Bharat Dabholkar
Advertising professional and ex Managing Director of Publicis India
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'Different enough to make a difference?: The key question for OOH's future'
An economics graduate, lawyer, and business management graduate, Bharat Dabholkar's illustrious advertising career saw him craft iconic campaigns for a vast array of brands. His work includes all Amul products, notably the legendary Amul Butter hoardings campaign, which famously won him a gold trophy for 14 consecutive years for excellence in advertising. He also developed memorable campaigns for Parle brands (Frooti, Appy, Thums Up 500), all Tata Tea variants, Tata Namak, Good Knight, Hit, major banks like Bank of India and State Bank of India, LIC, L'Oréal, Nestlé, and many others. As the former Managing Director of Publicis India, part of the world's second-largest agency network, he led significant growth. His entrepreneurial spirit also saw him successfully establish and run an advertising agency in Tanzania and Kenya for 14 years.
Beyond advertising, Bharat is a prolific writer and director in theatre and film. He has written and directed 33 English plays, including "Bottoms Up," the longest-running play in Indian English theatre history. His acting credits span Hindi, Marathi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, and Bhojpuri films. He wrote and directed India's first Hinglish feature film, "God Only Knows," and Doordarshan's inaugural Hindi breakfast serial, "Dhamal." Notably, he conceptualized and shot the music video for late Atal Bihari Vajpayee ji's famous poem "Unki Yaad Karen" and penned the iconic 2014 campaign line 'Abkibaar, Modi Sarkar.’