The Abhi-Ash Lux Ad (images & videos) (updated)
ad below..
Celebrities, likeability score high on recall
Husband-wife duo and Bollywood actors Aishwarya Rai and Abhishek Bachchan’s romantic capers on the small screen, albeit staged, propelled the Lux Peach Cream TV spot to the No. 2 spot in the survey that gathers the voices of 898 randomly chosen common consumers across New Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore. The Lux Peach Cream ad earned 97% on brand recall and 79% on awareness, scoring 77 on the ad reach index.
[for the complete piece follow the link above.. thanks to Tyler..]
wonder what the true figure is, every other source has mentioned a 25 cr figure..
Brand Abhi-Ash set for record ad debut
Bolywood’s glam couple – Aishwarya Rai-Bachchan and Abhishek Bachchan – is on a roll. Soon after appearing on Oprah Winfrey’s show, they have bagged their first endorsement together. They will feature in a Lux advertisement for a whopping amount of Rs 7.5 crore.
Abhi-Ash’s new plush contract makes them the highest-paid pair in the Indian ad world. In their first TV campaign, the Bachchans show their never-seen-before mischievous side. The commercial is set to go on air later this month.
Abhishek and Aishwarya speak about the ad…
The ad shows Ash blindfolding Abhishek who tries to catch her, but she keeps getting away.
Still, a mesmerised Abhi can’t seem to resist Ash as she plays a prank on him. The couple will be seen getting quite cosy in the ad.
“Abhishek and Ash carry high brand values with a lot of magnetism globally. Unlike other couples, they are loved individually too which makes them a very unique and powerful team,” says Prasoon Joshi, executive chairman, McCann Worldgroup India.
With a multi-crore package, Abhi-Ash is ahead of Brand Saifeena – Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor. Khan and Kapoor come with a price tag of around Rs 6.5 crore while John Abraham and Bipasha Basu cost around Rs 5 crore.
“Their marriage is a big advantage for Abhishek and Aishwarya,” says Latika Khaneja, director, Collage Marketing.
“Ajay Devgn and Kajol had the marriage edge but Abhi-Ash carries more charisma and glamour than any other wedded pair.” Other celebrity couples are no match for the young Bachchans’ status either. Ajay-Kajol, for instance, charge around Rs 4 crore as endorsement fee while the ‘It’ couple – Deepika Padukone and Ranbir Kapoor – get Rs 4.5 crore per ad.
“Abhishek and Ash show a lot of depth and maturity as a couple. Both have their separate unique selling points,” says Anita Nayyar, CEO, Havas Media. “Conversely, Saif and Kareena have somehow suggested that they are a very flamboyant couple.” “Abhishek and Ash make the first modern couple of Bollywood. Plus, marriage has lent their togetherness a lot of credibility and respectability. So, companies are ready to pay a big pay packet the two together,” says ad guru Prahlad Kakkar.
Coming back to the ad, Abhishek and Aishwarya are the first couple to appear in the Lux ad. The junior Bachchan, on his part, becomes only the third man to make an appearance in the iconic soap ad after names like Paul Newman and Shah Rukh Khan.
Surely, Abhishek and Aishwarya have arrived with a bang following their closest rivals are Saif and Kareena the huge anticipation about their much-awaited entry in the ad circuit.
As a couple, Abhishek and Aishwarya have already tasted success with Mani Ratnam’s 2007 hit Guru and Ram Gopal Varma’s Sarkar Raj last year. Experts feel they have great on-and off-screen chemistry with huge connect with audiences.
Come to think of it, signing up Abhishek and Ash makes business sense too as the duo is set to star in several films together. They are starring in Mani Ratnam’s Raavan and Rajiv Menon’s Dhun.
thanks to Kassam..
October 21, 2009 at 9:46 AM
First pic is excellent .. but, for which ad?
October 21, 2009 at 12:03 PM
its for a Lux ad.
October 21, 2009 at 2:21 PM
Lux ad? To phir SRK nazar nahi aaya? Abhishek ko dekh kar shayad us bathtub mein chupp gaya.
October 21, 2009 at 9:52 AM
Sneak Peek – Aishwarya and Abhishek Bachchan’s Lux Ad
October 21, 2009 at 10:23 AM
Thanks tyler !!
October 21, 2009 at 4:11 PM
thanks.. the Lux ads have a whole history in India with so many famous actresses being part of their campaigns over a number of decades..
