37 years later, what made ‘Wah Taj’ ad campaign featuring Zakir Hussain truly iconic?

Shot in Agra against the backdrop of Taj Mahal, it featured a charismatic Hussain performing a tabla riyaz. When a voiceover praises him saying, ‘Wah ustad, wah’, he responds, “Arre huzoor, wah Taj boliye!”

The advertisement was created by KV Sridhar (Pops) and KS Chakravarthy (Chax) and was shot by Sumantra Ghosal in the year 1987. Thirty-seven years later, it continues to evoke nostalgia.

“At that point, there were two issues that the brand was trying to tackle — one, complaints were coming about the tea’s quality going down with people insisting that the taste was inconsistent and two, it had an image that appealed to Western audiences,” KV Sridhar, now Global Chief Creative Officer with Nihilent Limited, told The Indian Express, adding that at that time, the brand had already been associated with elite figures such as Zeenat Aman and Malavika Tiwari, but wanted to connect with a wider audience.

The task of repositioning the brand, making it a more accessible and trustworthy brand with emphasis on quality, was handed to HTA (Hindustan Thompson Associates), now J. Walter Thompson (JWT).

“Now how does one communicate that? As a metaphor,” shared Sridhar who was then in his late 20s, adding that the metaphor was — “Just like a musician who practices for thousands of hours before giving you a perfect musical experience, we have tea tasters who have sampled thousands of blends before selecting this one.”

Legendary tabla player Zakir Hussain was brought in to play a pivotal role. “He was someone who had Western sensibilities but was truly Indian. You look at Ustad Zakir Hussain and you see his cheerful self, he doesn’t look like someone who is trying very hard… He was also gaining global prominence,” shared Sridhar. They also changed ‘Ah Taj’ to ‘Wah Taj’ to make it more palatable to a wider audience. “‘Ah!’ was refreshment and ‘Wah!’ was appreciation of taste and Zahir’s music,” he added.

“It was one of the most iconic ad campaigns because normally you end up using film stars or cricketers but it was one of the early brands to use a tabla player. It was nicely conceptualised and beautifully shot with the Taj Mahal serving as its backdrop,” shared author, brand coach and advertisement industry veteran Ambi Parameshwar, adding that the fact that we are talking 30 years later means it’s truly iconic.

“It’s the craftsmanship of that beautiful ad,” says Swati Bhattacharya, an advertisement professional and global head of Godrej Creative Labs, adding, “Every Indian classical music lover knows the power of ‘wah’..and when a maestro happily gives his wah wahai to the craft of his tea…it all fits.”