Informal,Enjoyable: Prasoon Joshi

“In any other interview,I wouldn’t have asked Sorrell why he came to India so often. But the informal tone at the Adda made it easy to discuss many issues,” says ad-man and lyricist Prasoon Joshi,who was in conversation with Martin Sorrell,CEO of the WPP Group. “Here,the body language and choice of words,as opposed to a formal interview,was different,” he adds. “Conversations were not staged. Or else,people would have only asked Sorrell about his views on world economy and growth of the business sector,” says Joshi,who made his debut as a lyricist with Rajkumar

Santoshi’s Lajja. This was followed by a series of popular Bollywood films such as Hum Tum,Fanaa,Rang De Basanti,Taare Zameen Par,Black and Delhi 6.

As an ad-man,Joshi has created advertisements such as Saffola (Abhi to main jawan hoon) and Coca-Cola (thanda matlab Coca-Cola),which are considered by experts as one of India’s most relevant advertisements till date.

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A prolific writer-poet with contemporary views,Joshi was chosen as ‘Young Global Leader,2006’ by the Forum of Young Global Leaders. For him,Sorrell’s address at the Adda shed light on the fact that economies around the world have a consumerist point of view.

“India has a lot of potential as a consumerist country,while the West has already reached a saturation point and that is why everyone is here,” says Joshi.