October 21, 2009 at 10:23 AM
This Week From Past – Don: The Chase Begins Again (2006)
http://bollybusiness.wordpress.com/2009/10/21/this-week-from-past-don-the-chase-begins-again-2006/
October 21, 2009 at 3:22 PM
Abhishek and Aishwarya are well turned out in the photos and advert. The advert seems copesetic as well.
October 21, 2009 at 4:01 PM
So, Eire, you cottoned onto the ad?
October 21, 2009 at 5:33 PM
Yes indeed mate. I cottoned to it.
October 21, 2009 at 5:35 PM
Aishwarya in a bubble bath. What’s not to cotton to?
LOL
Seriously the advert seems like a harmless fun scenario and they look good.
October 22, 2009 at 9:22 AM
[The ad, which is for Lux’s new range of soaps with beauty oils, gives viewers a peek into the very private lives of the stars
Mumbai: Lux’s new ad will feature Bollywood’s first couple Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan—the first time the husband and wife will appear in an ad together.
“We could have put them both in a bathtub and said, lets go for the eyeballs, but we really wanted to show them in a way that they had never been seen before,” says Tista Sen, executive creative director and senior vice-president at JWT India, the agency handling the account for the soap from Hindustan Unilever Ltd.
It starts with Rai Bachchan blindfolding Bachchan. He then tries to catch her, but she keeps getting away because her skin is very soft. He eventually grabs her, only to realize that he’s caught hold of the maid.
“It’s a side of the couple that has never been seen before; it’s young, fun and in keeping with their real characters,” adds Sen.
Bachchan becomes the third man to appear in Lux ads after Paul Newman and Shah Rukh Khan.
The ad is an attempt by Lux to stay relevant, says an expert.
“The problem with Lux, is that they were the ones who invented the concept of celebrity endorsements and that was what gave them a highly differential positioning, it was their only calling card,” says Santosh Desai, managing director and chief executive of Future Brands, a brand consultancy. “Now everyone has a celebrity endorser. So, they really need to up the ante on their product and find an essence that goes beyond the whole ‘soap of the film stars’ positioning.”
And it won’t work, he adds. “They’ve tried everything from putting SRK into a bathtub to launching chocolate variants, which could infuse some news-ness into a brand that time has been unkind to. So while this new campaign will bring some short-lived hype and attention, the company is still not answering a fundamental question dogging the brand.”
Rai Bachchan, who is the brand ambassador for Lux, L’Oreal and Nakshatra diamond jewellery, charges anywhere between Rs2 crore and Rs5crore for an ad; Bachchan, who endorses brands such as Idea, Big Radio and Omega, is known to charge approximately Rs2-4crore. While both have not had any film releases lately, they will appear together in Mani Ratnam’s Ravana early next year.
This isn’t the first time a Bollywood couple is appearing in an ad.
The husband and wife team of Ajay Devgan and Kajol have appeared in ads for Whirlpool and Tata Indicom.
Couples Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor (most notably, Airtel), John Abraham and Bipasha Basu (Clinic All Clear), and Ranbir Kapoor and Deepika Padukone (Pepsi), too, have appeared in ads.
Still, Rai Bachchan and Bachchan are Bollywood royalty. He is from the first family of Bollywood, she is a Miss World.
There are no discounts for signing the pair; like most young celebrity couples in Bollywood, the contracts are always drawn separately and individual rates apply, says Vivek Kamath of Matrix India Entertainment Consultants Pvt. Ltd. So signing Bachchan and Rai Bachchan could set a brand back by Rs6-7 crore.
Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor would come at Rs6 crore, while Abraham and Basu, together, would cost a brand Rs3 crore.
The costs notwithstanding, advertising that can capture real-life relationships in a realistic way minus cheesy ad-libbing can go a long way in grabbing consumer attention, says an expert. “Everyone wants an insight into the personal and private lives of these stars. It’s almost a voyeuristic kind of advertising which people can believe is real,” says K.V. Sridhar, national creative director at Leo Burnett India.
Using Rai Bachchan and Bachchan is better than using “unrelated celebrity endorsers”, says Anirban Das Blah, former chief executive officer of Globosport India Pvt. Ltd, a celebrity management firm.
According to Blah, the Lux campaign could help Bachchan, who hasn’t signed too many endorsement deals lately. “It definitely helps to be associated with one of the biggest brands in India.”
