Shahrukh Love's Advertising !

I LOVE ADVERTISING :::
If I were given a choice between
watching a film or watching a
collection of good ads, I would
prefer to watch ads. I remember
when I was in Delhi I used to go
to an ad agency called Anthem,
where my friend used to work
as a copywriter. I would enjoy
sitting in for the brainstorming
sessions which involved
watching the world ’s best ads. I
would devotedly read Ogilvy &
Mather. During my free time in
college, I did production for a lot
of ads. Like the KLM Royal Dutch
Airlines campaign which
introduced their Jumbo Carrier
with the image of an elephant
carrying cargo on his back. As a
matter of fact, in college I took
up Mass Communication just to
make ad films. I did not want to
make feature films. I think 30-
second films are an art form,
and an art form which is very
difficult to master. Just like
brevity is the soul of writing, I
believe advertising is the soul of
filmmaking. Even today, I really
get excited when I see a well-
made ad. Unfortunately, now
that I have become a star,
there ’s only so much that can be
done with me as a model. You
have to use the ‘Shah Rukh Khan’
element.
Most people don’t know this, but
I have done a television ad for
Liberty shoes while I was
shooting Fauji. I looked really
ugly in it. All I did was to wear
my Puma t-shirt and football
shorts and jump. They are the
first sports shoes made in India
and I was their first model. The
second ad I did a Pan Parag kind
of product, but it never really
took off in the market.
Then there were a lot of public
service ads which I had done in
Delhi during Fauji and Dil Darya.
For one of these ads, I did my
first stunt, and that too without
an action choreographer. I
collided into a car with my two-
wheeler, and somersault onto
the bonnet and went over the
roof. The first ad I did after I
came to Bombay, the Tata Tea
ad, helped me to buy a house. I
did three films in three days
with Prahlad Kakkar. They were
produced by Pravin Nischol
(who later produced English
Babu Desi Mem).
They wanted me for the Pepsi ad
at the time, but they did a survey
and decided to take Aamir, who
was already a star. Mukul had
suggested my name because he
felt that I would be the Next Big
Thing. But after the survey, they
didn ’t take me..