Behind the Scenes of Iconic Indian Ad Films
Some of the real stories of filmmaking live in the space between ‘action’ and ‘cut.’
Sometimes it’s beautiful, sometimes it’s chaos, but it always makes for a good story. After so
many years of making ad films, I’ve learned that you can plan everything to perfection, and
life will still surprise you.
“When Mumbai Flooded and a Bathtub Went Missing”
Everyone remembers the Lux bathtub ad with Shah Rukh Khan. What people don’t know is
how close we came to not shooting it at all. Two days before the shoot, the July 26th floods of 2005 paralyzed Mumbai. Our bathtub, the centrepiece of everything, was stuck somewhere in the submerged city.
I reached the set that morning hoping it would arrive before the stars. Then I felt a tap on
my shoulder. Shah Rukh Khan stood there at 9:30 AM. He’d just dropped Aryan at school
and was ready to shoot, hours before his call time.
“Hema Ji is coming, and I can’t keep her waiting,” he said with that warm smile. “She
launched me.”
Here was the biggest star in the country, arriving hours early simply to honour someone
who’d believed in him first. The bathtub did arrive, and yes, the campaign became iconic but what stayed with me was that 9:30 AM tap on my shoulder. It taught me that true success is about remembering the people who lit your path.
“The Legend Who Wouldn’t Take Shortcuts”
Working with Zohra Sehgal ji on the Mirinda campaign taught me that excellence isn’t
negotiable. She arrived in a wheelchair, well into her eighties, reciting Shakespeare between takes and sharing stories about Prithviraj Kapoor at Prithvi Theatre. The script required her to stand, but her body wouldn’t cooperate for long. I was ready to alter the screenplay. She dismissed the idea entirely. The children in the ad held her gently from behind, and she delivered every line with the precision of a lifetime on stage. Real artists always find ways rather than excuses. I think about her whenever the pressure builds to take the simpler path.
“The Pandemic That Rewrote the Rulebook”
2020 arrived and basically said, “Everything you know? Forget it.”
We shot the first mainstream lockdown ad for Dettol with no crew or sets. I created sample
videos at home with my wife and kids. Mahesh Bhupathi became Lara Dutta’s cinematographer and later joked that tennis was easier. For Kotak, Ramki from Cartwheel Creative and I steered Ranveer Singh through WhatsApp voice notes. He filmed himself against a white wall while we built his world in post-production.
For Head & Shoulders, Ranveer composed the rap himself, performed it, styled his hair, shot
everything. One person doing what normally takes twenty.
The Eduauraa shoot was surreal. BMC protocols allowed only four people at Ranveer and
Deepika’s home. My team in full PPE, disinfecting equipment, shooting with three crew
members. It sounds ridiculous. It felt ridiculous. But we made it happen.
Those impossible months taught me something profound. When you take away every tool
you’ve depended on, you discover what actually matters. Not fancy equipment or huge
crews. It’s people who refuse to give up, who get creative when backed into corners, who
make magic happen even when logic says it’s impossible.
Here’s what I know for certain: you can’t control everything. People are remarkable and
that’s the real magic, not the perfect shot or clever script, though those matter. It’s humans
showing up, adapting, pushing through, creating something meaningful together despite
impossible odds.
Every shoot still teaches me something new. Every film holds unexpected stories, of why
this work matters. After all these years, I still get excited walking onto set, wondering what
surprises await, what challenge will demand a creative solution, what human excellence I’ll
witness today. Because in this craft, there are always surprises. And honestly? I wouldn’t
want it any other way.
Raajesh D Saathi is the founder and director of Keroscene Filmz, with over 25 years of
experience creating some of Indian advertising’s most iconic and awarded campaigns.
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