Vintage Indian Ads

Ambiking Suitings ad: Ashok Kumar’s five fabric purchase tips

Ashok Kumar in Ambika King suitings ad

Ashok Kumar might have started as a reluctant actor, but Dadamoni soon transformed into one of the biggest stars of his time and Indian cinema’s first superhit Kismet (1943) had him as the lead. Ashok Kumar’s (born Kumudlal Ganguly) film career spanned over six decades in which he acted in about 300 films and a [...]

The Amul girl isn’t 50, yet: Trivia, an awesome image and a movie

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Utterly, butterly, ignoramus! I am a sucker for anniversaries. They give an opportunity to celebrate something that you want to and the occasion guarantees that readers notice (and also appreciate) your celebration. Was a bit surprised to find that the Indian media was marking the 50th anniversary of the Amul moppet, whereas her golden jubilee [...]

Great ads, Michelangelo’s David’s penis and The Times of India

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To celebrate its 153 years of existence, the Old Lady of Bori Bunder published a Lintas created advertisement that many, including the Advertising Council Standards of India, thought to be unbecoming of the Old Lady. The ad that stirred a controversy was published in a celebratory supplement in the November 3, 1991 issue of The [...]

Ad from 1979: Look, that’s Rekha with a Lakme face

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Apart from a few Lakme ads an the Lux ads, that is almost mandatory for any Bollywood actress of note to feature in, I haven’t seen the enigmatic Rekha in many other advertisements. Though I am quite sure, that given her popularity she would’ve appeared in a atleast a few more. At her peak in [...]

Salman Khan in his 20s in a 1980s ad for Hero Honda CD100

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The Salman Khan in this advertisement for Hero Honda CD100 is about 25 years younger than the superstar Salman of today and precedes his blockbuster debut in a lead role in Maine Pyar Kiya. Before entering his destined world of movies, @beingsalmankhan dabbled for a while in the world of modelling. This is one of [...]

Mithun ‘Gunmaster G-9′ Chakraborty and Kitu ‘Svetlana’ Gidwani together in an ad

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Very few actresses can the match the measure of elegance and sensuality that Kitu Gidwani has. I do not recall much of Trishna or Air hostess, that aired on Doordarshan in the early 1980s, but still remember that Svetlana Bannerjee of Swabhimaan (1995) gave my adolescent skin goosebumps. If I am not mistaken, Kitu Gidwani [...]

Rajesh Khanna and the Red Rose in Fabina Suitings & Shirtings ad

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I doubt whether the proprietors of Fabina Textiles Pvt. Ltd. watched Rajesh Khanna’s 1980 psycho-thriller Red Rose before agreeing the sign on the fading superstar for the advertisement? There are some films so bad that they are just plain bad, and there are some films so bad they are hair-raisingly awesome. Somewhere in the large [...]