Sumita Vaid
Advertising

G S Shridhar, ex-CD Lowe and Mudra, starts film production company

Partners with ad film maker, Rajiv Raghunathan to open the Chennai-based outfit

G S Shridhar, (popularly known as Sach, short for saccharine) the former senior creative director, Mudra-South, has joined hands with ad filmmaker, Rajiv Raghunathan to launch a film production company, Adfrodisiac. The company will be based in Chennai. Both Raghunathan and Shridhar are equal partners in the venture.

Adfrodisiac, Shridhar, says is being set up in response to Chennai's and indeed, the Southern region's shortage of production houses, which combine the creative expertise of an advertising agency with the film-making craft.

Just a day old, and the outfit already has a project in hand. Adfrodisiac is working on four television commercials for a Chennai based FMCG company. The name, of which, Shridhar is not ready to reveal as this stage. Also, what the duo - Shridhar and Raghunathan - is doing is talking to creative directors of agencies as the award season is round the corner. "This is the time when the agencies are liberal with their budget and have a lot of films to make." At the moment, Adfrodisiac is talking to the creative heads of Euro RSCG and FCB Ulka for exploring possibilities.

According to Shridhar, the key strength of the new company is his 17 years of creative experience in three of India's largest agencies - Mudra, Lowe and RK Swamy/BBDO, and Raghunathan's decade-long experience in film making.

As special effects supervisor at EFX - a unit of the famous Prasad Studios - Raghunathan has worked with some of the biggest Bollywood and Kollywood banners, including Yash Chopra and Kamal Hassan.

"What really differentiates Adfrodisiac is a unique sensitivity to the requirements of ad agency creative directors and brand managers. The company will actively seek to collaborate with agencies and clients on idea-based films - either by fulfilling the creative director's visions or by being part of the ideation process," Shridhar explains.

"We at Adfrodisiac believe that simplicity, surprise and tasteful humour have taken a back seat in recent years, and must be brought back to the forefront," he adds.

For the record, Shridhar spent ten years as creative director with RK Swamy/BBDO Bangalore and Mumbai, before moving to Chennai as creative director of Lowe.

During his four-year stint, Lowe had capped an excellent run of over 40 awards with the Agency of the Year award from Ad Club, Madras. At Lowe, he was a key member of the team that built the Rexona Deodorant brand.

Post-Lowe, he had joined Mudra, Chennai as a senior creative director and spent three years there, till September 2003.

© 2004 agencyfaqs!

Have news to share? Write to us atnewsteam@afaqs.com