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5 minutes with... in association withAdobe Firefly
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5 Minutes with… Harshad Rajadhyaksha

11/07/2019
Advertising Agency
Hong Kong, Hong Kong
532
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Ogilvy India’s Harshad Rajadhyaksha talks Bollywood, being a Mumbaikar, and his upcoming gig at AD STARS 2019 as a final judge
If blood, sweat, dreams and tears can seep into the fabric of a city and bring it to life, Mumbai’s heart beats strongly – and Harshad Rajadhyaksha has his finger on its pulse.

Harshad is chief creative officer at Ogilvy India (West) in the port city of Mumbai, India’s artistic centre and advertising capital. He attended the Sir JJ School of Art, which alongside the Bombay Art Society, has been instrumental in developing Indian creativity since late colonial days. Mumbai is also home to Bombay Cinema, aka Bollywood, and Harshad’s Grandfather was a film director.

Call it environment or call it genes – it’s probably a bit of both – Harshad will soon be applying all of that nature and nurture to judging the Film and Video Stars categories at AD STARS 2019 in Busan, South Korea. He told reporter Lee Patten all about his latest work and the art of being surprising. 


LBB> Do you consciously draw on the rich cultural and political heritage of your home city when you make ads?

Harshad> I believe that great ideas can be universal, but I also believe that the expression of those ideas come alive best when drawn from localisation. So to answer your question, I draw on the cultural and social heritage of not just my city Mumbai, but from India as a whole, as most of our work caters to a national market. 

Universal ideas are understood by all, but they make a place in the consumer's heart if they see nuances in them that are part of their everyday lives. Life in Mumbai and India provide me with plenty of nuances for my work.


LBB> Is it true your grandfather was the cinematographer Bal Joglekar? How much of an influence did he have on your career path?

Harshad> It is indeed true. Frankly, in all my growing-up years, I knew him just as a loving, doting grandfather. I hardly paid any attention to his work then. As it happens with so many mistimings in life, only when a person leaves us do we miss not having spent more time asking them the important questions. Now I do wish I would’ve asked him hundreds of questions about his work, shooting feature films in the black and white era of Indian cinema.

While my parents (both applied artists) have been a more direct influence on me falling in love with communication arts and advertising, I do believe that my love for photography has somewhere indirectly been kindled by spending time with my grandfather tinkering away with his numerous cameras and rolls of film.


LBB> You grew up in Mumbai and still live and work there. What was it like being a kid in Mumbai?

Harshad> I grew up mainly in the 1980s, and I couldn’t have asked for a better era in which to grow up. Mumbai has always been to India what New York is to the world. Mumbai is a vibrant mix of people and their cultures from all over India – a melting pot of sorts. So growing up here, my neighbours and acquaintances have included people from so many states of India, all with their unique languages, cultures, and food! 

Many Indians would migrate to Mumbai to make a living, so I was exposed to a rich, encapsulated form of the whole of India itself. In our profession, nothing can be more valuable than the wealth of human observations.


LBB> I’ve been greatly enjoying your epic ‘A Close Shave in Mumbai’ photography series. How would you sum up the spirit of the city and Mumbaikars?

Harshad> Thank you for your kind words. What I try to capture in my photo series are absolutely simple, everyday moments that all of us lead in this super busy city. Beyond the pictures, what I think appeals to viewers are the insightful captions I write and design through typography on each frame. At times what these captions do is present a moment all of us would have seen a hundred times but in a totally different light.


Mumbai and its people are not just a great source of material for my album; they are an integral part of my life. This city to me is not just a place; it is a living entity, a tough but loving life-coach of sorts. A city that’s not easy to live in that is super fast-paced, that tries and tires you out at every turn, but then, it loves you back and rewards you like no other place can. No matter what your beginnings are, no goal is too high in Mumbai if you are ready to put in the effort and have the drive.


LBB> You must be extremely proud to be part of Ogilvy India’s ongoing ‘Start a Little Good’ campaign for Unilever. Can advertising be a real force for change on environmental issues?

Harshad> Yes, my work partner Kainaz Karmakar and I created that campaign, along with our team at Ogilvy. The two films out are just a beginning in what will be a journey touching upon several real issues where our client Unilever India is making a real difference on the ground.

