Advertising Legend Piyush Pandey, the Heartbeat Behind Fevicol and Cadbury’s Iconic Jingles, Passes Away at 70

Mumbai, October 24, 2025 – In a day that feels like the end of an era scripted straight out of a heartfelt Bollywood drama, Piyush Pandey – the moustachioed maestro who turned everyday ads into unforgettable tales of desi emotion – has left the stage at 70. The man whose booming laugh and razor-sharp wit could sell soap as soulfully as a Shah Rukh Khan monologue, breathed his last on Thursday evening after battling a severe infection. As tributes pour in from filmdom’s biggest names to the chai-wallahs who hummed his slogans, Mumbai’s creative heartbeat skips a beat, remembering the adman who made India fall in love with its own voice.

Pandey’s farewell isn’t just a footnote in the ad world’s ledger; it’s a full-blown eulogy to the storyteller who bridged the gap between boardrooms and baithaks, turning brands into bahus that every household adopted. Born in 1955 in the sun-baked lanes of Jaipur into a family of nine – seven sisters and his brother Prasoon, the ace filmmaker behind hits like Dev D and Black Friday – Pandey was the second son who could charm a cricket ball as easily as a camera lens. A Ranji Trophy cricketer for Rajasthan, a tea taster with a palate for poetry, and even a stint in construction, his life was a montage of detours before destiny dropped him at Ogilvy’s doorstep in 1982.

Picture this: A 27-year-old Pandey, fresh-faced but fierce, walks into an industry stiff with English suits and Western whims. His first script? A humble print ad for Sunlight Detergent. But oh, what a debut – it was the spark that ignited a revolution. Six years in, he bulldozed into the creative department, birthing legends like the cheeky Chal Meri Luna moped jingle that had every small-town boy dreaming of two-wheel freedom, and the unbreakable bond of Fevicol’s “Todo Nahin, Jodo” – remember the bus that wouldn’t budge or the fish that swam against the tide? Those weren’t ads; they were mini-blockbusters, complete with plot twists and punchlines that lingered like a monsoon memory.

And Cadbury? Ah, the chocolatey confessions of “Kuch Khaas Hai Zindagi,” where a girl dances in the rain, turning heartbreak into hijinks. It wasn’t just a campaign; it was a cultural reset, proving that joy could be as simple as a Dairy Milk bar and as profound as a Karan Johar climax. Then came the pug-faced mischief of Vodafone’s ZooZoos – those egg-headed aliens who waddled into our hearts during IPL breaks, making even the most cynical uncle chuckle. Asian Paints’ “Har Ghar Kuch Kehta Hai” whispered secrets from walls, while his polio drives with Amitabh Bachchan thundered like a Bachchan blockbuster, vaccinating millions with hope. Hell, he even penned the patriotic symphony “Mile Sur Mera Tumhara” in 1988, a national integration anthem that feels like AR Rahman’s soul-stirring score.

Bollywood wasn’t just a bystander; Pandey was family. He co-wrote the screenplay for Bhopal Express, a gritty Mahesh Mathai drama starring Naseeruddin Shah that peeled back the scars of the gas tragedy like a raw, unfiltered dialogue. And who could forget his silver-screen cameo as the no-nonsense Cabinet Secretary in John Abraham’s Madras Cafe? There he was, moustache bristling amid espionage and intrigue, delivering lines with the gravitas of a veteran character actor. “Piyush wasn’t just an adman; he was a filmmaker trapped in an advertiser’s suit,” tweeted filmmaker Zoya Akhtar this morning, echoing the sentiment rippling through Bandra’s cafes and Goregaon’s studios.

His political plot twist? The 2014 BJP juggernaut’s “Abki Baar Modi Sarkar” with its cheeky “Achche Din Aane Wale Hain” – a slogan so sticky, it stuck like Fevicol on a voter’s mind. But Pandey, ever the reluctant hero, shied from the spotlight. “A Brian Lara can’t win alone for the West Indies,” he’d quip, cricket bat in hand, crediting his Ogilvy tribe – the team that turned the agency into India’s creative Colosseum, bagging 25 Lions at Cannes under his watch. In 2018, he and Prasoon became the first Asians to snag the Lion of St. Mark lifetime achievement, a global bow to the brothers who exported desi dreams to the world.

Awards? They piled up like Diwali sweets: Padma Shri in 2016, Clio Lifetime Achievement in 2012, and the LIA Legend in 2024. The Ad Club of Mumbai crowned his Fevikwik spot the “Commercial of the Century,” while Cadbury’s run took “Campaign of the Century.” Yet, Pandey mentored from the shadows, schooling global creatives at Berlin’s leadership labs and warning against tech’s tyranny: “Touch the heart, not just the screen,” he’d growl, eyes twinkling like a veteran director spotting raw talent.

Books flanked his legacy too – Pandeymonium (2015), a rollicking ride through his ad odyssey, and Open House with Piyush Pandey (2022), where he spilled chai-side wisdom like a desi guru. His last act? Stepping down as Ogilvy India’s Executive Chairman in 2023 for a Chief Advisor perch, effective January 2024 – a graceful fade-out, head high, legacy etched in every hoarding from Howrah to Hyderabad.

Survived by wife Nita, daughters, and a family tree blooming with talent (sister Ila Arun’s folk anthems still echo in NH10 vibes), Pandey fought the infection valiantly before slipping away. His funeral rites unfold tomorrow, October 25, at 11 AM at Shivaji Park Crematorium, Mumbai – a send-off fit for a legend, where ad whizzes, Bollywood brass, and brand barons will gather under grey skies to share stories, not scripts.

As the sun sets on this chapter, India’s creative cabal mourns not a man, but a movement. “He gave us our grammar,” whispered a teary-eyed colleague at Ogilvy’s Powai perch. From the streets of Jaipur to the silver screens of Cannes, Piyush Pandey didn’t just sell stories – he made us live them. In a world of fleeting reels, his moustache-twirling magic endures, whispering: Kuch Khaas Tha Zindagi Mein Piyush.

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