The Advertisements I Still Admire

Going back in time has always been so much fun for me. I always enjoy talking about the days that have passed. Infact I guess everyone of us enjoy this and do discuss with our family and friends about our past. There's a lot to talk about past ; the childhood, the fun, friends & learning small stuffs like riding bycycle etc. Everything is so so close to our heart that we just feel touched when we talk about them. Even television is something that takes a special place in our memories. I talked about television and its memories earlier too and now I would like to talk about TV Ads – The Advertisements / Commercials. Doordarshan gave a great piece of collection to the advertising world. Ek chidiya anek chidiya was the doordarshan commercial to convey the message of Unity. Then Mile sur mera tumhara was another one. Sometimes when I think about an idea I use the words “Per jugat lagani hogi” . The advertisements that we still keep clear vision of is Lijjat pappad. Can anyone think about a simple product of pappad getting such popularity, all credit goes to advertisement. I always praise the advertisement world because of its creativity.




Not only today's Zoo Zoos of vodafone show the creativity but when it comes to art & creativity I always appriciate The 7 Up (cold drink) toon - Fido dido. I even got first price trophy when I made 7Up poster in my school's poster making competition and thats the hugest trophy I got in my life. I even loved the Pan Pasand Ad, short & sweet and the Jalebi Ad of Dhara, oh.. my mouth is watering. The boy in Jalebi Ad was sooo cute, he even acted in the movie Kuch kuch hota hai & Sikander. The ice cream Ads are always kids favorite, Amul's Doodh doodh doodh commercial was something that encouraged us at home to drink milk. The sunday ho ya monday roz khao ande jingle was also good. Though I am a pure vegeterian but still liked the commercial. The United Pressure cooker commercial – Khaye jao khaye jao United ke gun gaye jao, was another I remember.
There were few products who's advertisements were really nice and are still continuing with the same flow : Fevicol is one of them. The two elephants pulling a box & showing Fevicol ka jod. After this came the ad where a bus was completely covered with Rajasthani crowd sitting, hanging all over it again showing fevicol ka jod and then fevicol Ads became so popular. I always adore Cadburies Ads, they always show something special in their Ads something very chocolaty . Even Cold drinks ads have always been the point of attraction. Does anybody remember the Aishwarya Rai and Aamir's Pepsi Ad where Aish is named Sanju/Sanjana and even Mahima chaudhary was there. She looked so different in it. Pepsi's Ye hi hai right choice baby was a nice slogan.




When it comes to bollywood involved in advertisements there were many good, famous advertisements. Pepsi was one as I earlier said. Then a very nice classic ad that I remember was Dharamendra's Rajdoot Ad- Ek jaandar sawari, shaandar sawari. What an amaizing casting for the jaandar sawari. I love advertisement world also because of that, they know exactly what to do and how to do. Well coming back to bollywood, Complan's I am a complan boy, I am a complan girl was the debut of Shahid Kapoor & Ayesha Takeya. Then there was Mayor Suitings starring Shahrukh Khan – Shahrukh Mayor Khan, Digjam Suitings had Shekher Kapoor. Yes, the director Shekhar Kapoor. And remember the Titan's symphony (Check it here: You Tube ) well the girl playing piano in that Ad is Minisha Lamba.
Some of the classic rememberable Ads were Hamara Bajaj. I think at that time almost every common man had Bajaj scooter. Thats the power of advertisements. And Bajaj reminds me of Bajaj Bulb – Jab bhi roshni deta bajaj. It was an awesome Advertisement. Chip-chip chip-chip chip-chip Fevistick, another cute Ad of Dhara:Jalebi boy (Parzun Dastur). Feviquick's Ad was a hilarious Ad, the one where a man comes for fishing. Even Beauty products had some nice commercials Vicco's Ads were also good with nice jingles. Nirma's jingle - Hema, Rekha, Jaya or sushma, sabki pasand Nirma. It was a nice jingle and all Hemas, Rekhas, Jayas and Sushmas must have experienced its popularity. We use to sing it to naughtily tease our neighbor, Jaya Aunty & Rekha Aunty. Even Liril's jingle la lala la la la.... was cool.
At the end I would say that Advertisements have always been a source of creativity and have always brought something new in the world of media and arts. So Keep the good work going and we hope for more such amaizing memories in future too.