While ‘Goriya’ the cow is a story that shines the light on the issue of plastic waste with a lighter touch, the ‘Shower’ film is consciously a far more intense and heart-tugging piece of work. The response to both pieces has been great, from people from all walks of life.
 
‘Shower’ has been shared on WhatsApp groups of all kinds, from spiritual gurus to their followers, to housing societies with their members, and schools with parents. Also, several schools have started showing and discussing the film with their students as teaching material on water conservation.


As long as anyone remembers the work and its message every time they turn on the shower knob or are about to chuck away plastic waste and act responsibly, the films have already done their bit to make things a little better than they were. That’s the ‘little good’ we are referring to – and yes, advertising can absolutely be an agent of good on any social issue, if created sincerely.

LBB> ‘Beauty Tips with Reshma’ for Make Love Not Scars wildly exceeded expectations and targets, with a limited budget. Does this prove that people still respond more strongly to a great cause, and to the power and bravery of a real person, than they ever will to glamour and celebrities?

Harshad> Yes, I think you summed it up well. India is a celebrity-crazy country, and their influence is everywhere through various endorsements. Also, people do respond to the messages given by celebrities when they promote products or thoughts, but Reshma’s case was different. She was a real person, severely attacked and traumatised in the most brutal way. However well-intentioned, I think no celebrity could ever come close to expressing any message on behalf of an acid attack survivor the way Reshma did. While it was a powerful idea, Reshma proved to be the soul of the campaign by agreeing to face the camera.


LBB> You’ve been working with Kainaz Karmakar since 2007 when you moved to JWT. Creatively, why do you think you fit so well together? 

Harshad> Kainaz and I have been colleagues and friends far before our official partnership started in 2007 when our then boss, Agnello Dias (Aggi) teamed us up at JWT. Since we were already friends for some six years before that, it meant that there was no ‘getting the work chemistry right’ period needed and we could hit the ground running. 

While we enjoy the strongest of partnerships, we are very different people in several ways, but therein lies our strength, I think. We trust each other absolutely, but on work, are quite firm on our respective outlooks. This often sees us have strong, intense debates about the task at hand. We keep chipping at each other’s thoughts, moulding and re-moulding them until both of us share the conviction that we have the best possible outcome at hand.

Like Kainaz often says, 1+1 will logically become 2. However, when two ideal people come together to create, that same logic is defied and 1+1 magically becomes 11.


LBB> What advice would you give to young people thinking about getting into the industry today?

Harshad> To all the young creatives, this is the simplest advice I’ve heard uttered from a big name in advertising – be surprising. From the first day of your professional life to as many years as you may call advertising home, if you are surprising in your solutions (while being relevant to the task, of course), you are truly creative, and the world is going to notice you for all the right reasons.


LBB> How do Indian regions differ in India when it comes to advertising?

Harshad> Mumbai, having been the traditional seat of industry and commerce for India since the colonial era, obviously saw the Indian advertising industry set up and flourish here. In fact, along with Mumbai in the early years, Kolkata (then Calcutta) too had its small share of professional advertising agencies. Because of this, Mumbai has been the obvious spearhead of the industry for decades now. 

However, the scene has shifted quite noticeably since the Indian markets opened to the world in the 1990s. Several new multinationals came and set up headquarters in Mumbai, but a considerable number also started setting up their presence in Bangalore and Delhi – and then serious Indian startups also began making their intent and presence felt, emerging from all these cities. 

As a result of which, most agency offices in cities like Delhi and Bangalore, which maybe were not professionally on par with their Mumbai offices a couple of decades ago, have now caught up. In some cases they have superseded their Mumbai offices in quality of output too. However, to again draw an American parallel, the advertising scene in Mumbai is like what New York is to the US. It is the home and capital of Indian advertising.


LBB> You’re coming to Busan, South Korea as a final judge this year. Can you tell us your expectations for judging at AD STARS?

Harshad> It’s always an enriching experience to see creative work in such concentrated doses, even though it can be tiring. However, I’m looking forward to the whole judging experience in Busan and interaction and discussions with my fellow jury members. 

As for Korea, I’ve never been there before. The traveller in me is already hoping that after doing justice to the judging, there will be some moments available to soak in at least some of the experiences that Busan has to offer. I am thoroughly looking forward to it all.
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