“Big decisions are really like lollypops…we should not intellectualise them too much” – this was the central message of film maker R. Balki's lecture at ‘Saarang 2012', at IIT-Madras on Friday.
He was explaining the idea he had used in the ad of a popular jewellery brand, where the bride who is reluctant to get married changes her mind soon after she tries out some diamond jewellery of the brand. “Often, a lot of people get married because they are excited about the idea of a celebration….and they want to look good on the day of their wedding…that's all,' he said, as students roared in laughter.
Screening clippings from some of the ads he made, and his films ‘Cheeni Kum' and ‘Paa', he spoke on the idea of creativity in ad film making and films. “The nice thing about the advertising profession is that when you wake up every morning and go to work, there is a problem (selling a product) and by end of day, you have to come up with a solution,” said Balki, also the Chairman and Chief Creative Officer of Lowe Lintas.
Elaborating on the idea of creativity, he said: “I don't understand what people mean by creativity. We do not create anything…it's all there and we simply put the pieces together.”
An interesting solution is all that it takes to capture the viewer's attention. “We do not need right solutions, it should simply be interesting.” Responding to a student's question on how he would strike a balance between selling a problem and being sensitive to social issues, he said: “We do fairness cream ads and often face criticism for that. I was on a popular television show in which some activists were also on the panel. Just before we began, the anchor and the activists went into the green room, applied lots of make up and were visibly fairer. Later, on the show, they asked me why I made ads that discriminated against dark-skinned people. I tried telling them that I was merely reflecting some realities, but they would not agree,” he said. In addition to such lectures, day 2 of Saarang also saw other interesting events such as a mime and dance workshops, preliminary rounds to the light music event. The Hindu is the media partner for Saarang 2012.
‘The Hindu – NxG Rock Star', a college and high school western music competition will be held at the SAC Auditorium, IIT-Madras, at 2.30 p.m. on Saturday.
