After Balki, no decision on a Chairman in the near future: Joseph George

After a long innings of three decades in advertising, R Balki has decided to move on to become a full-fledged filmmaker. Majority of Balki’s advertising years have been spent at the MullenLowe Lintas Group, India where he currently holds the role of Group Chairman. He joined the agency (then known as Lintas) in 1994, in its Bangalore office.

Speaking earlier, Joseph George, Group CEO, MullenLowe Lintas Group, who has worked closely with Balki through all of the 22 years, had said that the agency had planned the transition differently. “As early as July 2015, we put in place a management structure that would help us move forward as an organisation, while also maximising the potential and aspirations of great individuals we have,” he added.

AdGully spoke to both Joseph George and R Balki to know about the road ahead...

AdGully (AG): With Balki’s exist, what is the creative direction that MullenLowe Lintas Group is planning?
Joseph George (JG): The direction was put in place last year itself, so this had been planned for a while, which is why we have Arun Iyer, who will look after the creative leadership of Lowe Lintas, while Amer Jaleel will look after the creative leadership of Mullen Lintas. I will continue to lead the full group, which consists of Lowe Lintas and Mullen Lintas, so there is no change that way.

AG: Is that the only organisational structural change that is happening in the group?
JG: Yes. This had been put in place last year itself, so there is no change.

AG: Who will take on the mantle of Chairman?
JG: We don’t have a chairman at this point in time.

AG: And you haven’t decided on a Chairman?
JG: That’s not a decision that I or anybody is going to take in the near future.

AG: What does the road ahead look like as Balki was one of the strong pillars in the organisation and has done some incredible and memorable work?
JG: We are going to miss him as a creative person and as a Chairman. Please also understand that he has been in the system for 22 years, so he had a huge role in shaping the creative culture and the creative product. Therefore, all that is surely something that we will miss, but we have been in the system for a long time as well; I have been here for 25 years, Arun and Amer both have been here for more than 10 years, so to that extent it’s not going to be very difficult to continue with what we have been doing so far. That’s the advantage of having a leadership that has been around for long, it’s not something that we have to learn afresh, this is something that all of us have been jointly doing for a long time. So, we have to just continue what we had been doing, obviously now with the absence of such a stalwart whom we will all miss for a long time to come.

AG: We are sure there will be several anecdotes regarding Balki, given your long association. Could you share some of those?
JG: There are too many. As I had said, I have worked very, very closely with him for 22 years and if I start thinking, I would have 2,200 such incidents! It’s not that I am trying to avoid answering to your question, but we have been just too close and have worked for too long for me to identify one such episode. It is easy if you have worked with someone for 2-3 years, but 22 years is a long time, so I would need a long time and a long list to go through.

Though in a jolly mood, R Balki was quite cryptic in his responses regarding the road ahead for him after moving out of advertising.

AG: How was your journey at MullenLowe Lintas Group been?
R Balki (RB): I have nothing to say except that I had lots of fun.

AG: The one campaign that is close to your heart and why?
RB: I am ashamed of all my campaigns! I always switch off the TV when any ad that I have been associated with comes on.

AG: So, you will be a full-time filmmaker now?
RB: Yes, hopefully!

AG: What kind of films can we look forward to?
RB: Exactly the kind of movies that I have been making.

AG: Any film that you are working on currently?
RB: Yes, but I can’t tell you much about it as it is in pre-production stage.

AG: You have been in the industry for a long time, how have things changed over the years?
RB: Nothing has changed!