Raja Sen in Mumbai
It's not just new Hindi movies who are stealing tunes from the classics.
Switch on the television and you'll realise new commercials are all about using classic Bollywood songs in a strange, often funny new context. Here's a look at 10 that worked particularly well for us:
Tum Jo Mil Gaye Ho- Coca Cola
Breaking through all the television clutter, this Dibakar Banerjee directed Coke ad helped us see both leads Kalki Koechlin and Imran Khan in a fresh new light, with a groovy remix of Tum Jo Mil Gaye Ho really setting the mood.
Pehli Tareek-Cadbury
Image: Cadbury commercialWarmly channeling the spirit of old Bollywood, this out-and-out Kishore Kumar spoof takes one of the master's most joyous but relatively lesser known songs, Khush Hai Zamaana, and has a masala blast with it in the Cadbury commercial.
Jaata Kahaan Hai Deewane- Coca Cola
Image: Coca Cola commercial
In an interesting twist, this Coke commercial sees, via a smart choice of soundtrack, the Coke bottle act as seductress as it breaks into the Jaata Kahaan Hai Deewane song, getting you home and wherever else you want to be, just with one glug.
Hum jab honge-SBI Life
Image: SBI Life commercialIt's one of those songs made for selling insurance -- 'Ham jab honge saath saal ke, aur tum hogi pachpan ki' go the words, wondering what life will be when the man is 60 and the woman's 55. A warm and deftly executed ad for SBI life insurance.
Aaj Ki Raat- Coca Cola
Image: Coca Cola commercial
The Coke 'Shadow' ad, arguably the coolest conceived of Dibakar's ads for the cola giant, sees Imran playfully shadow-sparring with a pretty neighbour while a great mix of Aaj Ki Raat plays in the background. Nice.
Laila O Laila-Alpenleibe Eclair
Image: Alpenleibe Eclair commercial
Loopy concepts work well for candy, and this bizarre but fun rendition of Laila O Laila -- with a bunch of bald men pacified by eclairs being used instead of a drum-set -- is a complete hoot, working far better than a skimpily clad Yana Gupta ever could.
Kaante Nahin Kat-te- Kit-Kat
Image: Kit-Kat commercial
Kit-Kat is one of those chocolates always somewhat associated with romance, and so this clever take -- with one man getting to see two chipmunks go all Bollywood to the Kaante Nahin Kat-te song while the other one is too busy to take a break -- hits the spot.
Jane Do Na-TVS Scooty
Image: TVS Scooty commercialA very attractive girl pulls into a police roadblock and proceeds to stare the helpless cop into letting her go by. As she coaxes and stamps her feet and urges him on, the Jaa Ne Do Naa song works as a perfect, atypical soundtrack.
Aaj Kal Tere Mere Pyaar Ke Charche- Raymonds
Image: Raymonds commercialThis starts off as a pretty average ad with a young couple being ambushed by family and friends who use Aaj Kal Tere Mere Pyaar Ke Charche to cheer their romance, but the music works well, especially the way the song is made to blend into Raymond's lovely theme.
Railgaadi-Indian Railways
Image: Indian Railways commercialAnd we saved the coolest for last. This striking commercial shows a bunch of men, of all shapes and sizes and styles, streaming together in an unending human chain and chook-chooking through the city as Ashok Kumar's pioneering Railgaadi song plays in the background. Pretty special, this.
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