how to treat the script and how to go about shooting it. We also add inputs during the course of filming."

Some of Vinod's commercials that have caught the eye are the ones with Mohanlal for Pankajakasturi, the very subtle ones for the D.C. Books dictionary, the series on Malayala Manorama classifieds, the twisty Kalyan jam ad etc. "Traditional ways of reaching the consumers, through the 30-second on television spot, is fast losing its power to persuade. The growing challenge is to effectively communicate within shorter durations. Now commercials are expected not just to deliver a message, but even entertain consumers. A consistent evolution is taking place and to survive one must be able to make effective changes. This is a creative challenge. The harping commercials have made way for subtle ones, with the message coming out productively."

The dictionary commercial is one of Vinod's favourites. With a brilliantly shot visual of a cock chasing a petrified hen, the filmmaker states that this, in the English language is referred to as `molest.' Browse through D. C. Books dictionary if you want to know the Malayalam equivalent for this word. Then there is another one where a politician is seen spitting fire and brimstone, but conveying nothing. The English word for this is `blah-blah,' search for the Malayalam word for this in the dictionary.

The brilliantly subtle commercial series went on to win the Radio Advertising Practitioners Award 2005 in the vernacular region section. This year Vinod's `classified series' won the Big Bang Award, instituted by the Bangalore Ad Club, for the best multi-media rural campaign.

Like most ad-filmmakers is Vinod contemplating a career in movies?

"Not now anyway. Yes, there have been some, like Rajiv Menon and V. K. Prakash, from the ad-world who have made it big in movies. But they are big names who have firmly entrenched themselves in their career. I still have a long way to go."

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