Lesson in acting from the stars

Tata Sky's new TV campaign rides on Amitabh Bachchan's comic talent

Direct-to-home (DTH) service providers in India offer very little differentiation — pricing, packages and services look uncannily similar. How does one woo consumers in a market where the product is standardised and you can do only so much when it comes to pricing? Most players are innovating on service delivery and packages to woo potential customers. One player that has outsmarted all others on that point is Tata Sky — be it the catchy jingle Isko laga dala toh life jingalala, or the format of its ad films — it seems to stand out without much trouble.

Brand: Tata Sky

Budget: Rs 10 crore (estimated)

Agency: Ogilvy & Mather

The campaign comprises a series of four television commercials (TVCs), and appropriately taps the comic talent of Tata Sky ambassador Amitabh Bachchan to suggest how its new interactive service — Tata Sky Acting Adda — can transform the insipid aspirant into a “mind-blowing” amateur actor. In the first of the TVCs, the character of Bachchan (Uncleji) turns up at the audition for roles in the neighbourhood Ramleela festival. His meek attempt convinces the director that he could only be offered the role of a tree. As he walks back disappointed, a youth gives him a few tips and seizes the role of Lord Ram by uttering just one line on stage. Uncleji asks him if he went to an acting school. The youth simply looks away training his eyes at the rooftop Tata Sky antennae. The Acting Adda feature promises star interviews and weekly auditions for Rs 59 per month, as the commercial ends with the tag line “Bade Break Ka Bada Manch”.

In a couple of other TVCs, we see Bachchan rehearsing at home responding to directions from the TV. Uncleji’s wife is irritated, but in the last commercial as the old man first begs the director for just one chance and then wows everyone with his act as Raavan, she is only too happy for him for grabbing a meaty role and to introduce herself to a woman as “Mrs Raavan”.

Malay Dikshit, chief communication officer, Tata Sky, says the average viewer spends three-four hours daily watching TV. The idea for this above-the-line  campaign came up as the company wanted to showcase the service to the masses. He explains practically anybody could be interested in learning the acting chops simply for humour and its entertainment value. The creative choices before the company were whether to present a serious ad explaining the feature or do the same in a light-hearted vein. It opted for the latter and in the process utilised Bachchan’s acting skills to the fullest.

Dikshit believes the acting feature could be a differentiator for the content platform, which boasts a subscriber base of 17 million viewers. With last year’s merger of Dish TV and Videocon d2h, the new entity (Dish TV Videocon) was reported to reach out to 45 per cent of all DTH subscribers in India with a figure of 26.4 million.

The commercials were conceptualised by Ogilvy & Mather. Sukesh Nayak, executive creative director of the ad agency, points out that it was their fourth project with the veteran star. “There is a performer and an entertainer in all of us. Each one of us at some point in our life dreamt of enacting a particular filmi scene or copying our favourite stars. Most of us have taken a shot at acting and not necessarily with a view to pursue it as a career. So, the point is that actors do not just mean Bollywood.”

Nayak adds that in the campaign, Bachchan enacts a role where he can’t act. “We all know he is an established actor. But the objective here is to leverage the actor’s popularity with the masses and say, ‘Look, here is a man like you, who wants to act’. To make his dream come true, he learns, works hard and manages to bag the role that he coveted.”