ADvent of the Stars

Plato has said, “The beginning is the most important part of the work” and how true it is in the case of some of these hot hunks and lovely ladies who have made it big in the glam world! They came to us through advertisements and the rest as they say, is history. A look at some fresh Indian faces for whom a stint in advertising turned out to be the big ticket to cinema.

  

Vidya Balan

Beautiful, in the classic sense of the word, this Tam Brahm from Palakkad, made her debut as a model in a Surf Excel advertisement in 1998. She was also seen in ads for Gits Idlees, a clinic plus film for the girl child, Krack Cream, and several other advertisements. Her demure ‘woman next door’ looks made her an instant favorite to fit the role of mother and wife in about 25 advertisements. Most of these ads were directed by Pradeep Sarkar and she soon found herself in the lead role for his directorial debut Parineeta which was a success. Prior to Parineeta, she was seen on a comedy serial on Zee TV called 'Hum Paanch'. After her filmdom fame she was seen endorsing brands such as Airtel (with actor Madhavan), Goodknight Mosquito coil, Toshiba etc.

Deepika Padukone

For this long legged beauty, who shot to fame through Farah Khan’s Om Shanti Om, tinsel town was not unknown territory. She had already modeled for leading brands such as Liril soap, Dabur Lal, Limca, and Close-up. She had also won the brand ambassadorship of the Jewels of India, an annual jewellery festival. She hit the international scene when Maybelline made her their new international covergirl face. At the fifth annual Kingfisher Fashion Awards, for Indian models and designers, she was awarded the title of Model of the Year. Shortly afterwards, she was chosen as one of the models for the Kingfisher Swimsuit Calendar for 2006. She also won two trophies at the Idea Zee Awards in 2006 - Female Model of the year (Commercial Assignments) and Fresh Face of the year. Today she endorses top brands like Fiama Di Wills, Nescafe, BSNL, Sony Cyber Shot, Levis Jeans, and Neutrogena etc.

John Abraham

John Abraham has a pretty interesting connection with Advertising and his tryst into modeling is even more amusing. John, born to a Malayali father and Parsi mother was a media planner in an agency. He got into modeling because his boss at the ad agency needed a last-minute replacement for a shoot! And thus it began…In 1999, he won the Gladrags Manhunt Contest and went to the Philippines for Manhunt International, where he won the second place. Following this, he was signed by Carrie Models in Singapore and did some modelling there; he later modelled in Hong Kong, London and New York City. He appeared in some music videos after which he made his film debut through Pooja Bhatt’s ‘Jism’ in 2003. A bike enthusiast, today he endorses Yamaha, Castrol, Garnier Men, Wrangler Jeans etc.

Bipasha Basu

This Bengali beauty wanted to study medicine but her destiny had different plans for her. While an under graduate she used to do modeling and part-time ramp shows. It was during this time that she met model Mehr Jessia who suggested that she take part in the Ford Godrej Cinthol contest. As luck would have it she won the contest and she was flown to New York by the Ford Company, where she had a successful modelling career at the age of 17. Ajnabee released in 2001 is her first film. She has endorsed a horde of brands such as Thums Up, Clinic All Clear, Reebok, Gili, Real Activ Juice, Sugar Free Gold, Panasonic, VI John Hair Removal Cream, Emami etc.

Aishwarya Rai

This former Miss World was first seen in a commercial for Camlin pencils when she was in the 9th grade. An aspiring architect, fame courted her even before she was crowned Miss World in 1994. She was seen in commercials for Garden sari, Colgate Gel, Sheetal, and Pepsi. Of these, the Pepsi commercial where she featured with Aamir Khan and Mahima Chowdhary was particularly popular. In fact, Aamir Khan and Aishwarya Rai are the only stars to have endorsed both Coke and Pepsi! After her debut in Iruvar (Tamil) in 1997, her first Hindi movie ‘Aur Pyaar Ho Gaya’ opposite Bobby Deol was released the same year. Aishwarya Rai has been associated with brands such as Coca Cola, Longines Swiss Watches, L’Oreal, etc.

Genelia D’Souza

This cute and bubbly girl was first seen in a Parker Pen commercial with Amitabh Bachchan. After gaining wide attention for the ad she began her acting career with ‘Tujhe Meri Kasam’ in 2003. The film did not do very well at the box office but her Tamil debut ‘Boys’ released the same year was a runaway hit. She has endorsed brands like Fanta, Virgin Mobile India, Fastrack, LG Mobiles, Garnier Light, Margo, Close-up and Perk.

Preity Zinta

A Post Graduate in Criminal Psychology, modeling happened by chance for this dimpled beauty. Her first television commercial was for Perk chocolates, the result of a chance meeting with a director at a friend's birthday party in 1996. The director persuaded her to audition for the spot, and she was selected. Afterwards, she appeared in other catalogues and commercials, including one for the soap Liril. Her noted stints in such ads lead to her being offered roles in movies like Dil Se, Kya Kehna, Soldier etc. Dil Se was her first released movie. She has endorsed Ddamas, Pentacool, Go Air, Emami Edible Oil Healthy and Tasty, etc.

The list, as is obvious, is incomplete. But the above mentioned names are those that have carved a sizeable niche for themselves in the world of movies. I realize that even as I am typing this out, even as these words are being printed on to paper, and possibly, even as you are reading this piece, some ad model, somewhere, in some little commercial, is preparing to join the league of stars mentioned above, without even realizing it. It’s their ADvent, I guess!