Abhishek Bacchan on celebrity endorsements


NDTV: Joining us today on the show is Abhishek Bachchan; Abhishek welcome to the show.

Abhishek Bacchan: Thank you.

NDTV: You've just tied up with Zapak for the merchandise of Drona- tell us about this partnership.

Abhishek Bacchan: Well Drona as a film and as a script lends itself to a lot of merchandising. Stuff like swords, mugs, T shirts, we've come up with magic sets- then the usual pads, key chains, pens...there's a magic marker book. So it's a very magical film. So there's a lot of opportunity to do a lot of merchandising and we felt that a tie up like this would best help us put our merchandise out there.

NDTV: You've done a lot of commercials in the past and in most of them like Drona you are playing a character instead of just playing Abhishek- tell us about some of them- like 'Idea'.

Abhishek Bacchan: Well I think 'Idea's' campaign has always been very intelligent, very unique; something which has always been a clutter breaker. They felt that I should play this character in it. The creatives are conceptualised by the agency. They come up with it, I approved it- I thought they best conveyed the message that we were trying to get out there. At the end of the day it's not about whether I play myself or not, it's about what is the best medium and the best way to get the message or whatever you are trying to sell to the audience.

NDTV: Do you think it's also because you are not hard selling a product but actually selling an idea quite literally?

Abhishek Bacchan: Well the idea behind 'Idea' is that - an idea and we believe an idea can change your life and we have changed many lives thankfully and the advertising campaign has always been very innovative and I enjoy the style that they've adopted to promote idea.

NDTV: What about Motorocker especially the one where the guy is grooving to the tune of the 'Motorocker' even when he is dead. How did that come about?

Abhishek Bacchan: That was the brain child of Abhijit Awasthi and Prashant Issar the director and the creative head of the agency from O&M- they are two brilliant minds. Prashant is a dear dear old friend, the director and very whacky so they come up with some great concepts, that was completely the idea and I thought it completely suited the youth appeal that Motorola has. And I really think that all the communication that they have done is really very appealing.

NDTV: Is there any recent commercial- could be of any genre- that you've really liked?

Abhishek Bacchan: I like the latest 'Idea' campaign...I think the 'Idea' campaigns are very very nice!

NDTV: Would there be any Indian celebrity endorser who you like or whose campaigns you really like?

Abhishek Bacchan: I think Amir comes up with some great campaigns and they are very pleasurable to watch; he's not afraid to try something new and that's great fun.

NDTV: Your dad and you sometime back did this car commercial, which didn't go down very well with the audiences probably because people don't identify with you actually driving a car like that or driving yourself and not being chauffer driven?

Abhishek Bacchan: I don't agree with that- I think it's a wrong conclusion to draw, many years after the Versa ad, when my contract with Maruti was completed I signed up with Ford Fiesta and that year it became the highest selling car in its class and it did very very well. In those ads I drove myself as well. I just think at the end of the day celebrities get the eye balls but the true talking is done by the product itself. The success of the product depends completely on how good the product is.

NDTV: Your dad does a lot of commercials as well- so is there anything you pick from him or any kind of advice that you take from him when you choose a particular brand?

Abhishek Bacchan: No when you choose a brand, you have to know you are lending your name to something so you have to believe in that brand, what it stands for and what it represents.

NDTV: Do you normally use or stand by the brands and products you endorse?

Abhishek Bacchan: Well I'm wearing an Omega and I'm carrying my Motorocker; so yes, I do. If I'm lending my name to something then I don't not carry it- I think it's only correct that I use those products. It just so happens that all these products are products I've always used and I believe in I enjoy using.

NDTV: Also do we see you and Aishwarya in a commercial together?

Abhishek Bacchan: No not as of now, we haven't been offered anything that has excited us.

NDTV: Thank you for talking to us.