Adland Rockstars: Sagar Kapoor

 

 

I'm a commerce student, but soon into my course I realised I wasn't meant to do accounts. Marketing and advertising sounded like an area of my interest. Hence I did a post-graduation course in advertising. Writing was already a passion. I was specializing in PR in my post-graduation course, but my professors were keen on me doing copy-writing after I was caught doing copywriting projects on a freelance basis in college. They had an on-campus placement which I made a big mistake of taking up. It was a strange agency of three people, very close to the Mudra office. My only attraction was the fact that I thought some day I'd hop over and crack a deal for myself over there. I worked there for two years after which I joined an agency called Efficient Publicities. Later, me and my art partner joined Lowe.

 

At Lowe, I started off with a shoot where I tagged along with a senior to the sets and realised that this is what I want to do - be on the sets.

 

To be honest, I don't dislike anything about my job. Initially what excited me were shoots - the moment the TVC script is approved and one gets to shoot, there's a tremendous joy to it. Also, pitches excite me a lot, since they completely take your thinking into a different gear. Personally, I think it's a great time to be in advertising.

 

I don't think you can afford bad days in advertising. You can afford a few bad hours. By the time you think it's a bad day, you're already into thinking mode, trying to crack something again. Advertising is not like fine art, wherein if your TVC gets bombed, you can remain depressed.

 

Jaago Re for Tata Tea. Right from the conception to its execution, I think it was brilliant.

 

Prahlad Kakkar. Because he definitely has good taste in food. Haven't met him but I've heard some whacky stories about him.

 

Amitabh Bachchan.

 

3 Idiots, Inglorious Basterds, Burn After Reading.

 

Raju Hirani, Vishal Bhardwaj, Balki.

 

Too many to name, but Lifebuoy, ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund, ICICI Prudential Life Insurance amongst some recent examples.

 

My seniors Manoj Tapadia and Amer Jaleel. I learn a lot from Amer's reactions. I can't say he's taught me how to think, but he taught me how to analyze ideas and work around with them. I also learnt how to conduct myself in advertising. Your work is one part of it - how you conduct yourself in office is another big part of it.

 

PS3, whisky and my wife.