Letter From India: India's top marketing tool? Two middle-aged Bollywood stars
Amelia Gentleman
Published: December 7, 2006
NEW DELHI: The king is dead - long live the king! This was the spirit of a recent announcement that the reigning titan of India's film industry, Amitabh Bachchan, was being replaced as host of the nation's most popular television program by the younger star, Shah Rukh Khan.
More than just television trivia, the news hinted at the passing of an era, the handing of a Bollywood crown from one generation to another. The significance of the moment was reflected in the front-page coverage and editorial analysis it received.
The two actors are megastars on a level unmatched by their rivals. No one bothers with their full names - they are the Big B and King Khan. While the fortunes of most of their peers in Bollywood flare and wane according to their latest films, these two have an enduring appeal, impervious to the occasional cinematic flop.
Despite their age difference, what unites Khan and Bachchan is their supreme ability to sell anything. More than mere Bollywood heroes, they are gods of the marketing world. Both have become walking billboards, and between them, they represent a prized gateway to the sought-after middle-class Indian spender.
Since it started in 2000, the Indian version of "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?" ("Kaun Banega Crorepati")has been hosted with sober dignity by Bachchan, 64. No program on Indian television (since satellite was introduced in the 1990s) has been as popular as this game show. With its implicit approbation of avarice, it hit a chord at a moment when India was becoming obsessed with consumption and wealth - promising a path to riches much swifter than the government's poverty eradication schemes. At its peak it was taking 75 percent of the audience share.
Star TV, whose fortune in India rests on the success of this flagship game show, revealed last week that the cheekier, younger Khan, 41, would be taking over next year.
There was a certain logic to this Bollywood succession announcement. No other star comes as close to the stature of Bachchan as Khan does. The two men are figureheads of middle-class India, and each represents the experiences of his own generation. When Bachchan decided he no longer wanted to host the show (after an enforced break from work caused by painful stomach surgery), Star TV executives decided a younger star would give the show a needed face-lift.
"There is a new, booming, exciting generation out there. Fifty percent of the country is below the age of 30. Shah Rukh Khan will speak to them," said Sameer Nair, chief executive of Star Entertainment in India. Naturally, the show's producers are guided by a keen business sense. The cost of a 30-second advertising slot in the new series has risen by 30 percent as a result of signing up Khan as host.
Both actors endorse a vast (and bizarrely diverse) array of products.
Advertisers describe Bachchan as "India's most salable face." On top of filming nine movies, last year he advertised everything from Pepsi, pens, hair oil, diamonds, suits, bank accounts, chocolate, antiseptic cream, batteries, diet supplements and real estate, to washing powder. These contracts took his annual income to an estimated 190 million rupees, or about $4 million.
In perplexing ad-speak, Khan is "diamond" to Bachchan's "gold dust." Khan's list of endorsements is growing rapidly - embracing Pepsi, as well as Tag Heuer watches, motorbikes, cellphones, whiskey, suits, Sunfeast Dream Cream Biscuits, Top Ramen Curry Smoodles and Frooti drinks - inflating his earnings to approximately 130 million rupees. In 2005, he advertised a total of 21 brands on television.
"Advertisers go for one or the other. They are always looking for ways to talk to India's middle classes, and they fall over each other to get them to sign up," said Amit Agnihotri, co-founder of Exchange4Media, a media analysis company. "Both these men are able to connect across gender, across generation, across the whole nation. Only the cricketer Sachin Tendulkar comes close to being able to do that."
Bachchan's allure stems from his ability to transform himself as the nation changes - switching from playing angry-young-man roles in the 1970s (at a time when his contemporaries were feeling frustrated at the lack of opportunities in a bureaucratic nation, with a closed economy) to exemplifying a comfortable older generation of middle-class Indians, someone who has worked hard to succeed in the new climate of a reformed India.
Ashwani Singla, chief executive of the public relations company Genesis Burson-Marsteller, which signed up both men to promote Pepsi, said: "Bachchan represents the aspirations of a generation. He has gone from being a rebel with a cause, to being someone suave and sophisticated, who is thriving in the new economy."
Khan's charm is that of a MTV kid who has grown up into a devoted husband and father. Both men lay heavy emphasis on their commitment to family life.
"Bachchan shows a devotion to his parents and a love for his family," said Subhash Jha, a film writer. "Likewise SRK is a very domesticated superstar. He married his childhood sweetheart, he loves his wife to death, and his children are his world. That makes a lot of difference to the average Indian viewer and it's the key to their enduring popularity."
Singla agreed: "They are both good boys, achievers, wholesome family figures. Indian culture values this connection with family." Advertising analysts believe that the blanket presence of these stars has led to diminishing returns on their roles as brand ambassadors - pointing out that most people are hazy about which products they promote. But companies remain anxious to hire them.
The film director Vijay Singh explained: "This is a culture where we are prone to deify people. In an era of rabid consumerism, these guys are the ideal vehicle because they are gods."
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