The new Lux ad has been conceptualized by JWT Mumbai and shot by director Stephen Meads of the London-based ad film production house Short Films.]
October 22, 2009 at 9:23 AM
October 22, 2009 at 9:00 PM
October 24, 2009 at 3:58 PM
older stuff:
October 24, 2009 at 4:54 PM
Nice ad. I’m glad it is not cheesy.
October 24, 2009 at 8:18 PM
they have a pretty hot chemistry in this ad.
Plus Aishwarya is looking very good.
October 26, 2009 at 5:01 PM
As someone who’s never been really sold on Ash’s beauty, I have to say she looks amazing in this ad. Just amazing.
October 26, 2009 at 5:02 PM
looks much younger too..
October 26, 2009 at 6:57 PM
It is slightly off topic:
Looks puri Jagnath (pokiri director for original Telugu version) wants to work with Abhishek. His new movie Ek Niranjan is getting released Friday. In TV interview, he said he got high hopes on this movie and wants to definitely do it in hindi, with Abhishek.
Then he laughed and said he wanted to do Pokiri Hindi with Abhishek, but Abhishek didn’t like the movie.
I hope Abhsihek considure working with Puri/RajaMouli/muruga Doss.
Puri particularly good with dialogues and action.
October 26, 2009 at 7:18 PM
Yeah as I said a couple of years ago or so Abhishek had the chance to do Pokkiri. Having said that and despite the success of Wanted I don’t think this sort of format would be the right idea for him (in general this is not the sort of thing a multiplex audience would buy into and having a star with greater prestige would in some ways damage the product more with the latter.. so I would not recommend this to any top star with the exception of Akshay who’s really a fool for not doing this genre.. most A starts are not fit to do masala anyway..). But the subject that IS perfect is Okkadu, wish they’d revive it. Or something like Vikram’s Samurai or Surya’s Kaakka Kaakka. There’s a reason why Aamir selected Ghajini. Since the Hindi multiplex audience is hostile to the idea you have to select a subject that is slick or has a proper narrative and so on. Once enough of these films get accepted one can risk a Pokkiri. Note how Wanted really was never more than half-decent in the multiplexes. Having said all of this Abhishek unfortunately just doesn’t believe in a film like Pokkiri, I doubt he’d ever do this sort of over the top thing. I wish he’d take a chance once. I don’t think the Wanted box office would really convince him either way.
October 26, 2009 at 8:13 PM
Speaking of Kaakka Kaakka. Gautham Menon also vastly wants to work with Abhishek and has been sending him scripts and such these last couple of years. They are good friends. Perhaps one day soon in the future Abhishek may indeed work with Gautham or Puri on a Hindi action movie which has great mass appeal but is done in a slicker and subtler(as satyam alluded to in his above post) manner in the end. I’d indeed love to see that happen as I also think Abhishek would suit that sort of movie.
October 26, 2009 at 8:20 PM
For sure: Gautam Menon and abhishek would be an excellent combo…
October 26, 2009 at 8:09 PM
Wow, thanks ted — I really hope this happens! Abhishek should be doing at least some masala films (he was good in RUN).
satyam: you are now confirming suspicions that you have some kind of “in” here…
October 26, 2009 at 8:09 PM
Ted: what is “Ek Niranjan” about?
October 26, 2009 at 8:38 PM
Ek Niranjan stars Kangana and Prabhas.
http://www.bharatwaves.com/news/What-is-so-special-about-Ek-Niranjan–23748.html
October 28, 2009 at 10:33 AM
There’s only one ad right? It’s Ash all the way in the ad. Nice visuals and song BTW. They’ve used Abhishek like an extra here.
October 28, 2009 at 11:17 AM
I believe there’s only one.. i.e. in terms of a TV ad.. whether there are stills that are part of the campaign I do not know..
October 28, 2009 at 11:23 AM
The advert is I recollect the only one for the television campaign. However there are photos, stills, and other materials that have been incorporated for LUX’s print campaign for this new product(soap with beauty oils) that Aishwarya and Abhishek are endorsing. It’s more than a one advert. It’s an entire campaign.
October 28, 2009 at 11:39 AM
The Lux campaigns are really about the women and men rarely figure in it. This SRK one was one of the rare exceptions and I don’t think this really worked for his image in any sense (there’s a wicked take on this in Kandasaamy):
October 28, 2009 at 11:55 AM
I was supposed to refer this ad. Even in this, you can see more women.
