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The Economic Times on Sunday Your relationship The Economic Times on Sunday OCTOBER 2-8, 2011 16 centrespread with time p.31 OCTOBER 2-8, 2011 17 centrespread

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FILMING MARKETING THE MAHATMA The power of Brand Gandhi and why it’s The movie that made not always a good thing to capitalise on it In 2001, tried to tie up with celebrity management company CMG Worldwide to money, and still does Mahatma in the Mix manage Gandhi. Needless to say the deal ruffled many feathers and was called off. Marketing the Mahatma is always a tricky business. But if politicians can shamelessly borrow his name, Gandhi (1982) The great man was born this day, 142 years ago. As is inevitable with great men, Mahatma inspired and continues why can’t businesses? Here’s a short history of Brand Mahatma. 1 DIRECTED BY: Richard Attenborough to inspire ideas — in culture, in business, even in fashion. Also inevitable, some of the ideas generate controversies. Interestingly the only authoritative film on Gandhi Apple Think Different Campaign: 1997 is by a Brit director. The irony if it’s not obvious to ET on Sunday looks at how Brand Gandhi has played out over the years Realising there’s safety in numbers, Apple used images of many great leaders, including you, you must be fatigued by the numerous Gandhi, with its tagline ‘Think Different’ to promote watchings of the film on good ol’ Doordarshan. lateral thinking. The one-minute commercial featured black-and-white footage of 17 iconic EARNED: `258 crore* 20th century personalities. MOHANDAS KARAMCHAND GANDHI Telecom Italia Gandhi Commercial: 2004 A QUICK BIO AKA: , MAHATMA, FATHER OF THE NATION But Mahatma is mostly not Telecom Italia released a commercial using Gandhi’s feature and excerpts of his speech at the profitable, moviewise Inter-Asian Relations Conference, New Delhi, 1947. Though the commercial won Europe’s pre- mier creative award, the Epica Award for the year, it invited ire for using Gandhi’s image. BORN QUALIFICATION SUNSIGN PLACES HE WORKED PREFERRED MODE OF DIET TRANSPORTATION The Making of the Mahatma Oct 2, 1869 Barrister at Law, London Libra , South Africa, England Goat milk, jaggery, Handi Gandhi: 2005 2 On foot, mostly. Travelled rice, wheat, fruits (1996) DIRECTED BY: Shyam Benegal A New South Wales company Handi-Gandhi sold beef curry with Bapu’s face on it. Tushar Gand- third class by train and vegetables hi came to the rescue. He approached Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to ask the Australian Benegal’s traces his early life in South Africa. The government intervene and stop the curry from cooking. film, funded by National Films Division Corporation WORK EX and South African Broadcasting Corporation, was Virgin Group Credit Card: 2007 Was an ambulance not intended as a commercial project. The use of ’s image in a Virgin Group credit card advertisement triggered driver during protests in South Africa. The ad shows Gandhi, his lips moving, speaking for the credit card. the Boer war in 3 (2000) South Africa Mont Blanc Mahatma Pens: 2009 DIRECTED BY: Founded the African Mont Blanc wants better sales in India. Strategy: use Bapu as Stranger films have made it as India’s Oscar National Congress an icon and design a super luxury pen in his name. Unfortu- entries. This Gandhi-yet-not-quite-a-Gandhi film and fought for the nately, the pen, tagged at `11 lakh a piece, never took off as GANDHI & BOOKS rights of Indian self-confessed guardians of the Mahatma name cried foul at is about a wannabe Gandhi slayer who later workers in South this travesty of his beliefs. turns Gandhian in life. The man inspired many books but here are Africa in 1912 the three that ruffled feathers, big time Eternal Gandhi: 2011 EARNED: `1.3 crore Launched Non- Cooperation Today the Aditya Birla Group-pro- Movement in 1920 moted Eternal Gandhi brand will Nine Hours To open its first shop at the 4 Gandhi, My Father (2007) STANLEY WOLPERT Launched the Salt International airport. The outlet will DIRECTED BY: Feroze Khan Don’t try to find a copy in your local bookstore, in 1930 stock around 50 custom-designed items, including puzzle cubes, crystal A film that’s not so much on Gandhi, the leader but it’s banned in India. A work of historical Started Quit India fiction, the book traces the life of Nathuram Movement in 1942 cubes, watches, statues of the three Gandhi, the dad. Tracks the strained relationship Godse, nine hours before he shot Gandhi. monkeys, shirts and more. between Gandhi and his eldest son Harilal. DIED Miscellaneous Products Jan 30, 1948 EARNED: `2.5 crore Great Soul: Mahatma Gandhi Gandhi has always inspired many