Leading Indian ad film-maker and founder of Genesis Film Productions, Prahalad Kakkar, was at IIM Calcutta during the B-school’s annual business summit — Intaglio — as a speaker. He had a candid chat with Suvarna Athavale and Gaurav Keskar, students of the B-school. Excerpts:

You spoke about following your heart but there are times when you need to follow your mind, do you see the two aspects as exclusives?

No, they aren’t mutually exclusive. You can follow your mind as long as you are passionate about it. But yes, if you are doing something passionless, you would never be good at it. Stakes are higher where you are passionate. Safer the job is, more starkly soul-destroying it would be. High wages are paid for something which is dull, leading to higher attrition. So you are trapped by the payment they give you, to which you sell your soul. Making decisions is the riskiest thing you can do in a company. Because as soon as you make a decision somebody comes in your way, and as long as you don’t make one everyone is happy! You only know you made a big mistake in hindsight, whereas, if you follow your heart, if things don’t work out, you can always go back and redo.

How has the ad-man evolved in these 30 years?

I have evolved because I have followed my gut all the time. I have never followed research, dictum or fashion. In fact, I have created it. As long as you are learning and you are not arrogant enough to think you know it all, you are fine. I had a cameraman who was 77 years old, but had a mind like a child. He was an amazing man; he was learning and being innovative all the time. He used to do all the special effects on the camera, and it used to be so difficult. He was so good at that. For a Cherry Blossom ad, we needed a sparkle on the toe; twinkle toes had to woo a girl. We were at a loss as it couldn’t be executed as per requirement. He found broken shards of Christmas tree bulbs, stuck it on to the shoe and then moved the light across it. It twinkled. So he was thinking all the time, and the solution despite being so simple was so innovative.

Your father was in the Indian Military and your mother was a Burmese; how have these variations helped you evolve?

I went to school where I learned my first art of war. Then I went to college, where people said pursuit of Economics would get you a job. But I found military strategy there. I chose that because I was interested in it, I was passionate about it. I found it better than an MBA where you only learnt how to make money. This taught me how to kill people (chuckles) . And, killing large amount of people efficiently, not just one or two.

But, they say art of war is to keep peace?

Art of war is to win, period. And that’s what business is. There you are conferred medals, here you get huge bonuses. Just that on the field it is tactics, and in the corporate world, it is strategy.

So, as you would say marketing is also a form of war, then how do business ethics come into play?

What’s good enough for you and your children is good enough for everybody else. So you might insulate your children from what you are trying to do. If you sell junk food, your children would want that too. Even in war, it’s tit for tat. Like the American genocide of the Red Indians; the Red Indians had no means to retaliate.

Related Topics