October 28, 2009 at 11:58 AM
True, the demographic for LUX is women. It’s always been this way as this is how the brand has been set up from the beginning. But in the grand scheme of things I think the new LUX campaign and advert with Aishwarya and Abhishek has been vastly well done.
I think Abhishek along with Aishwarya were represented well in the advert with the fun premise (woman bathes with new soap which makes her skin so soft that her husband can’t catch her, but instead catches the maid). Aishwarya and Abhishek did a good job presenting the new brand product which is a nice feat these days. I was glad to see that the advert was neither cheesy, maudlin, or over the top. This campaign has not done a disservice to Aishwarya or Abhishek’s dignity as individuals or as a couple. It’s been cleanly done with them.
Speaking of dignity. I cringed when watching the LUX advert with SRK. Seeing a grown many in a bath tub of rose petals was hilarious and did not fit the brand he was hawking at the time. It was an ill advised move on LUX as well as SRK’s part to present that campaign with that cheesy and over the top advert. I also concur that it did not work or suit his image. It became a big joke. Thus this is why I’m stoked that Abhishek avoided that cheestastic rubbish in this new advert and campaign he did with Aishwarya. We have to thank GOD for small favours!
LOL
October 28, 2009 at 12:36 PM
yeah I do think the ad was suitably restrained and also traded a bit on the kind of humor Abhishek has traditionally brought to his ads from Motorola to Idea. Let’s flip it around, given the entire history of the product it would be a bit odd if Abhishek had as much footage here as Ash! Also they could have done all sorts of ads, they resisted for a long time and then did this. I was unhappy that they had decided to appear as a couple finally but given that they did I was glad it was something like Lux and not a more recent product if only because the Lux ads have a long history in India and a ‘traditional’ resonance that many other products do not. I do not think it just coincidental they went in for this.
October 28, 2009 at 7:20 PM
Thanks for new Abhishek interviews.
Working with friends can be a vastly bad thing when those friends are untalented and uncreative hacks. However I’m just pleased that the director and producer friends that Abhishek has currently chosen to work with are the talented and successful friends in his circle. He needs to keep it that way.
Per Abhishek’s latest interview his movie with Gowaiker shoots in Goa. Is there some tax break or financial incentive that movies are awarded for shooting in Goa?
Gowariker is shooting his movie with Abhishek in Goa. Rohan Sippy is also thinking of shooting his next movie with Abhishek in Goa. Sippy has been already scouting locations in Goa. One concrete advantage is that Abhishek can easily shoot for both movies with Gowaiker and Sippy at the same time on different schedules without having to do much traveling back and forth.
October 28, 2009 at 8:53 PM
SLB is also shooting in Goa with Hrithik and Aishwarya. Maybe there is some incentive.
November 9, 2009 at 2:37 AM
the new Longines ad…
November 9, 2009 at 6:47 AM
I love how she looks in this ad.
October 28, 2009 at 10:59 AM
Extra…? do you want them both do the tub bath? It is ridiculous to see that way.
They both are looking cool and he is in every part od 40sec ad. If you observe, LUX is mostly famous for women.
October 28, 2009 at 11:16 AM
ted, you have to ignore certain comments. Since its obvious that certain posters on the blog have to lob in their biased prerequisite regular jabs or insults at Abhishek for whatever reason even when they are ludicrously inaccurate. Both Aishwarya and Abhishek as a couple are indeed vastly well represented in the advert in keeping with the light and fun premise. They both did a copesetic job and better yet the advert suits the brand product they are endorsing which is the whole point.
October 28, 2009 at 11:24 AM
Even in recent IDEA ads, Abhishek is one of the many. But no one commented him as extra there.
I am seeing this ad is being appreciated by all, as whole product even from anti Ash/Abhishek fans.
October 28, 2009 at 11:45 AM
Personally, I think this ad is well done: like the easy sexiness that the ash-abhi chemistry/pair bring to this sort of thing, even as the ad preserves abhishek’s humor signature by having him grab the wrong woman at the end (highlighting the jokey “I’m married to TMBWITW” vibe he brings to more than one interview, most recently the Oprah one)…
October 28, 2009 at 12:03 PM
I concur. I think the light humour and light romantic vibe works. I thought the ending of the advert was the best part with Abhishek bear hugging the maid and thinking it was Aishwarya. I like how all of Abhishek’s adverts have his brand of humour. Abhishek is good at comedy and the audience likes to see him with humour. I do hope Abhishek will indeed do another well written comedy movie in near future (besides Dostana 2).
