Alyque Padamsee was an Indian theatre personality and ad film maker. He is probably best known in the English-speaking world for playing Muhammad Ali Jinnah in the film Gandhi. Besides being involved in Indian theatre as an actor and producer, Padamsee was an advertising professional who once headed the advertising company Lintas Bombay.
Early life and education
Padamsee was born in Bombay in 1928 into a traditional Khoja Muslim Ismaili family hailing from the Kutch region of Gujarat.. The name padamsee has sanskrit equivalent padmasinh or padmashree. The family had been settled in the nearby Kathiawar region for some generations; Padamsee's grandfather, who had been the sarpanch of Vāghnagar, a village in Bhavnagar district, was famous for having distributed his entire granary to the village during a famine. . Padamsee's father, Jafferseth Padamsee, was an affluent businessman who owned 10 buildings and also ran a glassware and furniture business. His mother, Kulsumbai Padamsee, was a home-maker. Alyque was one of their eight children; one of his brothers is the painter Akbar Padamsee. Although rich, the family was not well-educated, and neither of his parents had received much education. Alyque and his brothers were the first to attend school and learn English there; the parents later picked up a smattering of the language from their sons. Raised in an extremely traditional environment, in a devout Muslim family, Padamsee now describes himself as an agnostic who disclaimed his religion at the age of 18. He was educated at St. Xavier's College, Mumbai.
Personal life
Padamsee's first wife was Pearl Padamsee, a Christian lady born to a Jewish mother and Christian father. They had one daughter, Raell Padamsee. Padamsee then had an extended relationship with Dolly Thakore, and for all intents and purposes they were assumed to be man and wife by the world. Dolly and Padamsee had a son Quasar Thakore Padamsee. Padamsee then married Sharon Prabhakar, with whom he has a daughter, Shazahn Padamsee. All three women were connected with the performing arts, specifically with theatre and television.
Advertising
For 14 years, Padamsee was the Chief Executive who built Lintas India to be one of the top agencies in the country. He went on to become the Regional Co-ordinator of Lintas South Asia. Known as the Brand Father of Indian advertising, Padamsee has built over 100 brands. He was the only Indian to be voted into the International Clio Hall of Fame, the Oscars of World Advertising. He was Chairman of the London Institute of Corporate Training at which he conducted courses on leadership training and ideation. His best seller book on Advertising entitled A Double Life is prescribed in business schools. Padamsee created Lalitaji for Surf, Cherry Charlie for Cherry Blossom Shoe Polish, the MRF Muscle Man, the Liril girl in the waterfall, the Kamasutra couple, Hamara Bajaj, the TV detective Karamchand, the Fair & Handsome brand, etc. Recently he created the Idea of a Fatwa against Terrorism which was announced by the Grand Mufti of the Deoband Uloom. For the Golden Jubilee of The Indian Institute Technology Bombay his idea of starting an initiative to create 10 Great Ideas That Will Change The World In The Next 50 Years caused a great deal of excitement. He was also working on AIDS Prevention Idea with the Dept. of Biotechnology. He was the CEO of AP Advertising Pvt. Ltd., a firm of Image and Communications Consultants, who have provided consultancy services to a number of national and multinational companies, as Creative Advisor.
Theatre
Padamsee is also known for his English language theatre productions in India like Evita, Jesus Christ Superstar, Tuglaq, and his latest, Broken Images, which was invited to the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC in 2011. He was conferred the Lifetime Achievement Award for Theatre by the Sangeet Natak Akademi; and this January the Tagore Ratna. Internationally, he is known for his portrayal of Muhammad Ali Jinnah in Sir Richard Attenborough's Gandhi. He worked for the Citizens for Justice & Peace, the Citizens Action Group, and he was on the Advisory Council of the Indian Institute of Technology. Earlier he worked as Communications Advisor to Chandrababu Naidu, the former Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh State. Recently he was appointed to the Prime Minister's AIDS Task Force.
