Funeral of Piyush Pandey, the ad legend who gave India its voice, to be held on October 25
Legendary Indian advertising guru Piyush Pandey, who transformed the voice of Indian advertising, has passed away; his funeral will be held on Saturday.
ADVERTISEMENT
Piyush Pandey, the towering creative force who transformed the face and soul of Indian advertising, has passed away. His funeral will be held on Saturday, October 25, at 11am, Shivaji Park Crematorium in Mumbai, as family, friends, and colleagues from across the creative and business worlds gather to bid farewell to the man who gave Indian advertising its unmistakable voice and heart.
For more than four decades at Ogilvy India, the agency that became almost synonymous with his name, Pandey redefined how brands spoke to the nation — not in borrowed idioms, but in the language and rhythm of everyday India.
With his booming laugh, his trademark moustache, and his instinct for emotional truth, Pandey brought the warmth, wit, and wisdom of the Indian street into the advertising mainstream.
Pandey joined Ogilvy in 1982 after brief stints as a cricketer, tea taster, and construction worker. At 27, he entered a profession dominated by English and helped democratise it with stories and slogans that spoke directly to ordinary people.
His work for Asian Paints (“Har khushi mein rang laaye”), Cadbury (“Kuch Khaas Hai”), Fevicol, and Hutch became cultural milestones, teaching a generation of advertisers that the truest ideas are often the simplest. “He changed not just the language of Indian advertising,” said a longtime colleague. “He changed its grammar.”
Despite his fame and awards, Pandey remained self-effacing, always crediting teamwork over individual genius. A lifelong cricket lover, he often likened his role to that of a player in a team sport. “A Brian Lara can’t win for the West Indies alone,” he once said. “Then who am I?”
Under his leadership, Ogilvy India became one of the most awarded agencies in the world — a creative institution and finishing school for countless advertising leaders. In 2018, Pandey and his brother, filmmaker Prasoon Pandey, became the first Asians to receive the prestigious Lion of St. Mark at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, cementing their place in global advertising history.
Pandey was steadfast in his belief that advertising must touch hearts before it wins awards. “No audience is going to see your work and say, ‘How did they do it?’” he once said. “They will say, ‘I love it.’”
He often warned against letting technology overshadow empathy, urging young creatives to stay rooted in human experience. His famous 2014 slogan, “Ab ki baar, Modi sarkar,” demonstrated his deep understanding of cultural rhythm and the power of language — though his truest legacy lies not in politics, but in the stories and storytellers he nurtured.
When Pandey stepped down as Executive Chairman of Ogilvy India in 2023 to take on an advisory role, it was a quiet close to a chapter written in bold Hindi and sealed with his characteristic smile.
He is survived by his family, his colleagues who became family, and a vast creative community that continues to draw from his philosophy — that the best ideas are born not in boardrooms, but in the lives of ordinary people.
As the advertising world prepares to lay him to rest on Saturday evening, the industry he helped build will pause to remember the man who turned commercials into cultural memories — and gave India its advertising soul.