October 28, 2009 at 12:38 PM
just made the same point before seeing your comment. There’s a playfulness here and they’ve certainly kept things simple which in my view works.
October 28, 2009 at 11:48 AM
Re: “I’m married to TMBWITW”
LOL! Explain that to Jay. Because of his BO column sometimes he has to deal with TMSPITW.
October 28, 2009 at 11:56 AM
Re: Even in this, you can see more women.
I thought they were ALL women!
October 28, 2009 at 7:13 PM
Abhishek’s latest interview.
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1091029/jsp/entertainment/story_11670210.jsp
October 28, 2009 at 7:14 PM
wrong link in the first posting, can be deleted.
October 29, 2009 at 6:01 PM
From Rajeev Masand on Twitter:
ASH FANS: Send us the 1 q you’ve always wanted to ask Ash. Mention yr name n loc. If smart / funny, she’ll reply on our spcl show on Sun.
http://twitter.com/RajeevMasand
November 18, 2009 at 8:55 AM
LOL, Ravi won’t approve of this new still!
November 18, 2009 at 11:44 AM
Wow, impressive numbers on the ad. Was struck by the gratuitous “albeit staged” — as opposed to the natural romantic encounters that erupt in other ads?!
November 18, 2009 at 2:12 PM
Ha! It is remarkable (even after one has said this a million times) the extent to which the ‘negative’ is almost always a part of the discussion surrounding the Bachchans. The more I look at some of these older magazine covers from the 70s the more this idea is confirmed. Which then also brings me to another speculation — Bachchan’s place in Hindi film history, indeed in Indian film history is unique and seminal.. but why does it invite such anxiety and hostility? If his persona and cinema are seen as subversive of bourgeois values can one then jump to the conclusion that the entire Bombay film apparatus has historically served the latter ends and Bachchan is in fact the massive ‘interruption’ in this sense?
I think something similar could have been said about Tamil cinema once upon a time but over the last 30-35 years it isn’t as true over there. I would go even further and say that the normative in this cinema is no longer the ‘bourgeois’ mode. But again there is an important history here — that of MGR. Sivaji Ganesan was always very much a part of the bourgeois worldview. With MGR you had the paradox of say the lumpen masses affirming bourgeois values. This might seem to be a structure that tends toward the latter and yet there was enough representation of the ‘downtrodden’ to preserve the ‘tension’. With time of course and especially in politics MGR presented the bourgeois side more and more. But this is why he was at once Bachchan and SRK in some very loose sense. Rajni’s great event though was to really put forward the authentic charge of the Bachchan revolution and move Tamil cinema irreversibly to that side. This itself followed the Balachandar/Bharthiraja splitting of the audience (or the sundering of the MGR legacy) if you will. After Rajni (which is to say beyond his peak) that same split has come about once again. A return of Bharthiraja in the new Tamil cinema but also one that perhaps accounts for Balachander’s bourgeois subversions (and perversions!) more than the former ever would. And blockbuster commercial cinema of course still operates in Rajni’s shadow.
Kamal said in his tribute to Sivaji that the actor’s inheritance was part of every Tamil’s actor’s genetic code who came after him. This is true and this was once equally true of everyone who came after Dilip Kumar. But Kamal himself now serves as the Sivaji figure for the generation that has followed him. With Bachchan it’s been more interesting. Here Rajni and Kamal are united in the same figure. Hence his event is determinative for the entire conversation but paradoxically he cannot really have heirs in quite that immediate sense (he influences everyone but those are influenced cannot do very much with that influence). Which is why the literal genealogical heir here in Abhishek is in a weird way the only one possible (assuming a certain talent level). And this brings me back full circle. The negativity surrounding Bachchan at his peak is in a sense comprehensible. The ‘other side’ won and you react against this. But with Abhishek the mere possibility of a return of the repressed is equally disturbing and must always be as it were nipped in the bud.
November 18, 2009 at 2:21 PM
Characteristically wide-ranging and insightful comment here — your take on the the movement of Tamil cinema is especially intriguing…perhaps in time you could extend this into a full-fledged piece…
November 18, 2009 at 2:29 PM
thanks much Qalandar..
