Ads and Creativity

Ads are supposed to be made by creative people. Why do I get the feeling then, that there is a dearth of such people in the industry?

About a year ago, almost seven ads across different product categories had an unexpected person (or more than one persons) dancing somewhere. Were they taking one concept and selling it to multiple clients? Or was it different ad agencies that had stopped thinking altogether and blindly copied that idea from others? No idea.

Detergent ads all have white clothes. And this has been going on for 30 years that I know of. Who wears white?

Underwear ads, Deo ads, and Fairness cream ads (yes, they exist), all have a sameness about them that is disheartening, and they probably do not succeed in selling the product beyond what it would sell without the ads..

Looking forward to a breakthrough that is overdue..Kuchh khaas hai?

Dancing Heroes

Heroes have to dance in Hindi films. That's a given, and except a couple of them, all others have fallen in line, dancing.

Mithun Chakraborty was one such who rose rapidly when he danced to some Bappi Lahiri tunes. One such movie was Wardaat. In this he gyrated to some fun steps in Dekha hai maine tujhe phir se palat ke and so on. Suraksha was another combo movie of this duo. Disco Dancer was another, and Kasam Paida Karne wale Ki where he teamed up with an unusual beauty, Salma Agha, was yet another.

Jeetendra was known for his tight pants and white shoes, but he managed to dance nevertheless. Farz, Humjoli (Hai re hai, neend nahi aaye), a couple of films with Mumtaz, and a host of them with Sridevi (Mawali, Himmatwala), were made for his energetic brand of song and dance. Dildaar, Judaai were some others.

Kamal hasan was a good dancer too, but his forays into Hindi films were limited. Sanam teri Kasam and Ek Duuje Liye were two where he did show his prowess.

Rishi Kapoor probably did the stage dances better than most. Hum Kisise Kum Nahin in particular, where his Bachna ae haseeno was a rage. Or Karz where he did Paisa, yeh paisa, with lots of verve. Of course, Rafoo Chakkar had Chhuk chhuk, chhak chhak, and Khel Khel Mein had a few good ones like Ek Main aur Ek Tu, and Khullam khulla pyar karenge hum dono.