Who will drive with Shah Rukh Khan? Preity, Sonali or Juhi?

Who will drive with Shah Rukh Khan? Preity, Sonali or will it be Juhi?

Any takers? Just remember, you don't get invited on the new episodes of KBC. Even if you've guessed it right.

Well, we are talking about the new campaign of the small car brand Santro, which will supposedly feature its new celebrity endorser along with incumbent (if we may use the word) ambassador Shah Rukh Khan. By the way, according to the industry grapevine, it is Preity Zinta, though Hyundai Motor India (HMI) officials refuse to confirm the development.

What is for sure (read information verified by officials at HMI) is that the company has shortlisted three prospective candidates - popular film stars Preity Zinta, Sonali Bendre and Juhi Chawla - to support Shah Rukh's new campaign for Santro. Hopefully, in a week's time, the company will be ready to talk about this in greater detail. As of now, the brief comment that HMI wishes to make is "…we have yet to finalise. We can only talk about this next week."

Never mind those seven agonising days in between. What is interesting is that if HMI were to sign up one of these ladies, it would be the first time that a car brand in India would be using a woman celebrity in its advertising. Technically speaking, Gayatri Joshi - who is currently trying her luck at tinsel town and who was a participant at the Femina Miss India contest a couple of years ago - is the first woman celebrity of sorts to feature in a Santro ad. And she was the damsel in distress and Shah Rukh was her saviour. He drove her to her destination zipping through the bumper-to-bumper traffic in … you guessed it right … his Santro.

So why does Santro need that extra dose of glamour? Is the Shah Rukh magic fading?

A quick look at the figures would show the company has nothing much to worry about in the immediate term, because its sales are growing. In the year 2000, Hyundai sold 65,421 Santros. The sales grew by 1.5 per cent to stand at 66,396 per cent in the year 2001. This, against an overall slowdown in the automotive sector. Again this year, the figures seem to look promising. "We have sold 46,653 Santros already," says the HMI official.

So if the Shah Rukh magic remains intact, why splurge on a new celebrity? "It is just to give that extra bit of glamour and attraction to Santro. Basically to create some excitement around the brand," says the HMI official. "The idea is to maintain the youth appeal of the brand."

However, these new developments do not undermine Shah Rukh's (who was signed up in 1998) long-standing relation with HMI. As the company official is quick to point out it was Shah Rukh who helped HMI establish that vital connect with the middle-class Indian consumer. "Indians were not very confident about Korean companies. Shah Rukh helped create the right awareness and helped instill confidence in the Indian consumer," adds the company official.

No wonder why HMI is getting choosy about its would-be lady driver. "There are two concerns. One, the actress should not overwhelm Shah Rukh Khan, and two, she should not overshadow the car," he says.

Point taken.

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