Advertising legend Prahlad Kakar’s autobiography, Adman Madman, co-written with editor Rupangi Sharma, begins with a ‘laugh-out loud’ anecdote. He is admitted into a kindergarten school called Kumkum on Lodhi Road, New Delhi. Prahlad became friends with Naveen, a fair and good-looking boy. The school owner’s daughter, Kumkum had eyes for Naveen.
The two boys used to sneak into a hidey-hole in the tall hedges. One day Kumkum discovered it. She asked to be a member. They resisted. She said she would inform her mother. So, the boys relented. One day, Kumkum said, “If you show me yours, I’ll show you mine.” Not surprisingly, what followed, albeit innocent, resulted in Prahlad and Naveen getting expelled from school.
Thus, the reader is off and running as he reads one of the most absorbing autobiographies of the present times. It is a linear story: from school (St Thomas, Dehradun, and Sainik School, Karnal) to college (Ferguson’s College, Pune) to an advertising career, which began in 1971.
Prahlad joined Advertising and Sales Promotion Company, and worked under acclaimed film director Shyam Benegal. He also assisted in Benegal’s landmark films, Ankur, Manthan and Bhumika.
This book is conspicuously a must-read for anybody in the advertising industry. The reader can get an idea of what happened behind the scenes of those iconic Pepsi ads, like ‘Yeh Dil Maange More’, and ‘Nothing Official About It’, which starred Sachin Tendulkar, Shah Rukh, Amitabh Bachchan and the others. But it promises to be engaging also for those not from or aspiring to be part of the industry.
Prahlad has pepperd the text with interesting anecdotes about not just memorable advertisements which became a part of almost all TV-owning Indian households, but also some of Bollywood favourites. There’s the story of how Prahlad’s colleague, Monica Sehgal, at Genesis Film Production, rooted to give a then unknown Aishwarya Rai a break. Initially not too impressed by the beauty queen, Prahlad transformed into a most impressive mentor for her, and many others who went on to have stellar careers in the media.
The author also talks about his romantic liaisons, his love for scuba diving, and the bakra he made of comedian Cyrus Broacha during a shoot. This adman is indeed a madman.