IPTV & Internet TV - Two Different Technologies

I came across many people, who were confused between Internet TV and IPTV or say Internet Protocol Television. Just because both technologies contain a common word - "Internet" doesn't mean they are same. IPTV is a TV service such as those present today on cable services but delivered via IP-based secure channels. Note that the delivery of service is through Internet Protocol based secure, safe and private channel. Whereas Internet Television is an open framework in which a large number of medium sized video producers contribute highly. Here no secure channel delivery occurs, the data travels publically.

"IPTV is generally funded and supported by large telecom providers who have undertaken the mission of creating a competitive replacement product for digital cable and satellite services." (Jeremy Allaire)

"While the "IP" in its name stands for Internet Protocol, that doesn't mean people will log onto their favorite Web page to access television programming. The IP refers to a method of sending information over a secure, tightly managed network that results in a superior entertainment experience."
(Source: Businessweeek - " The real meaning of IPTV ")

As I said earlier both IPTV & Internet TV have only one thing in common, the word Internet. Other than that nothing else is common. The primary difference is the way in which the content is delivered. While Internet TV travels over the open, public, global Internet, IPTV uses a private, managed network.

"Carrying video over a proprietary network allows protection of content and control of video quality without worrying about the privacy and quality issues inherent to the public Internet," said Marty Richter, spokesman for AT&T, which is in the process of rolling out its U-verse fiber-to-the-home IPTV service. "Best-effort Internet video can be subject to delays due to lower bandwidth, high traffic or poor connection quality," he said. The end result of IPTV delivery is a higher quality, more reliable, and more consistent viewing experience, he added.

IPTV is particularly good for the established media content production business. Internet Television, is quite different in terms of the model. IPTV has total control of the content distributed. Also it reduces chances of theft and piracy. IPTV is an end-to-end system or say semi-closed network. IPTV approach is a geographically-bound approach. It offers everything that digital cable and satellite providers do, but with some additions of voice, and lower pricing.

In the Internet Television approach, the model is open to any rights holder, as it is based on the same publishing model that exists on the Web. Anyone can create an endpoint and publish that on a global basis. In the Internet Television approach the publisher has a direct communication channel to the consumer. In simple words anyone can upload his/her videos and anyone can watch video on Internet Television. Internet, though for secure video sharing password are used. Television is widely used by users for different purposes. Remember that Internet Television is an outgrowth, not a service.

IPTV uses standard networking protocols hence promises lower cost for both operators as well as users. IPTV uses Set Top Boxes with broadband internet connections using which video is streamed. This streamed video is more efficient than current coaxial cable. Both Internet TV and IPTV offer interactivity, but IPTV brings these capabilities to the TV screen. This includes features such as shopping and SMS (short messaging service) along with more targeted advertising.

IPTV and cable carriers will offer internet video as a means to defeat churn and build loyalty among subscribers. The addition of Internet video to standard cable-like IPTV programming could attract viewers who would otherwise be glued to the computer screen.

What I feel is Internet TV in India is quite not suitable (user friendly) service as we lack in channel availability on internet. While IPTV is establishing well in India since last 2-3 years and is providing almost 150 channels to its viewers. At the end, from a typical Indian TV viewer's point of view: Use IPTV to watch TV on your TV set, use Internet TV to watch TV on your computer system (which is less user-friendly for huge Indian masses).

DTH - Making Indian TV Viewing Better

DTH is becoming prime mode of entertainment nowadays. Its bringing a revolution in TV viewing. The quality of picture got improved. We are now moving towards the digital picture quality. No VCD and DVD collections required if you are a DTH user. DTH has a collection of movies, its video on demand provides a good collection of movies. In fact now the multiplexes are scared of DTH, since DTH is show casing latest movies.

Some of the attractive features and applications of DTH, making it popular among the people are : Pause-Play Live TV (no Rewind Live TV), Save TV programmes on STB for Later viewing, interactive games and applications like (telephonic) shopping etc. I even read an article or rather say a blog saying DTH now reaches 18 million homes, it is the 13 percent of 134 million TV homes in India. It is getting Rs 3000 odd crore. For more Read : http://www.indiandth.com/2009/11/dth-industry-glimpse-of-profits-at-last.html

DTH for sure is better than Local Cable Operator. Though a new user switching from local cable to DTH faces the common adjustment problems. But once you are familiar with it, you find it easy to use. With additional options of shortcut keys, list of your favorite shows and storage of shows for later viewing, DTH is able to attract its customers.

