The actor is Jackie Shroff starring in a Charminar cigarette advertisement from the 1980s. This ad caught the attention of Dev Anand, who was always looking for new talent and cast Jackie in his 1982 film Swami Dada. It was a total disaster. In a similar vein to Dev Anand’s later films. Jackie, however, gained attention. Naseeruddin Shah and Mithun Chakraborty were also featured in the film. They didn’t get to be Swami Dada’s heroes. Dev Anand was. 

The hero in his films could not be replaced by anyone else. It was he who produced and directed them.

If Jackie hadn’t been introduced to Bollywood, I wonder what would have happened to him. It was he who was the ‘Dada’ of Teen Batti in Bombay. A street rowdy. He caught the attention of model coordinators due to his rugged good looks and arrogant attitude. A most sought-after model for brands such as Charminar cigarettes, Binny suits, Savage aftershave, Bagpiper soda (not whiskey), Avis jeans, and Cadbury’s drinking chocolate, Jackie became a most sought-after model. It was the Charminar advertisement that was the most popular because it was smoked by every fourth person in India at the time.

In the past, cigarette packets did not carry grotesque cancer warning pictures. And the health advisory that smoking kills. The ad went over well with chain smokers, with Jackie declaring, “It takes a Charminar to satisfy a man like you.”. And VST Industries Limited, the makers of Charminar, which was said to be owned by the Nizam of Hyderabad, laughed all the way to the bank. After two decades, Charminar suffered huge losses, and the company ceased operations in 1998-99. By then, Jackie was already a star.

Read More:- How Charminar made Jackie Shroff