January 22, 2010 at 3:35 PM
January 26, 2010 at 2:52 PM
At Boman Irani’s wedding anniversary
January 26, 2010 at 4:31 PM
Both look really good there.
January 28, 2010 at 8:07 PM
Ash to do the Laawaaris songs:
http://www.mumbaimirror.com/article/30/2010012920100129030255172c9948f69/Ash-to-do-an-Amitabh.html
February 2, 2010 at 9:27 AM
Ash unsure about ‘Laawaris’ number in ‘Houseful’
New Delhi News.Net
Tuesday 2nd February, 2010 (IANS)
Rumours were rife that Aishwarya Rai will dance to the tunes of hit number ‘Apni toh jaise taise’, which was originally picturised on her father-in-law Amitabh Bachchan, in Sajid Khan’s ‘Houseful’. But sources close to her say that she is yet to accept the offer.
‘Aishwarya has been approached by Sajid Khan but she has yet to revert back to them. She is busy with the shooting of ‘Guzaarish’, ‘Action Replay’ and ‘Endhiran’,’ Aishwarya’s spokesperson told IANS.
Recent media reports suggested that Sajid Nadiadwala had bought the rights of the song, which is from the 1981 blockbuster ‘Laawaris’ and that he had approached Aishwarya for it.
If at all the actress agrees to do the item number, it would be her third in over a decade-long career. In the past, she featured in item numbers like ‘Ishq kamina’ and ‘Kajra re’ – both the songs have been iconic in their own sense.
While in ‘Ishq kamina’, she teamed up with Shah Rukh Khan, ‘Kajra re’ saw her with Amitabh and Abhishek.
February 2, 2010 at 9:40 AM
Aishwarya is NOT doing it. She refused.
Sushmita is doing it.
February 15, 2010 at 11:10 AM
Abhi-Ash beat SRK-Gauri in a poll
February 15, 2010 at 11:11 AM
In the online universe there are lots of SRK fans who tend to vote blindly for him in any conceivable poll where his name crops up. So Abhi-Ash beating them by 3% is remarkable!
February 15, 2010 at 4:46 PM
this is a young person’s game in terms of the online polling but my vote but of course would have gone to the great one.
March 8, 2010 at 11:28 AM
Had posted this piece in an older thread. Just reposting it here since felt it is relevant to the “brand Bachchan”–
A point which has NEVER been made ( i think!)
For long, the bachchans have adopted a “too high” for “manipulations” stance. We hear aamir and anil kapoor (at his peak) , interfering with the music, their roles, release dates etc. I dont find that wrong if it improves the fate of the film and their respective careers.
Bahchans have gentlemanly just “restricted themselves to acting” and moved on. Not good enuf nowadays…
Recently watched the making of love aaj kal. Was surprised to see the erstwhile LAID BACK nawab, deeply involved in ensuring the project does not deviate from its aim.. He did not “leave it ito the capable hands ” of the director . No-way an ideal or classic film. BUt felt it was a very well-designed/safe project ala kjo ( not the same style though). BUt had all the safety-net ingreients dihed out carefullly-locations, hit kool music, nice pairing, hep kool themes.
Not good eunuf to “let the makers/producers decide” stance-letting 3 movies as films to release in 4 months. Rann and 3 patti were easily amongst bachchans BETTER recent films as lead.
I doubt ANY lead can save that release interval.
It takes getting downright dirty sometimes to ensure one is not messed with. Just saw lakshya recently on tv- my second attempt and again could not complete it. the fim meandered just like hritiks intial aimless life.
BUt felt both farhan and bachchan need to be taken to task. Farhan for giving such a role to bachchan and the latter for going all the way upto ladakh for that less than a 2-bit role.Anyhow, we can argue that those were difficult days for him. But now after paa, they need more discipline and active involvement (beyond acting).
Agree about akayla. Many will feel -well, what the heck?.
But the persona and depiction of the extension/ ageing of the angry young man was brilliantly portrayed by ab and written by salim javed.
Pity, everything around these was average.
Still one of vintage bacchan performance for me.