Now the challenge for DTH is not only to attract Local cable users, but also to compete with its competitors. We got many options for the DTH services: Dish TV, Tatasky, Airtel, Sun Direct, Reliance Big TV and Videocon d2h etc. The competition is tough, each is trying to lower the price in order to attract customers. Though the price is more or less same, but what customer wants is a complete package of entertainment.What I found after researching on internet is that today Dish TV is leading and Tatasky is next to Dish TV. In my words Shahrukh (Dish TV) beats Aamir (Tatasky) and wins the top title. The competition is even going one step ahead, DTH Vs Multiplexes. On one hand I buy a ticket of Rs100 – Rs 150 from multiplex to watch a movie, plus other expenses. While on the other hand I am watching a movie for Rs75 – Rs 100, without spending on expenses. Not only this, you can watch it with your whole family and friends at one person's ticket money.

The future of DTH is bright, but with lots of competition. Because IPTV is also emerging in India, which I already talked about in my previous posts ( IPTV - big leap in Television viewing and WHY IPTV ). And not only this DTH till now is investing more than its gaining. The investment in each new movie telecast is really a challenge for DTH. Unlike multiplexes its not getting paid per head, its getting paid per home. Even the content cost is more than 50 percent for DTH services. Well every new technology faces competition but lets see how DTH beats the competition and gets customers.

Our Favorite Foreign TV Shows

I was talking about TV shows at home before writing my last post and my mom popped into our conversation saying "Lucy was a fantastic show". And then a list of favorite foreign shows started building. Everyone had one or more to talk about. So I decided to write about Our Favorite Foreign Shows.

Since my mom finds Lucy fantastic, I'll talk about it first. I LOVE LUCY, four Prime Time Emmy winner. It was telecasted in mid or late 80s in India. Lucy Ricardo had funny situations in her life along with Ricky, Ethel and Fred (some other characters of the show) who were loved by everyone at that time.

Well when I was a kid I loved watching I DREAM OF JEANNIE (IDOJ) . Tony Nelson finds a bottle, opens it and Jeannie appears. I found the way Jeannie use to blink her eyes to do magic cute. Even her bottle house & her dress was cute. Me and my sister tried a lot to make a house like it for our doll. When it comes to magic shows I always remember Jeanie and BEWITCHED. Darrin Stephen after marring Samantha finds that Samantha is a witch and then the trouble in Darrin's life starts. Samantha's moving of her lips while doing magic was a style we use to try a lot to copy. I bet very few people could copy that. We used to find Samantha's daughter Tabitha very sweet and her voice was soooo innocent. The three shows IDOJ, BEWITCHED and THE THREE STOOGES came together on Sony TV. The Three stooges : Lary-Shemp-Moe, were three naughty guys fighting and arguing all the time. Their way of hitting each other and making weird faces, all those things were hilarious. Do you remember Mr. Wilson? Yes! I am talking about DENNIS THE MENACE. Dennis use to shout Hellooooooo Mr. Wilson and Mr. Wilson used to hide the moment he hears this sound. Martha, Henry and Margaret were also interesting characters of the show. Remember Margaret? She always tried to flatter Dennis. Another such show that I can watch a hundred times, is SMALL WONDER. Loved Vickie's Robotic accent and Harriet flirting with Jamie (Vickie's brother). I just wanted to see Vickie turning into human, but nothing exactly like that happened.

"The Three Stooges" Video

Not only Dubbed shows but the original English series on Zee English, Star World etc. were worth watching. My favorite were FULL HOUSE and FRIENDS. Love the friendship bond shown on these shows and one thing that I liked in Full House is that they have shown the same cast growing with time. It feels good seeing little Michelle growing so young in the series. And Friends is a I guess I don't need to talk about. One thing I would say, is that I liked Jennifer Aniston a lot in friends. Then there was HAPPY DAYS, SILVER SPOONS and DIFF'RENT STROKES. I still watch repeat telecast of Diff'Rent Strokes whenever I get time. Oh!! how can I forget REMINGTON STEELE starring Pierce Brosnan. Its mysteries where cool, it was a nice detective show, then there was hilarious DiDi's COMEDY SHOW also. Still Foriegn shows are loved by us. Disney is showing some really cool shows like HANNAH MONTANA, SUITE LIFE OF ZACK AND CODY, THAT'S SO RAVEN AND WIZARDS OF WAVERLY PLACE etc.

