Ram Madhvani wants ads to stir conversations again. Here's how

How many ads do you recall from the last five years that you would actually want to look up on YouTube to watch again? How many jingles from the past five years have you caught yourself humming to now and then?

Ram Madhvani has an observation: Indian advertising is facing a creative problem. The man who made millions hum the Airtel jingle and flash Happydent White smiles admits that consumers have grown cold to ads. But here's the twist: he's also got the antidote.

The director of critically acclaimed film Neerja, JioHotstar original series Aarya, and more recently SonyLIV's historical drama series The Waking of a Nation, and countless ad films for brands such as Adidas, Asian Paints, Amazon Kindle, among many others, believes the industry has lost something fundamental: its ability to spark genuine conversation. 

"Earlier, ads used to be part of the culture, and part of social conversations people used to have," recalls Madhvani, co-founder of Equinox Films, an ad film production company. "Now, the industry may talk about an ad film, but the public doesn't."

It's a sobering observation from someone whose work has earned Lions at Cannes. But Madhvani isn't dwelling in nostalgia; he's plotting a renaissance.

The problem: Speed killed the story

"What we have lost are the stories," Madhvani says. "Between the low shelf life, the fast turnaround, and the 10-second and 20-second runtime constraints, we've lost the stories. And stories are what connect with people."

During recent IPL matches, social media buzzed with complaints about repetitive advertisements that failed to capture attention, and were more intrusive than imaginative. Madhvani acknowledges the predicament, but says, "The time has come to embrace content that is brand first." An orthodox, unapologetic approach to advertising that is as much an entertainer as it is a promo. 

Madhvani's prescription for advertising's creative ailments centres on a simple idea: returning brands to the heart of storytelling. "Stories are about characters who transform," he explains. 

"If we can get the brand to transform the character, then we are really at the centre of storytelling because brands are about how a product can transform your life."

This isn't theoretical philosophy—it's battle-tested strategy. His Amazon Kindle ad film exemplifies this approach, transforming a product demonstration into visual poetry. 

The film was a product of collaboration between Raj Deepak Das from Leo Burnett and lyricists Swanand Kirkire and Tajdar Junaid. The film was created in 2014, mind you. And the run time is 3:03 seconds.

In 2025, Madhvani's vision extends far beyond what is contemporarily considered long-form advertising. His idea of long format is a little more radical. In his plans of putting brands in the centre of content pieces, he is mulling "22-minute and the 45-minute format" where brands become the central instrument of a larger story, much like what he did in the Kindle demo. 

Technology as liberation

Beyond the creative amendments, Madhvani also holds an optimistic perspective on the emerging tech sweeping across the ad world at the moment. The big boogeyman: AI.

Quoting his nephew, who happens to be a doctor, he shares: "AI will not replace all doctors, but it will replace the doctors who don't use it."

Rather than viewing technology as a threat, Madhvani sees liberation. "We are going to have to try and see how we can use it," he says. "I believe it's not something that is going to displace us. I think it will liberate us."

Heart over novelty

On consumer criticism about repetitive themes in contemporary ads, Madhvani offers a philosophical take. "Sometimes I call it the tyranny of the idea," he reflects. 

"It's okay if you don't have a new idea. Sometimes it's okay to have a new treatment. I believe in touching the heart. We're not worrying about newness. But we must worry about how the work makes the viewers feel."

Regarding how new technology affects project timelines and client expectations, Madhvani remains pragmatic.

"As far as I'm concerned, this is just another technology. Whether you use a zoom lens or a trolley, or a camera, it's technology. We have to figure it out. And if it helps us work faster, why not?"

The path forward

Madhvani's vision for advertising's future isn't about choosing between tradition and innovation—it's about synthesis.

"This is all going to co-exist," he explains, referencing how new media forms historically complement rather than replace existing ones. "We're all going to be part of the same system."

His call for change is both urgent and optimistic: "Let's reinvent. Let's embrace the change."

The industry's challenge, according to Madhvani, isn't technical or financial—it's cultural. How do you create content that people actually want to discuss? How do you make brands integral to stories rather than interruptions within them? How do you touch hearts in an attention-deficit world?

For an industry that once created cultural touchstones: jingles hummed in streets, catchphrases that entered everyday vocabulary, advertisements that became appointment viewing, change might be inevitable.