He calls himself an angrez because he speaks, thinks and writes in English. He says he has lost touch with his mother tongue, Telugu. But if there is anything that makes Madhukar Sabnavis, Country Head, Planning, Ogilvy, a desi at heart, it is his passion for Hindi films.

“Hindi films touch my heart,” he says. “I can’t relate to English films in the same way.” Sabnavis can be called a walking encyclopedia of Hindi films. He can give you a panoramic view of Bollywood and zoom in on its rich anecdotes. He can lead you through its colourful histories and acquaint you with its stars. He can wax eloquent about KL Saigal, dwell on the intense romanticism of Rajesh Khanna, and launch into the youthful exuberance of Wake Up Sid and Rock On!!, all with the incredible ease and authority of a seasoned film critic .

He fondly remembers watching the films of Asha Parekh and Rajesh Khanna in Capitol and Eros in Mumbai, two of the city’s oldest theatres. The last film that he saw in Capitol was a film starring Asha Parekh and Jeetendra, produced by Nasir Hussain. “Did you know that Nasir Hussain is Aamir Khan’s uncle,” he asks. He thanks Stardust magazine for the juicy tidbits he picks up. “I devoured it page by page during my school and college days,” he confesses.

“Hindi films helped me to understand our culture better and inspired many of my ad campaigns.”

Last month, Sabnavis celebrated his 47th birthday. And he will remember it for long. Someone rang up to wish him. It took a few moments for him to realise that the unfamiliar, dulcet tones at the other end belonged to Katrina Kaif, his current filmi heartthrob.

“I told my colleagues that I was crazy about her. Of course, I was just kidding. A creative director took it seriously and got her to call me on my birthday,” he says, a bit embarrassed. Looking around, one can see huge posters of Katrina Kaif tucked away in a corner of his office. Scattered around are birthday wishes from friends. A colleague walks in, and overhearing the conversation, chips in: “Earlier, Sabnavis used to root for Rani Mukherjee. Now, he has dumped her and moved on to Katrina Kaif.” Madhukar laughs aloud: “I can’t be loyal to Rani all my life. The only person I have been loyal to all through is my wife.”

Mirroring Society

His relationship with Hindi films has been both educational and inspirational. “They helped me to understand our culture better and inspired many of my ad campaigns,” he says. Sabnavis believes that all art forms mirror society. The films of Raj Kapoor and Dilip Kumar had a mixture of patriotism and idealism in them. When Amitabh Bachchan burst on to the scene in the 1970s, he represented a young and raging India. “I look at him as a character who represented the seventies, an era when we fought for change."

Movies portray not only changing beliefs and aspirations, but also shifting trends and lifestyles. He points out that the coloured masks of villains keep changing. Rich zamindars gave way to smugglers and gangsters, before metamorphosing into terrorists scheming to break the country apart.

At the same time, he is critical of Hindi films clinging on to orthodox values. The idea of marriage or the way women are projected onscreen, for example, have not changed much, says Sabnavis. “Be it Bobby in the seventies or Kaho Na Pyaar Hai in the late nineties or Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham, all of them were about a rich boy falling in love with a poor girl and the families accepting each other.” Heroines are moulded mostly in the cast of homemakers. There aren’t many films with women in the lead. “I doubt whether a film such as Lamhe (where the heroine falls for her dead mother’s true love) will ever work.”

Has he ever created an ad based on the insights he got from a particular film? “I can’t remember working on an ad entirely like that. But Hindi films have always
influenced my thoughts,” he says.

Sparks Of Inspiration

In fact, Josy Paul, CEO and National Creative Director, BBDO India, has fond memories of Sabnavis spicing up ad presentations with movie clips. Paul had worked extensively with Sabnavis at Bates David Enterprise (now Bates India). “Each time we pitched for an account, we would invariably give it Sabnavis’ flourishes and that used to really liven up the presentation.” He recalls putting excerpts of a Paresh Rawal film in one of their pitches. “It was a boring presentation for a company selling lottery tickets. The moment we inserted a few film clips, the entire experience was so lively,” says Paul.

“We Indians are comfortable with over-the-top stuff and Hindi films are completely over-the-top.”

However, Sabnavis thinks that most creative people in India are influenced by the West. The biggest difference between the West and the East, according to him, is that as far as creativity is concerned, the West gives emphasis on content, Indians on feelings and emotions.

“Cadbury’s Pappu Pass Ho Gaya ad campaign may not have impressed the Cannes jury, but it was a very successful campaign,” he points out. The jury, according to him, is hung up on great ideas, whereas Indians fall for over-the-top-ideas that are laced with feelings and emotion. It’s the Hindi film influence. Even the Cadbury’s campaign, in which a girl dances with abandon on a cricket field when her boyfriend hits a six, is nothing but a short Hindi film, he says. “I think the Airtel ad featuring Shreyas Talpade is also a brilliant one. We Indians are comfortable with over-the-top-stuff and Hindi films are completely over-the-top.”

Sabnavis is confident that it is just a matter of time before Indian ad makers get comfortable with Indian ideas. “It took us 40 years after independence to get over the inferiority complex we suffered as a nation. I am sure we will soon be comfortable
with ourselves.”