HodgePodge Jottings: The Superstar of Indian Commercials

The journey of this small town gawky young lad from Jharkhand, to the center of India’s cricket arena with his neck- length hair and dashing swashbuckling way with the bat is phenomenal. He caught the imagination of Indian youth and is a favourite among all -young and old alike. He has become cricket’s favourite poster boy. Hence, rightly so, he has been named the YOUTH ICON 2006 by MTV .

With fame and popularity endorsements follow naturally. By becoming the captain of India’s ODI and Twenty 20, he has become the darling of the advertisers and his simple flashing ready smile has endeared himself to the masses. He has taken over the mantle as top earner in commercials from his idol Sachin Tendulkar who arrived as a precocious teenager.

His aptitude is amazing .He can generate extreme power with his wristwork and bat speed and now he is using the same aggression prudently into commercial ads. Dhoni has all the four important traits for brand personality which are style, passion, dynamism and timelessness.

One of the early birds who spotted this future superstar of commercial ads was the Mysore Sandal soap people who claimed that Dhoni even has initials as their brand- MS. A young (bats) man and a soap! Well, it had the nation washing in Mysore sandal soaps.

Then there were the endorsements for Exide, TVS Motors , Bharat Petroleum , GE Money and Orient PSPO Fan to keep Dhoni cool. The Reliance Communications launched Dhoni-Dhanadan pack to their Reliance Mobile subscribers with goodies like Wicket Alerts, wallpapers, games, screensavers, SMS trivia, a Dhoni Zone and mobile communities based on him.

Somewhere down the line comes a complete makeover and the new spike haired look with the Brylcreem hair styling creams and color gels. Dhoni in different hep shades of coloured hair and coupled with that catchy jingle… “Ready to play with color- let your hair down, a little to the left, a little to the right, play with color”. The youngsters were hooked! A new star- a youth style icon is born!

When others were endorsing liquors, Dhoni guzzled milk and converted a generation of kids to hardcore milk drinkers! The men’s apparel Siyaram brand wanted an ideal role model targeting the young Indian for their MSD-Monday to Sunday Dressing. Who else but our dashing magnetic Dhoni fits the role like a wicket glove? He also has NDTV under his belt with Gameplan Sports providing professional expertise to him.

In a truly global campaign, Reebok the global brand and their 'Run Easy' advertisement is probably one of the first advertisements that features Indian cricket stars Dravid and Dhoni . In the ad, Thierry Henry, Nicole Vaidisova, Allen Iverson and Carolina Kluft are running. And running along with a collection of American football and basketball stars are Indian cricketersRahul Dravid and Mahendra Singh Dhoni.An enormous compliment given to both these cricketers by Reebok says “Dravid and Dhoni are great ambassadors for the brand who embody the philosophy -'I am what I am'. They are authentic individuals who express themselves in their own unique way both in sport and in life." In spite all this fame, money and endorsements, when queried about his popularity at a TV show, Dhoni replied, "It puts more responsibility on you." This icon has kept his head firmly on his shoulders.

Then, there is the Videocon Industries which pulled out Dravid and Dhoni after the World Cup debacle but Dhoni batted his way back into the Videocon ads after the World Twenty 20 win .Their entertaining Videocon ad, has Dhoni as the Om Shanti Om's superstar and Shahrukh Khan as the Indian Cricket Captain .Its a treat to watch Dhoni doing the six-packs Dard E Disco and the Om Shanti Om song and ofcourse the Rajesh Khanna spoof with that puffed hairdo and striped shirt. Shah Rukh hits some sixes and fours and celebrates victory with bubbly champagne. Dhoni definitely steals the show –thunder and lightening right from under Shah Rukh’s nose!

The recent really cool commercial ads of Pepsi and Sonata for the IPL Chennai Superkings team are incredibly amusing and hilarious. Anyone with a South Indian connection will not fail to appreciate the humor in this Pepsi ad, a la south superstar Rajinikanth, but the tag line still continues to be "Yeh hain Youngistan meri jaan." When introduced as a player from Jharkhand , the lungi clad Dhoni retorts by saying “Eh! Yemm Yesss Dhooooni from Chennaiii.” “All you fast bowlers ,I have the bat, do you have the ball” “Mind it!!” Just great. The Sonata commercial too is equally side-splitting…the song and dance which Dhoni and friends do is so very filmy and riotous.

Dhoni is turning out to be as good in acting as he is in cricketing. His acting prowess is better than Saif Ali Khan in the Lays Ad, as good as the south superstar Rajinikanth in the Pepsi Ad, rubs shoulder with Shah Rukh in the Videocon Ad .In fact, with his distinct looks, striking personality, charming smile, flowing mane or spiked hair, he poses a serious threat to Bollywood’s poster boy John Abraham.

Thus, the superstar of commercials is none other than MS Dhoni… ‘Mind It!!’