Bharat Dabholkar pays a tribute to advertising guru and theatre doyen Alyque Padamsee, who passed away in Mumbai yesterday
Bharat Dabholkar (BOMBAY TIMES; November 18, 2018)

God — that’s what Alyque Padamsee was known as when he was heading Lintas. And I believe that he did deserve that title.

I never worked with him, but he was an icon for all of us youngsters then, who joined advertising. Though television hadn’t arrived in a big way, he was one of the few prominent faces in advertising who was seen in newspapers talking with conviction on topics concerning advertising and life in general. Later, on TV channels, one would frequently see him… this larger-than-life personality, talking in his famous nasal drawl.

And then one realised that he was the best known name in theatre, too. In fact, he dominated English theatre in India and some of the biggest productions were directed by him. Jesus Christ Superstar, Evita, Butterflies Are Free and Tarantula Tanzi are just some of them. I, of course, took a lot of liberties with him. On a TV debate, I once said that his theatre was only a xerox machine that reproduced foreign plays in India. He took that well, but gave me a short on-screen lecture. When he did Evita, I did a take-off on that in Bottoms Up and called it Savita. When he did Tarantula Tanzi in a boxing ring, I did Ayatollah Panzi in a wrestling ring. He came to watch all of this. I remember him sitting in the audience and making meticulous notes on a writing pad. He would give them to me at the end of my shows. His double life in advertising and theatre was truly fascinating and it inspired me to attempt a similar life. I never worked with him in advertising or in theatre (I didn’t have the right accent, not to mention the acting ability that he demanded). Recently I took him to Guwahati for a marketing seminar and that’s the first time I saw him addressing a large gathering of marketing professionals and youngsters and I was mesmerised. His energy and communication skills were truly fascinating. At the dinner after the seminar, he told me that he was writing another book, which was more personal. And in conversation, I mentioned that I was a lawyer and I had studied Mohammedan law, which had a provision for Mutah marriage (a legal marriage for a pre-stipulated period). He laughed and said, ‘Damn it, you idiot, why didn’t you tell me this years ago?’ He was like that. Full of life and full of innovative ideas. He will be missed.