rush up on your Sanskrit folks; shlokas are the flavour of the season - as far as Indian advertising is concerned. Never mind that only a small portion of the viewers actually understands them.

From the Fair & Lovely Ayurvedic commercial where a group of students learn Sanskrit the hard way to the adidas TVC in which Sachin and Sehwag don their gear amid chantings in the backdrop, the hum is growing louder. And it is not just the sports companies or the beauty care brands; banks and insurance companies have used it to good effect. The ANZ Grindlay�s (now Standard Chartered Bank) TVC made ample use of hymns in the ads for its home loans even in the late nineties. These days, ICICI Prudential is making use of the marriage vows to underline the importance of insurance cover. Jaypee Group�s Jai Prakash Hydro Power too uses shlokas. Hero Honda Super Splendor�s Sarva Guna Sampanna is the latest in line.... more