From Lucy (I Love Lucy) to Miley (Hannah Monatana) foreign shows are always loved by us. Hope my post refreshed your memories.

TV Shows You May Have Forgotten

Got a link last week, showing Flop Show's visual. It was hilarious and with that I realized that with time we are forgetting the shows we loved once. We still talk about Ramayana, Mahabharat, Humlog etc. but Flop show was also our favorite. I don't know you remember it or not but I do. It was Jaspal Bhatti's comedy show and another show Ulta Pulta was on his roll of comedy.

Comedy shows on doordarshan and other channels are now not seen even in our conversations. Do you remember Ye jo hai zindagi starring Shafi Inamdar (Ranjit), Swaroop Sampat (Renu), Rakesh Bedi (Raja), Jhumru and Chachi were also there, can't remember their original names. It was everyone's must watch show at my home. When it comes to comedy how can we forget Mongerilal ke haseen sapne starring Raghubir Yadav. The way he used to blink his eye before day dreaming. Wagle Ki Duniya was another comic show starring Anjan Srivastava and Bharati Achrekar. It was comedy in real life on ordinary people. We at home still laugh on its episode where Wagle goes to zoo(or may be picnic) with his family. I must say R.K Laxman's cartoon characters were very close to heart. I even loved DiDi's Comedy show (originally a German comedy show) a lot. The way Didi used to get stuck in funny situations made me laugh a lot in my childhood. There were many Foreign shows that we all must have seen and admired but now they are vanishing in the thin air. I'll do my next post on these shows.

As a kid I was a die hard fan of Dada dadi ki kahaniya, Potli baba ki and Sinhasan Battisi – The 32 stories of Vikram and Betaal. Me and my friends used to sing in chorus आया आया आया रे बाबा... छेन्नु की झुन्नू का बाबा.. The title song of Potli baba ki. My brother and sister as school students never missed watching Chunauti and Neev. Arif Zakaria and Suchitra Krishnamurthy did their debut in Chunauti. Talking about inspiration and motivation : Udaan gave me a great inspiration. Its this show that made me strong enough to handle critical situations of life. Everyone in my neighborhood use to call me Kalyani. Rajani too showed real women power. Priya Tendulker gave marvelous performance in it.

Many known stars of today, were struggling and new actors of that time. Shahrukh Khan's Doosra Keval is rarely recalled now, though his Fauji and Circus are still known to us. R Madhwan became famous in Seahawks – a show about navy merchants. Bhagyashree acted in Kachchi Dhoop opposite Ashutosh Gowalikar and I am quite sure very few people remember that now. Its title song was like this : कच्ची धुप, गुनगुनी धुप.... Well title songs are identity of serials and one such title song was Ghalib's :

बल्लीमारान के मोहल्ले की वो पेचीदा दलीलों की सी गलियां

सामने टाल के नुक्कड़ पर बटेरों के कसीदे

गुड़गुड़ाती हुई पान की पीकों में वो दाद वो वाह वाह

चंद दरवाजों पर लटके हुए बोसीदा से कुछ टाट के परदे

एक बकरी के मिमियाने की आवाज़

और धुंधलाई हुई शाम के बेनूर अँधेरे ...

ऐसे दीवारों से मुहं जोड़ के चलते हैं यहाँ

चूडीवालान के कटरे की बडी बी जैसे अपनी बुझती हुई आँखों से दरवाज़े टटोले

इसी बेनूर अँधेरी सी गली कासिम से

एक तरतीब चरागों की शुरू होती है

एक कुरान-ऐ-सुखन का सफा खुलता है

असद अल्लाह खान ग़ालिब का पता मिलता है

remember these lines? They are from Mirza Ghalib.

Gul Gulshan Gulfaam beautifully framed Kashmir. Even era after 1990 gave superb shows like Choti Si Asha, Ek Mahal ho sapno ka , Tara (Ta ra ra...ta ra ra..) and Junoon (Junoon Junoon Junoooon...). And at the end few more my favorite serials are : Daane Anar Ke, Sword of Tipu Sultan and Tamas. Tamas was a mini television series about India Pakistan after partition life. If you want to add more such shows, you are most welcome. I would love to recall my memories.