products. From tee-shirts to JOSEPH LELYVELD bags to even shoes. While Delhi-based stationery design house The book was banned in Gandhi’s native state DesignWallas has got his smiling mug on their Iconoclastic Special Mention Gujarat. It stirred controversy and anger over refer- notebooks, Tantra (the T-shirt people) has a Gandhi tee that uses his ences to the Gandhi’s alleged racism, bisexuality, iconic glasses with a line ‘Gandhi: They don’t make ’em like him any- (2006) 5 sexual perversion and even political ineptitude. more’ (pic right). Even Italian porcelain maker Lladro launched a DIRECTED BY: Raju Hirani Gandhi statue in 2008 for `11, 000. The movie reinvented as ‘’. Gandhi: Naked Ambition Interestingly, a US-based site zazzle.com offers many Gandhi-inspired products — from T-shirts, And made Hirani the current favourite of the keychains, coasters to even shoes using Gandhi imagery and famous quotes. JAD ADAMS masses who champions common causes through humour and good ol’ masala cinema. The book takes the word ‘naked’ literally. It’s better known for throwing light on Gandhi’s unusual sex life EARNED: — his idea of celibacy, his sermons on the topic and `95 crore his practice of sleeping naked next to naked women The fabric he championed and the topi are *Figures are not inflation adjusted. to test his restraint. GANDHI & FASHION weighed down by his legacy Sources: boxofficeindia.com, imdb.com, boxofficemojo.com The Gandhi Topi is Back Is Khadi Reinventing Itself? Though Gandhi rarely wore the creation that bears his Do you know the latest rage in international fashion? PLAYING GANDHI name, the Gandhi topi was a well thought out political Khadi denim! With global brands swearing allegiance to move on the leader’s part. His idea was to create a sym- the cult of ‘conscientious consumption’, it’s the new Gandhi’s life was dramatic and hence easy fodder for the stage plays bol — something that will replace the myriad Indian black. But reinventing khadi is not a simple task. Possi- Mee Boltoy Mahatma vs Gandhi Opera Satyagraha headgears. After much deliberation he modelled the bly because it carries the weight of our freedom struggle white topi on the Kashmiri cap. While followers from in every warp and weft. It has been trying hard to Directed by veteran Marathi actor Vinay Director Feroze Abbas Khan examines the Composed by Philip Glass, the opera is based on Nehru to Shastri doffed their hats to the topi and wore revamp through khadi blends, and designers like Rohit Apte, it premises that Godse was misunder- troubled relationship of Gandhi with his the life of Gandhi, and is the second part of Glass’s it diligently, the cap lost it’s appeal somewhere in the Bal, Ritu Kumar, Abu Jani and Sandeep Khosla, have stood as the villain in the Indian history. He eldest son Harilal. The play is based on the “Portrait Trilogy” of operas about men who mid-60s. Thanks to Anna Hazare, it’s back. Incidentally, used it. But it needs to become fashionable. Maybe the tells his own story on how he came to kill Gujarati novel Prakashno Padcchayo and changed the world (includes Einstein & Akhnaten). the khadi stores in New Delhi sold at least 300-400 denim can beat khadi’s blues. Gandhi. Needless to say, the play has been is about the anguish of Mahatma, as a It was first performed at the Stadsschouwburg in pieces a day during Hazare’s epic fast for `39 each. banned after being critically acclaimed. father, and not of the nation. Rotterdam, The Netherlands in September 1980. Text: Nupur Amarnath and TV Mahalingam Illustration: Alankar

Television: Gandhi was one the lead characters in a short-lived Canadian- All of the Top 8 metro cities in Gandhi statues and busts are located in cities Tata Nano was designed using a Every Indian rupee note Governments, both present and past, love to use Mahatma’s American animated series on a special school for clones of great men and women. India have a road named after the across the world. A Gandhi statue watches concept called ‘Gandhian engineering’ has an image of Gandhi. name. Welfare schemes like Mahatma Gandhi Bunkar Bima In the series, Gandhi, like his best friend Abe, is struggling to live up to his clone Mahatma, more often than not over the public squares of cities like Guadala- or frugal engineering which uses the The RBI started printing Yojana, Mahatma Gandhi Gramin Basti Yojana and Mahatma father Mahatma Gandhi. So he reinvents himself as a wild party animal. referred to as MG Road jara (Mexico), Santiago (Chile), Vancouver minimalistic approach to solve the ‘Mahatma Gandhi Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act have (Canada) and Antwerp (Belgium) complex engineering problems series’ in 1996 been named after him