“Koi Shaq? Well, f..k that shaq!”-so typical of “kool ” rgv but interesting. By the way, STILL find ab-rgv combo films interesting
March 8, 2010 at 1:14 PM
I have a somewhat different stance on this. I think one can play the media game intelligently without resorting to manipulation or worse compromise and corruption. Obviously the ‘results’ are best when the last option is selected because only in this scenario can you get people to lie blatantly to suit your narrative. But otherwise Paa is a great example of intelligent, focused, high volume marketing that did not involve the more unsavory features some other stars indulge in. But also I cannot really blame stars or the media for doing this sort of manipulation and then urge the Bachchans to do the same. There has to be some moral high ground and of course one consequently pays a price at times but that’s ok. Ultimately films do not succeed or fail on these grounds. But another great example is Aamir who over the last couple has used the media extremely intelligently, generated all the right kind of hype without corrupting anyone. It is true however that if you have a very limited number of films you can be perfect on the marketing front but if there are multiple films it’s hard to do the same. Some films will then just get more attention on the merits. I also think that if a star has multiple films not every film should even get the same marketing campaign assuming the star has time to do so for each one. Because a very high profile campaign should suggest something special about the film or else it’s just hype and the audience tunes out or at least this sort of hype works when there is already enough interest in a film. Finally inasmuch as a film is ‘different’ the focus ought to be more on imaginative marketing rather than just hype. This was again done with Paa. With Raavana for example I would start the campaign relatively early, do volume and do it imaginatively, really bill the movie as the event of the year. This is the sort of film that can sustain that sort of marketing ambition. On the other hand it wouldn’t make much sense to follow this strategy with the Gowariker film. There you should perhaps go smaller, stress mostly on the thriller aspect of the subject as well as the lead pair. Because the period piece with the revolution theme has limited takers on its own. With an Italian Job it can just be mindless hyping. So I think it should all be done according to the subject. Too often films are hyped indiscriminately without any thought expended on the subject and the market for the same and then people are surprised when the hype doesn’t translate into much at the box office. On a related note the box office also has to be ‘read’ the right way. CDI, Paa, TZP all started slow on opening day and then showed big jumps. It’s not that the advertising didn’t help these films. People WERE interested in all three but because of the subject in each case they were still sitting on the fence and bit and just needed that little bit of confirmation with WOM. Once that happened there was that jump. With a more commercial subject this doesn’t happen because people know what they’re getting and so they either show up or they don’t. Take RNBDJ, this film too started slow for a major blockbuster kind of deal. Over the weekend it showed the uptick that one would normally expect from a major film that hadn’t been rejected. But nothing special. Which is why week 1 (around 38 -40 crores) was also nothing special, many big films are in that range. Don too opened very slow, eventually showed a bit of a jump but again remained fairly lethargic. It was stable at that level and did decently enough but nothing out of the ordinary given the massive publicity campaign. Again here was the basic weakness — people just didn’t buy the Bachchan/SRK parallel. It worked best with younger audiences who had either not seen the older Don or just had hazy memories of it if they had. But all of this depends on a level of analysis and honest analysis at that which is usually beyond the media/trade for all sorts of reasons. 99% of box office reporting is just junk. Even when it’s true on the overall box office picture. because they’re right for the wrong reasons!
March 8, 2010 at 1:57 PM
“I think one can play the media game intelligently without resorting to manipulation or worse compromise and corruption. Obviously the ‘results’ are best when the last option is selected because only in this scenario can you get people to lie blatantly to suit your narrative.”
Agree absolutely there, satyam.
However, I would like to add something here. The “media manipulation” is nonetheless not needed and cannot be planned.
I will border on constructive “overcriticism” of bachchans here being an ardent fan—
The “manipulation” i talked about is tweaking the various aspects of film-making where you as the biggest hero ARE confident about and putting your weight behind that before the release of the film.
I will give a few examples-
salman khans films (notwithstanding their quality and bo recently), do invariably have “hit music”. you will see the same muisic directors-once upon a time-himesh, then sajid wajid. similarly few actors like emraan hashmi end up getting one hit album after another. i met a guy from jordan who thoiught that emrann hashmi was a gr8 singer/performer belitng out one hit after another.
now surely , this is not coincidence that the makers for their films coincidentally sign these “hit ” music directors.
a hit music gives visibility on the charts, a bare minimum return and hype even before the release .
