Reel-o-Real: The two sides of the advertising world

An account of just another girl becoming Thacker Dairy's "mummy its yummy" girl in Kolkata...

Months of planning a marketing blueprint, multiple takes of a single frame, costume design, set decor, 5 am shoots, and many other never-ending challenges go behind putting one ad film to reality. If after all this, the brand cannot grab the consumer’s attention in the first 20 seconds, it’s all a bootless errand.

Reminiscing my childhood, I remember how I had to manage school assignments, Bharatanatyam classes, art sessions and to top it all the ad shoots. Looking back, I now know why my resume says ‘multi-tasker’. My parents knew no boundaries of excitement when their daughter, aged four, outshined in auditions for a Bengali biscuit brand- Raja Biscuits in 2004

As a child actress in the advertising world I was always fascinated looking at other works of advertising and never changed the channel during ad breaks. Well, in fact, sometimes the ad breaks grappled me more than the show. During this, I learnt the essence of TV commercials and their impact on consumers which decides the most crucial business factors for a brand’s product.

After Raja Biscuits, I featured in a Chinese phone brand- Simoco Mobiles and following that, I did my last ad, before moving to Delhi, featuring in Bengal’s local dairy- Thacker Dairy. 18 years in Delhi couldn’t give me what those 4 years in Kolkata did. My deep-rooted indulgence in dance, art and acting was cultivated in the land of Durga Maa.

17 years down the lane, I got a fair chance to work with ETBrandEquity, the branding and advertising segment of The Economic Times. Looking at the ad land from the other side of the lens now, gives me a totally different perspective towards the advertising world. Being a child actress for ads once and now looking at it from an editorial perspective teaches me how all branches of mass communication bridge the gap between the creator and the viewer of a mass media product. The number of bogeys required to sync in unison and make one successful train of marketing in order to facilitate brands reach their profit goals, puts me in a deep thought of a one whole phenomenal process altogether.

You see, the power of advertising is not just limited to brand marketing but there are a number of actors we know of only because they featured in some of the most memorable ads. From the Liril ad girl to the Vodafone pug to the Onida TV’s devil, the brands connected with the audience via a relatable mascot. Thacker Dairy, “the taste of Bengal” back then featured me on the billboards then, ultimately making me the face of the brand. I went from being just another girl to the “mummy its yummy” girl of Thacker Dairy for years in Kolkata and especially my school. I still remember how my friends and family used to send me photos of them standing with my billboard and showing me “Oh look you’re on park street’s hoarding now.”

Looking back, I am extremely overwhelmed with my fate of being somehow connected with the advertising world this way or the other. It’s a muse to think, how the stars play out. Waiting to see how the story unfolds further.