People like Piyush Pandey don't really go away. His work, his principles, and his approach to storytelling live on far beyond the man himself.
In my early growing-up-advertising days, Indian advertising had its own set of legends. People like Piyush Pandey, Balki, Prasoon Joshi, etc. These heavy weights set the creative bar for the industry. But in all humility there were really just two great institutions that defined the industry. One that he led, and one that I was part of. We admired his work deeply and competed fiercely against it at the same time. I met him once at an airport and asked him for career advice. His reply was simple and profound - "At the end of it, it's all about common sense. If you have it, you'll go far.
Watching him take the stage at the Effies with his team year after year was a sight that used to sting, the good kind of sting. I remember telling my boss, "Next year, we'll defeat them." And we did. Then for years, it became a case of either us or them winning. It pushed us to work harder and eventually beat them. In competition too, there was a lot of respect.
His unmistakable voice will continue to echo through Indian advertising not just in commercials, but in the way generations of ad professionals think and create.
