Old ads, favorite actors: It’s different

Blinking back now and then between DD breaks, old ads will always occupy a position of reverence and love among countless Telly viewers across the nation. Filmed and aired at a time when celebrity endorsements had not engulfed the advertsing industry in the same manner as now, old TV ads featuring famous faces are always a treat to look at. And hence, taking you on a nostalgia trip, here’s a list of television commercials where known faces smile back at us looking somewhat- for want of a better word- different!

Juhi chawla: “Meri Sheela, kitni gouri, kitni pyaari”

Product: Fair and lovely

If you thought Katrina Kaif is the only actress from Bollywood whose Sheela avatar has gone viral, then think twice. In this 1986 ad for Fair & Lovely, a young Juhi Chawla reveals her beauty secrets to the world as Sheela. Fresh as daisy, the chubby Punjab girl, had bagged the Miss crown two years before. In the ad Chawla is seen portraying a beautiful wife Sheela. When asked by a friend about the secret behind the heavenly glow on her face, Sheela, it turned out, got the pureness from Fair & Lovely massages. Straight and simple, the ad transports you back to another era altogether.

Mahima Chaudhary: “Can I have a leher pepsi?”

Product: Pepsi

Presently, Aamir Khan is a Bollywood icon, Aishwarya Rai an international celeb, and Mahima Chaudhary a retired actress with some really meaty films to her credit. The ad revolves around a young boy, who on a rainy night is approached by two of his beautiful neighbors for some Lehar Pepsi. Directed by Prahlad Kakkar, the ad went viral upon telecast. For those who did not know, the Lehar Pepsi commercial was the first and last instance where these actors shared screen space together.

Salman Khan: “Who can forget his first victory?”

Product: limca

Forget the abs, move over the bad boy image, Salman Khan in this Limca commercial portrays a soccer player who washes down with Limca to celebrate his first victory on field. Oozing with energy and rawness, Salman, sadly though, is visible only in the first one-third of the commercial.


Shahid and Ayesha: “I’m a Complan Boy! I’m a Complan Girl!”

Product: Complan

I am a Compan Girl! and I am a Compan boy! The two fresh-as-daisy cutie pies, mouthing these famous lines, which every kid back in India of the nineties seemed to have imitated at least once, were none other than Ayesha Takia and Shahid Kapoor. This old Complan ad about two siblings, fed on a regular diet of the celebrated health drink, had scaled popularity charts madly. So, which of the two have managed to outdo the other in height, we wonder!

SRK and Gauri: “Sushti mitaye, chusti lautaye”

Product: Cinthol

They hadn’t really metamorphosed into the power packed star duo of today. As a lesser known young couple though, Shah Rukh Khan and Gauri Khan’s chemistry spelt magic on screen. The vintage Cinthol commercial saw Gauri pulling off the responsible and loving wife act to perfection. Shah Rukh as the seemingly busy actor husband looked equally charming, if not less.

Javed Jaffrey: “Lily, Don’t be silly”

Product: Maggi hot and sweet Tomato ketchup

Lion’s helicopter is about to take off the Indian shores, Lilly remains silly as ever. Michael though appears to have found a new obsession- Tomato Ketchup. A brilliant comical reproduction of these famous characters from the movie Kalicharan, the Tomato ketchup ad featuring Javed Jaffery and Pankaj Kapoor was a chart topper all the way. A mammoth hit, it would send the entire couch potato family, into ripples of laughter.

SRK: 2 in 1

Product: Hero punch bike

How do you impress a girl and be economical at the same time? Get Hero Punch and you will be able to have it all, in one suitcase- said Shah Rukh Khan in the Hero Punch ad from the nineties. Khan, best remembered for his cola endorsements, did not quiet strike the right chord with the bike ad. Nonetheless, it fills us with nostalgia all the same.

Vidya Balan

Product: Gits Idli

The dirty picture girl blurts all her recipe secrets out in this “blink and you miss” ad for Gits Idli. Decked up in a sari with vermillion column running through the parting of her hair, Vidya looked every inch, the Tamil housewife. That years later she will take Bollywood by storm is not even remotely reflected in her Idli loving wifey act.

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