Advertising guru, veteran actor and theatre personality Alyque Padamsee died yesterday morning, his family said.
He was 90. Padamsee had been ailing for sometime and died around 5.30am at a private hospital. He is survived by two former wives and a former partner and four children, besides other relatives, several of them prominent names in the glamour and entertainment industry.
Among various professional achievements, Padamsee is best remembered for his role of a stern and stubborn Mohamed Ali Jinnah in Richard Attenborough’s multi-Oscar award winner classic Gandhi (1982).
A renowned personality in the English theatre scene, he produced around 70 plays, including notable ones like Evita, Tughlaqa, Jesus Christ Superstar, Death of a Salesman, A Streetcar Named Desire and Broken Images.
During his career in advertising, most notably as the chief executive of one of India’s biggest advertising agencies, Lintas India, from 1980 to 1994, Padamsee was involved in nurturing and building over a 100 major products/brands through catchy and imaginative campaigns.
He shot to global fame in brand promotions with memorable and highly successful advertising campaigns like the Liril girl in a waterfall, Lalitaji in Surf, Hamara Bajaj, MRF Muscle Man, Cherry Blossom and the Kamasutra Couple among others.
Later, in 1994, he founded and was the CEO of AP Advertising Pvt Ltd, specialising in image and communication consultancies for celebrities and brands, both domestic and international.
“He had the knack of infusing glamour into ordinary products and simultaneously created a desire for deluxe products among the common masses, creating both superbrands and superconsumers. That was the secret of his success in the complex field of advertising,” said veteran marketing consultant Pradeep Menon.
This, Menon said, suited both – the manufacturers and consumers – with advertising performing the perfect role of the medium at a time when it was still limited to dark cinema halls and black-and-white pages of newspapers or magazines, unlike the post-1990s.
Padamsee was born in an aristocratic but highly conservative Khoja Muslim family to Jafferbhai and Kulsumbai Padamsee of Gujarat. One of his brothers is the famous modern Indian art painter Akbar Padamsee.
Padamsee was conferred several honours during his lifetime including the Padma Shri, Advertising Man of The Century and the Sangeet Natak Akademi Tagore Ratna. His last rites will be performed today morning.
“Saddened by the demise of Alyque Padamsee. A wonderful communicator, his extensive work in the world of advertising will always be remembered. His contribution to theatre was also noteworthy,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in a tribute.
A close associate and activist Teesta Setalvad recalls how she was summoned by Padamsee for her story on the Rajasthan drought in 1987.
Related Story