Alyque Padamsee

Alyque Padamsee
File:Alyque Padamsee at Samriddhi.jpg
Occupation	Theatre personality, Ad-film maker
Spouse(s)	Pearl Padamsee (divorced) Dolly Thakore (divorced) Sharon Prabhakar (separated)
Children	Raell Padamsee Rahul Padamsee Quasar Padamsee Shazahn Padamsee
Relatives	Akbar Padamsee(brother) Raisa Padamsee(niece)

Alyque Padamsee is an Indian theater personality and ad film maker. He is probably best known in the English-speaking world for playing Muhammad Ali Jinnah in the film Gandhi. Besides being involved in Indian theatre as an actor and producer, Padamsee is an advertising professional who headed the advertising company Lintas.

Personal life

Padamsee was born into a traditional Khoja Muslim family from the Kutch region of Gujarat but describes himself as an agnostic who disclaimed his religion at the age of 18.

Padamsee's first wife was Pearl Padamsee, with whom he has two children, a daughter, Raell Padamsee and son, Rahul Padamsee. He then had an extended and committed relationship with Dolly Thakore, and for all intents and purposes they were assumed to be man and wife by the world. Dolly and Padamsee had a son Quasar Padamsee. Padamsee then married Sharon Prabhakar, with whom he has a daughter, Shazahn Padamsee. All three women were connected with the performing arts, specifically with theatre and television.

Advertising

For 14 years, Padamsee was the Chief Executive who built Lintas India to be one of the top agencies in the country. He went on to become the Regional Co-ordinator of Lintas South Asia. Known as the Brand Father of Indian advertising, Padamsee has built over 100 brands. He is the only Indian to be voted into the International Clio Hall of Fame, the Oscars of World Advertising. He is Chairman of the London Institute of Corporate Training at which he conducts courses on leadership training and ideation. His best seller book on Advertising entitled A Double Life is prescribed in business schools.

Padamsee created Lalitaji for Surf, Cherry Charlie for Cherry Blossom Shoe Polish, the MRF Muscle Man, the Liril girl in the waterfall, the Kamasutra couple, Hamara Bajaj, the TV detective Karamchand, the Fair & Handsome brand, etc. Recently he created the Idea of a Fatwa against Terrorism which was announced by the Grand Mufti of the Deoband Uloom. For the Golden Jubilee of The Indian Institute Technology Bombay his idea of starting an initiative to create 10 Great Ideas That Will Change The World In The Next 50 Years caused a great deal of excitement. He is also working on AIDS Prevention Idea with the Dept. of Biotechnology.

He is now CEO of AP Advertising Pvt. Ltd., a firm of Image and Communications Consultants, who have provided consultancy services to a number of national and multinational companies, as Creative Advisor.

Theatre

Padamsee is also known for his English language theatre productions in India like Evita, Jesus Christ Superstar, Tuglaq, and his latest, Broken Images, which was invited to the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC in 2011. He was conferred the Lifetime Achievement Award for Theatre by the Sangeet Natak Akademi; and this January the Tagore Ratna. Internationally, he is known for his portrayal of Muhammad Ali Jinnah in Sir Richard Attenborough's Gandhi.

He works for the Citizens for Justice & Peace, the Citizens Action Group, and he is on the Advisory Council of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT Bombay). Earlier he worked as Communications Advisor to Chandrababu Naidu, the former Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh State. * Recently he was appointed to the Prime Minister's AIDS Task Force (Earlier served as Advisor to Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi on Commercial Television).

Awards

• The President of India conferred on him the Padmashri Award in 2000.
• The Advertising Club of Mumbai named him "Advertising Man of the Century".
• Received Rabindranath Tagore RATNA from Sangeet Natak Akademi.

Bibliography

A Double Life (autobiography)

External links

• Alyque Padamsee at the Internet Movie Database