Savia Jane Pinto
Who's that

Who's That: The 'Heavyweight' Copywriter – Omkar Sane

Omkar Sane is author of 'Welcome to advertising. Now get lost' and is working on his next book which is an insider's view on the television world

Had things gone his way, Omkar Sane would have followed Tatanka, the wrestler, into the ring. But 25-year-old Sane, a self-confessed WWE (formerly the World Wrestling Federation, now Entertainment) aspirant, went and joined an ad agency after his education at JJ School of Art. And life, as he puts it, took a different turn.

In May 2006, when Sane entered the advertising world, joining Contract Advertising after his summer internship, he thought he'd be making earth-shattering ads and "change" the world with his work. But, in his words, he wasn't even changing underwear. After coming slap bang against reality, Sane thought of scripting stand-up comedies too. In the nearly eight months that he spent at Contract, he wrote snippets for a stand-up that he might do some day.

Who's That: The 'Heavyweight' Copywriter – Omkar Sane
He then moved to MTV as a writer where he continued with the stand-up pieces. A stand-up act didn't come in his way though but another thought crossed his mind. Bizarre as it sounded even to himself, Sane compiled his pieces and asked Cyrus Broacha to give his true opinion. Broacha thought it was funny and could be a good read, if made into a book.

Sane then made a few changes and compiled the pieces into a book. He gave the book to a bunch of people from different industries so that he'd get to know whether people who weren't from the advertising industry enjoyed it as well. "I got a bit greedy and wanted everyone to read the book," says Sane with a sparkle in his eye.

Add to this that he was dating the right girl at the time, who helped him get in touch with the publishing house that took his book. Thus was born 'Welcome to Advertising. Now Get Lost', in June this year. It was launched at the MTV Studios and was hosted by Broacha - Sane doesn't work with MTV anymore though. The book is an insider's outside view of the advertising world. And a lot of it is true. The book boasts of recommendations by Bharat Dabholkar, Broacha and a foreword by Gangadharan Menon who is creative director at Octane Communications. Sane calls himself the 'copywriter' in the book.

The book traces different events that occur in an ad agency at different times and the people who are responsible for getting the job done or not. How they get the job and how unending supply of beer is the way to complete every job.

The book isn't an outcome of sheer frustration though, he says. But the disillusionment comes through. With a smile he says, "This isn't angst. But someone had to wash the dirty linen and I decided to do it." We believe him; he presently works with a design house called Grandmother India Design.

Sane is busy working on his second book, the final draft of which he will submit soon. This one is about the television industry. While at MTV he tasted all the genres of Viacom 18 and this book is another humorous take on the entertainment industry. In a line, Sane says, the book is about how "TV is a reality show that got away."

Jerry Seinfeld, Woody Allen and Dave Barry have been his influences. But for a humour writer, Sane's choice of books is much serious - history, politics and biographies appeal to this young writer.

(Who's that? is an effort to highlight the lesser known talents from the advertising, media and marketing industry.)

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