Remembering Piyush Pandey: The storyteller who changed Indian Advertising

Epitomising creativity and connect, Pandey’s four-decade long career transformed the way commercials were made

Sundeep Bhutoria with Piyush Pandey at the Arth Festival

 

The passing of Piyush Pandey comes as a considerable loss to India’s cultural fabric. For over four decades, India’s “Ad Man” blended his unique understanding of signature Indian-isms with wit and warmth, shaping not just advertising, but how we view ourselves as a nation. 

“He made a monumental contribution to the world of advertising and communications,” wrote Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, paying tribute to Pandey. Admiration for Pandey poured in from across sectors, from Gautam Adani crediting Pandey with giving Indian advertising its “swadeshi swagger” to Sachin Tendulkar hailing Pandey for his genius with “ideas and words”. 

Today, I remember Piyush Pandey not just as the creative catalyst behind campaigns that became part of our collective memory, but as someone who kept simplicity at the heart of his magic. In an age of overwhelming virality, his work never screamed for attention. Instead, it cultivated affection. 

From Jaipur, with love 

Rajasthan has lost one of its finest jewels. Born into an artistic family in Jaipur, Pandey described his childhood home as a “creative factory”. It is no surprise that Pandey’s siblings include renowned folk singer Ila Arun and acclaimed filmmaker Prasoon Pandey. Their bond, built on nurturing each other’s artistic instincts, laid the foundation for some of the most pathbreaking creativity across media. The family is well known to me, and I fondly recall my interaction with Piyush Pandey on stage at the Arth Festival, where he spoke with warmth and pride about his love for Rajasthan.

 

Pandey was a Jack of all trades, right from the start. He captained both the cricket and swimming teams at St. Xavier’s, Jaipur; topped history at St. Stephen’s College, Delhi, and went on to captain Delhi University’s cricket team. He played cricket at the Ranji level, too. From sport, Piyush moved to tea tasting. But it was cricket that finally showed him his true calling. His dear friend, Arun Lal, once asked, “You come up with better one-liners than anyone else, every day, 10 times a day. Why don’t you join the ad world?” And that was that.  

 

Finding Ogilvy 

It was 1982. Piyush Pandey had just joined Ogilvy.  

Back then, Indian advertising was largely English-speaking, and obsessed with the West. No one knew that a 27-year-old would soon be rewriting its grammar. 

Very few understood the pulse of India’s heartland the way Pandey did. A truck full of travellers stuck together by Fevicol, the simpleton fisherman in Fevikwik, the unabashed girl running onto a cricket field in the Cadbury ad — these weren’t just advertisements, but mirrors held up to Indian life. 

 

Pandey’s success lay in his deceptively simple mantra: create films people would love, not just remember. While others chased disruption for its own sake, he pursued delight. Instead of trying too hard or getting into his own head, he let his stories tell themselves. ‘The art of not overdoing’, as I like to call it.  

 

Campaigning into culture 

Over the years, Pandey crafted campaigns that went on the transcend screens, cementing their place in Indian pop culture.  

 

In 1988, he wrote the lyrics to ‘Mile Sur Mera Tumhara’, the national integration campaign comprising legends like Bhimsen Joshi and Lata Mangeshkar. Combining classical and regional music, this became the soundtrack of a generation. 

 

From ‘Kuch Khaas Hai’ to ‘Pappu Pass Ho Gaya’, his work for Cadbury redefined how Indians saw celebration. His ‘Sharma Ki Dulhania Byah Ke Aayi’ for Fevicol told the story of a sofa passed down through generations, held together by Fevicol and love. He was also behind Asian Paints’ ‘Har Ghar Kuch Kehta Hai’, which captured the emotional connection Indians have with their homes, and the stories told by every wall. His slogan ‘Ab Ki Baar, Modi Sarkar’ for the 2014 elections helped propel Narendra Modi to Prime Ministership, in a turning point for Indian politics.  

 

But perhaps Pandey’s most impactful campaign was for polio eradication. ‘Do Boond Zindagi Ke’, echoing in Amitabh Bachchan’s iconic baritone, helped India achieve the impossible. When the country was declared polio-free, Pandey considered it his greatest achievement. 

The man behind the moustache 

What struck me most about Pandey was his groundedness, something that was evident when we discussed his most remarkable brand campaigns on stage at the Arth Festival in Delhi. Pandey became the first Asian jury president at Cannes in 2004, won the CLIO Lifetime Achievement Award, and was the first person from advertising to win the Padma Shri. But he never let success inflate his ego. 

 

Ogilvy retained accounts like Asian Paints, Fevicol, and Cadbury for decades not just because of Pandey’s brilliant mind. Equally, if not more important, were his likeable demeanour and ability to connect with clients, human to human. For Pandey, great work meant nothing without great relationships. 

 

Pandey’s personal life reflected these values, with family being a central focus. Only his brother Prasoon and wife Nita were allowed to trim his trademark moustache! When he and Prasoon wanted to gift their mother diamond studs, she chuckled, “Is umar mein main kahan pahenungi heera?” (At my age, where will I wear them?). Pandey turned that moment into a beautiful SBI Life Insurance ad with the line, “Heere ko kya pata tumhari umar kya hai?” (How do the diamonds know your age?) 

 

An enduring legacy 

One of Pandey’s most powerful ideas was: “No audience is going to see your work and say, ‘How did they do it?’ They will say, ‘I love it.’” He didn’t make advertisements to impress the smartest person in the room. He made them to touch an entire nation’s heart. 

This philosophy transformed Indian advertising from English-speaking showcases into stories rooted in everyday life and emotion.  

With his passing, India has lost more than an advertising legend. We’ve lost a storyteller who taught us to see the extraordinary in the ordinary, to find joy in simplicity, and to celebrate ourselves, unapologetically. 

Pandey’s ads will keep popping up on TV, YouTube, even Instagram reels, and be studied in media institutes around the world. But what I’ll remember most is his commitment to the craft. The unwavering belief that creativity serves life, and not the other way around. 

 

Thank you, Piyush Pandey, for showing us that the best stories are the ones that make people feel seen. Your legacy lives on every time someone smiles at one of your films, thinking, “That’s me.” When I last spoke to him, we discussed my upcoming Goa trip in December 2025 — a conversation I now remember with great fondness and a tinge of sadness.

This article was published in the Daily Guardian and Dainik Bhaskar