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One of the most prominent figures in the Indian ad film industry, Prahlad Kakkar has served as the mastermind behind numerous memorable commercials. Recently, Kakkar took a trip down memory lane and recalled creating the famous Pepsi commercial featuring Aamir Khan and Aishwarya Rai. He also discussed why he chose Aamir over Shah Rukh Khan, despite the brand’s preference for the latter.
“Both of them had just launched their careers,” Kakkar said during a chat with Kreative Talkative while mentioning that Shah Rukh Khan had his own reasons for wanting to be in the commercial. “He wanted to own a flat in Bombay. Somebody wanted to sell their flat to him. ‘Mujhe Rs 6 lakh chaahiye (I need Rs 6 lakh) to own a flat,’ that was his be-all and end-all in terms of his ichha (wish).”
“Aamir had just come out of Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak and he didn’t want to do ads because there was a stigma involved that a mainstream actor would do ads only when they are broke or not doing well,” he said, adding, “I said ‘no, Shah Rukh’s time will come’. He had not launched himself as the character, where as with Aamir, I don’t have to worry about explaining it to him as he’s the character from the film. Then we only had to find the two girls.”
He then spoke about casting Aishwarya in the ad, who was already a popular name in the modelling world. “Everybody — from the client to the peon in my office — had their own vision of what Aishwarya’s character should look like. Aishwarya walked into my office… one of the girls dragged her from Kailash’s office where she had gone for an audition. She looked like a typical student wearing torn jeans with slightly rumpled hair, but nice mane of hair. She had the most startling eyes that I had ever seen. When I went to get the cast approved, they (the clients) said, ‘Not bad, now show us the rest (implying to see other options for the role).’ I said there was no rest and they said, ‘What do you mean, you are not giving us a choice?’ and I replied I can’t since they don’t make them in twos,” he added.
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