RIP Alyque Padamsee (1928-2018): Saluting The original ad guru

I was a photographer when Shiamak Davar took me to meet Alyque. Shiamak wanted me to audition for a play as he felt that at heart, I’m an actor. I was reluctant as I was just establishing myself as a photographer. But nevertheless, he had rung the bell by then and I met him. He gave me a lively, little role in Roshni and it’s thanks to that part, that I met Rahul da Cunha, who offered me I’m Not Bajirao, which I consider one of my best roles. In the six months it took to produce Roshni, Alyque involved me in many aspects of the play, including the writing and designing sessions. I also did the photography for the posters. There was a lot I learnt about theatre and stagecraft from him, and there are hundreds of others like me. We should be extremely grateful for his unusual approach in doing things — he was a maverick.

Alyque was my boss for five years at Lintas. We shared a close bond as he was also my dad’s friend. He propagated both my professions — advertising and theatre — and many of us who moved to theatre from advertising were influenced by him. People like him come once in a lifetime. Anybody who worked with him was lucky as he was an incredible teacher. A large amount of advertising that I have learnt is from him. In many ways, he was the pioneer of Indian English theatre. I don’t know where we would have been without him! He had a tremendous impact on me because I worked with him so closely. His Jesus Christ Superstar (1974) and Evita (1982) are two of his most groundbreaking plays. They helped me a lot while I was working on my musical Sing India Sing this year. He has been a guide and mentor to both my co-writer Bugs Bhargava Krishna and me. Sing India Sing was our attempt to do an original Indian musical, but it would have been difficult to do so if musicals hadn’t been done in the city earlier.

I started making television commercials (cinema commercials of those days) when I was just 17 years old. My first memory of Alyque was him trusting me with a significant commercial, the launch of Liril soap for Hindustan Lever, which was an important account. He called me to his office and said that he would assign me this film as long as I agreed not to take an advance. I complied because at that time I was keen on foraying into this field. I told him, ‘When you see my work, you can give me an advance.’ What touched me was that he trusted me so much without even knowing me too well, just by seeing little bit of my work. From then on, we worked closely right till the end.

He was the true guru. Every time I got his feedback for the work that I had done for him, I found it relevant, astute and accurate. I worked with him over the years right through his career. We were quite close and I have nothing but love and admiration for him. He was the most marvellous multitasker I ever met. He used to say, “I am trying to live as many lifetimes as I can.” And he managed to do that. He packed in a lot in his 90 years. Not too long ago, we attended a book launch. When he was called on stage, I helped him up and while we were walking up on stage, he casually commented to me, ‘Old age is a terrible thing.’ That’s what, I think, pained him the most — that he had to suffer physically towards the end. But overall, he had a great life.

Alyque Padamsee was a genuine titan of Indian advertising. He ruled the business with Lintas through the ’80s and ’90s. Alyque’s advertising set benchmarks in how we perceived the business. On a personal level, when I came back to India and started professional photography, some of my big breaks came from him, which I’m eternally grateful for. It set the ball rolling in my career. I’m thankful for the opportunities that he gave people who were starting off. I benefitted from that trust and faith in my career.

I had known Alyque for nearly 30 years. I knew his daughter (Raell) well because I had just done a play with her and he had come to one of the rehearsals. It was quite intimidating to have him amidst us, but we soon realised that he had a great sense of humour, and he loved the idea of associating with younger people. He’s nurtured so many people in his lifetime. There are so many firsts to his credit. The way he directed Jesus Christ Superstar and Evita was unbelievable. He would create so much drama on stage! I worked with him in one musical, Roshni. I don’t know why he cast me because I could not sing to save my life, to which he told me, “I will make you sing, what is the problem?’ He always had a funny word. He came to watch the last show I did with Cyrus Broacha — How I Met Your Father. He came backstage and told us, ‘This is the best thing I have ever seen in my life, the only problem is...’ and went on to point out several problems! Alyque was a huge bundle of energy and I will miss him.