Last week, Karan Johar did something he’s never done before. The prolific filmmaker and savvy TV impresario directed four ad films for Dharma 2.0. This is the young and zippy venture of his Dharma Productions dedicated to making ads for TV incorporating the aesthetics and professionalism of film-making. Ordinarily, these ads might have been done by one of the dynamic young directors on the roster of Dharma 2.0 like Punit Malhotra, Shakun Batra, Abhishek Varman and Sharan Sharma who are known for bringing fresh energy and young vibes to the New Age blockbusters of Dharma Productions like Dostana, 2 States, Yeh Jawani Hai Deewani and Kapoor & Sons. But KJo called the shots on them himself.

RECOMMENDED READ: DEEPIKA PADUKONE WOULD LOVE TO VENTURE INTO PRODUCTION

And for two good reasons. They were being made for the ongoing Jio IPL Twenty20 cricket extravaganza. And spearheading the ad campaign was young Akash Ambani, the elder son of Nita and Mukesh Ambani, who is the Chief of Strategy of the 4G service provider. The Ambanis are fond of KJo. Naturally, the Dharma boss man was happy to bring the wisdom of his filmmaking experience to the ad film sets at YRF Studios for his friends Nita and Mukesh. And the other reason why KJo, whose last Bollywood directorial was the romantic drama Ae Dil Hai Muskhil in 2016, ventured into directing ads was Deepika Padukone. The Bollywood beauty is the face and heartbeat of the Jio IPL ads.

Dharma 2.0 had eight hours to shoot the ads which are of 20-30 seconds each. And these included four different looks for Deepika. The Padmaavat actress came prepared. And she was extremely quick. Deepika was a popular model before she became a Bollywood actress and is a natural before the camera, whether for an ad film or feature film. But KJo was directing his first ad film. He arrived on the sets an hour-and-half before anybody else and spent time figuring out the nuances of each film with his team. Once KJo briefed Deepika what he wanted from her for the Jio IPL ads, it was sheer magic. The two have a connect. To the surprise of everybody in Dharma 2.0, she stood for hand shots and even over-the-shoulder shots which a lot of actors would have used a hand model or body double for.

[caption id="attachment_55584" align="aligncenter" width="918"] Deepika Padukone, Punit Malhotra and Karan Johar[/caption]

The Jio IPL ads will start featuring from next Wednesday during the Twenty20 cricket matches. Do look out for them. The Karan Johar stamp of excellence so obvious in all Dharma Productions films is clearly and cleverly etched onto them. You will know why once you see them. Young Akash Ambani was out of the country and missed the excitement of being on the sets when KJo was directing Deepika for Jio. He’s delighted with the kickass product. But, the best news of all is that Karan Johar had a blast doing these ads for Dharma 2.0. And the buzz is that he is eager to shoot more now! Bollywood will be amazed. There are other renowned filmmakers like Raju Hirani and R. Balki who came to Bollywood from advertising backgrounds. And here is Karan Johar, the Rolls Royce among them all, taking his talents to advertising 20 years after he directed his first film – Kuch Kuch Hota Hai in 1998 which won him a National Film Award and eight Filmfare Awards.