Bollywood stars gobble up endorsements and ads from models, oust ad film directors from the market!

Amitabh Bachchan, just past his 63rd birthday on 11th October 2005, is the busiest star in Bollywood in films as well as ad films. Like several other stars, it is said, he insists on the directors of his choice when he shoots a commercial. He is the highest endorser who has notched up 60 products this year. Next comes Sachin Tendulkar, the cricket star, with 30 and Shah Rukh follows as the third with seven! All of them bring their own directors into the picture, and this affects the livelihood of models and ad film directors! In this image, AB models for Eveready Recharge 2100 batteries!

Mumbai: Oct 26, 2005/Sawf News Service/ -- It’s one thing for Amitabh Bachchan and Shah Rukh Khan to ‘model’ for ads and oust even supermodels from their traditional livelihood. It’s somehow acceptable that Fardeen Khan, Zayed Khan, Hema Malini, Akshay Kumar, Aamir Khan et al endorse products ranging from Coco Cola and Pepsi to bank accounts and shirts. But now actors have achieved a new milestone – they actually recommend their favourite directors for doing their 30-second television commercials. News reports say that whenever the Big B agrees to endorse a product or do a commercial, he recommends his favourite directors Santosh Sivan and Vipul Shah, the latter being the director of his film Waqt. Shah Rukh Khan insists that the production of his ads should be handled by his company Red Chillies Entertainment and employs Farah Khan as the director of the commercial. She has directed the Lays potato chips and the Santro Xing car ads. Aamir Khan, the hero of the Thanda Matlab Coca Cola series, has nominated friend Ashutosh Gowarikar for the directorial job. Hrithik Roshan insists upon his father Rakesh Roshan directing every ad film he does.

Also, directors who are known for their benchmark films – such as Nagesh Kukunoor of Iqbal fame and Vishal Bharadwaj of Maqbool fame – are not averse to doing ad films for the burgeoning television commercial industry because of the excellent money they earn. In many commercials, the directors earn as much in two or three days’ shoot as they would earn in making a full-length film! No wonder then that they are willing to put ad film directors from agencies out of work whenever possible. Bollywood is swallowing the advertising world slowly and steadily.

Until now, the favourite stars of the ad fraternity have been Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan, Sachin Tendulkar. AB has done 60 endorsements, Sachin has done 30. Shah Rukh has only seven, but major, ads to his credit. News announced recently says that John Abraham, who has been traveling in Malaysia for the shoot of a campaign for Bombay Dyeing fabrics, has been signed up as the newest Pepsi icon. The company wanted a younger, more youth-popular star than Shah Rukh Khan, say media reports. And who else should be enlisted but the bike maniac John Abraham? O & M, the ad agency which handles the campaigns for Pepsi, feels that though John may not be ready to carry a film single handedly in the market, he has gained hugely in the youth popularity stakes this year!