Paa is an exception- excellent marketing campaign , product placement, story idea.
but other than those-eg the release of rann and 3 patti within 2 months or so after paa was pure harakiri.
any star half as influential as AB could have put his foot down and influenced the makers.
it can be argued that they could “encash on the paa success wave” be4 it dies down. but anyone wiht elementary knowledge of this ( forget a veteran like ab ) should have known this.
aamir and anil( at his peak) used to indulge in this so-called manipluation -be it their roles, dialogues or the other guys role. even akhay kr is known to cut -off his coactors lines. not surprising- it is a cut-throat world.
I am NOT at all suggesting that bachchan should indulge in unethical.
but the problme is that they seem to be in their “ivory tower” who work hard to do their roles but then go back to their vans, not getting down dirty into the technical aspects, music, release strategy (EVEN IF IT IS NOT THEIR HOME PRODUCTION)
Doing it for their back-for the-ashes ressurection called paa is understood. But leaving it to the “capable hands of the director and producer” is just evasiveness. not surprising that , even after all these years, bachchan has developed NO sense of technique leave alone direction.
another eg- did bachchan have NO urge to ‘interfere” regards his under-developed roles in lakshaya, kjo, srk films.
the problems is that – the film of the OUTSIDE producer is NOT hte only casualty.
Bachchans credibility wiht the paying public has gone for a toss. they will still respect him and patronage his tv shows , ads etc. But sabse bada rupaiya- when it comes to paying the inflated multiplex ticket, they will ONLY do it with confidence for an ernest guy like aamir who has imbibed most of the aspects of film-making. it is not an accident that bachchan recently “announced ” unilaterally that he wishes to be directed by aamir in the latters home-production and added that aamir had a flair to it.
the point is that like in all fields, this ” flair” is not inborn .
The fact that he seldom choosed a film wrong has NOT delveloped in aamir suddenly.Come to think of it, aamir khan after 3 idiots is in a unique positinon as a megastar. with the type of mega successes like ghajini and 3i , he still has his diary ( as lead hero) unoccupied and fill in anything on that ” blank cheque”.
I think whatever he signs from now on- a bumper record breaking iopening is a given-enuf to sail it past as a success.
and i am sure he will NOT mess it up.
compare this to the bachchans- incidentally all 3( ab, abhi and ash) are living examples/chronicles of how NOT to choose/ sign a film.
I havent watched 3 patti but the bo of that is self-explanatory. think of it-ash did a super-dud with leena yadav, is this the feedback or recommedation she gave to AB about her prompting him to do this film…
ash incidentally has an average BO record inspite of being the BEST looking actress and dancer in recent times. What she or bachchans are getting is INSPITE of their (questionable) decisions than DUE to them…..
May 12, 2010 at 11:05 PM
June 12, 2010 at 8:52 AM
ash looking stunning in this ads…
September 19, 2010 at 8:09 AM
pls can u send telugu video clip of lux ad by ash n abhishek to my mail. atleast post it to website
September 19, 2010 at 8:49 AM
couldn’t find the Telugu one..
September 19, 2010 at 8:55 AM
Dont look too hard. Its OK.
September 12, 2011 at 1:22 PM
October 1, 2011 at 6:15 PM
Continuation of my “homage” to ash
October 4, 2011 at 2:36 PM
October 5, 2011 at 3:31 PM
Aish and Abhishek today. Both look great. Looks like Abhishek’s lost some weight
October 5, 2011 at 4:30 PM
yes looks quite lean.. he should maintain this. His bigger issue has been more the fact that his weight keeps shifting around rather than simply being ‘more’ at points. And he’s often done this for certain parts without necessarily advertising this fact. But even more problematic has been the concurrent shooting for films which did not require the extra weight and then because he shoots films back to back there are lots of films where he’s losing weight or adding weight, i.e. he’s in the process. He should be more careful about all of this.
November 14, 2011 at 9:09 PM
Countdown to Baby Bachchan’s arrival begins as Aishwarya checks into Seven Hills
http://www.firstpost.com/bollywood/countdown-to-baby-bachchans-arrival-begins-as-aishwarya-checks-into-seven-hills-130870.html
January 12, 2012 at 11:49 PM
Ash’s shoot with Ratnani:
more here:
http://www.pinkvilla.com/entertainmenttags/aishwarya-rai/more-aishwarya-rai-bachchans-sizzling-photoshoot-dabboo-ratnani
January 13, 2012 at 12:12 AM
This was the shoot he did for Heroine, not a recent one.