Rediffusion announces return of Kamlesh Pandey as Legend in Residence

Kamlesh Pandey was the Creative Director at Rediffusion from 1976 to 1992. He returned to the agency in the late 90s and early 2000s for a short inning.

Rediffusion today announced the return of its most famous alumnus, Kamlesh Pandey, as ‘Legend in Residence’. Pandey has nearly 45 years of experience in advertising, 35 years in films, and 30 years in television is a bilingual writer par excellence.

While at Rediffusion, Kamlesh Pandey also won awards from the Commercial Artists Guild, Advertising Club of Bombay, RAPA, IAAFA, and other industry organizations. Kamlesh Pandey won the Best Copywriter of the Year Award for four years in succession ever since its inception in 1978. Kamlesh Pandey will start in his new role effective 1 June 2021.

Some of the copy lines written by Pandey include ‘Whenever you see colour, think of us’ (Jenson & Nicholson), ‘Hum Red & White peenewalon ki baat hi kuchh aur hai’(Red & White cigarettes), ‘Palmolive da jawab nahin’ (Colgate Palmolive), ‘When it can’t be done, it must be done’ (J&N Corporate), ‘Gimme Red!’ (Eveready), ‘Annu taazgi de’ (Tata Tea) and more. Pandey entered the CAG Hall of Fame in 2005.

“I am delighted that Kamlesh Pandey is back home to Rediffusion. I have the fondest memories of working with him on some of India’s most acclaimed campaigns. Pandey commands a first-hand experience and a deep insight into the lives and aspirations of the people of India. This is why his thinking for brands is rooted in reality, and his creatives are always memorable”, says Diwan Arun Nanda, Chairman & founder of Rediffusion. “Pandey will help the younger talent at Rediffusion to understand consumers better, think differently and write differently”.

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Commenting on his return to Rediffusion as ‘Legend in Residence’, Kamlesh Pandey said, “One way, it feels like ‘Back to the Future. A lot has happened in Rediff since I left Rediff - Rediff managed to shake off the appendages of ‘Y&R’ and ‘Dentsu’ and returned to its original heart, mind, and soul, the fearless spirit and the creative precipice that drove it in the late ’70s through ’90s, the values that never left me long after I left Rediff and romanced Bollywood with some success. And now it’s great to be back. Great to be with Arun, Ajit, and Sandeep. Great to be home among those who managed to get the best out of me and those who are currently giving their best to take Rediff to a future that could be the pride of the past”.

From 1992 to 1995, Kamlesh Pandey left Rediffusion to start a new creative inning at Zee TV as Vice President, Programming. He designed and defined the look, the style, the language, the flavor, the personality, and the software menu of the channel. He revived traditional Indian game shows like ‘Antakshari’, along with additions such as ‘Tara’, ‘Campus’, ‘Banegi Apni Baat’, ‘Phillips Top Ten’, ‘Khana Khazana’, ‘Zee Horror Show’, ‘Shakti’, ‘Mere Ghar Aana Jindagi’, ‘Filmi Chakkar’, etc. He personally wrote ‘Kurukshetra’ and some episodes of ‘Sitaron Ka Karwan’ and ‘Phillips Top Ten’ for Zee.

Kamlesh started writing movies in 1987 while still in advertising and went on to write movies such as ‘Jalwa’, ‘Chaalbaaz’ (both directed by Pankuj Parasher, ‘Jalwa’); ‘Tezaab’, ‘Narsimha’(both directed by N.Chandra, did over 50 weeks all over India); ‘Dil’, ‘Beta’(both directed by Inder Irani, both doing over 50 weeks all over India); ‘Saudagar’, ‘Khalnaayak’ (both directed by Subhash Ghai, both doing over 40 weeks all over India); ‘Aks’, ‘Rang De Basanti’, and ‘Delhi-6’(all directed by Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra, ‘Rang De Basanti’, also won national awards, and was India’s entry for the Oscars).

“Kamlesh as ‘Legend in Residence’ will be interacting with Rediffusion clients, will discuss emerging consumer trends and help figure where the maximal opportunities exist in both Bharat and India; and how best to pivot brand communication for a real and enduring connect with consumers of tomorrow,” adds Sandeep Goyal, Managing Director, Rediffusion.