How did a trainee copywriter land a nationwide TV campaign? Meet the quintessential 'girl next door' who's convincing everybody to switch to 4G.
The petite, short-haired Sasha Chettri has become a crusader of sorts for 4G. She is all over the media - on TV, outdoor and online (including Airtel's website) - rattling off irresistible features of this new service by the telecom giant. Chettri has effortlessly taken on the 'Airtel Girl' tag, earlier held by Rakul Preet Singh who appeared in the memorable Airtel night plan campaign last year.
A graduate in advertising from Xavier's Institute of Communications (XIC) Mumbai, Chettri was a trainee copywriter. How did she end up appearing in ads, instead of making them? While she spent her initial 16 years in Dehradun, Chettri moved to Mumbai for higher education. While interning with Creativeland Asia she realised that copywriting was not her calling. She decided to pursue music, writing, composing and singing. While she performed her gigs, 'Ricksha Rani', as she is known in the circuit, also auditioned for ads keeping up with her interest in acting.
While she has been featured in anAmazon ad previously, this is her first campaign in a lead role. "I did not even want to audition, because I had cut my waist-length hair very short, and I didn't think they'd take me. Even when I was shortlisted, I thought it was a joke," she says.
Agnello Dias, chairman and co-founder, Taproot India, tells us why she was chosen. "For the role, we were looking for someone who was confident, could strike a conversation with anyone and did not look like a professional model." He informs that nothing specific was done to create Sasha's look in the TVCs. "We did not plan to take someone unconventional, but we liked the chemistry she had with the camera," he adds.
Chettri says that she is "very similar" to her character in the ad, except that she is "not so sweet and nice."
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