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The 30 Seconds Thrillers
The 30 Seconds Thrillers
- GenresNonfiction
284 pages, Paperback
Published November 3, 2016
25 people are currently reading
241 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
April 19, 2020
This book is structured as freewheeling conversations that take the reader behind the scenes of some of India's most memorable TVCs from the 1980s to the early 2010s. KV Sridhar, among the doyens of Indian advertising, narrates his discussions with other stalwarts like the Pandey brothers, Prasoon Joshi, Alyque Padamsee, Nitesh Tiwary, KS Chakravarthy, Kailash Surendranath and several others about these great pieces of art they created.
I like that the book is an easy read since it's a collection of conversations about relatable ads that evok nostalgia, especially for a 90s kid like me. There are sections in the book like ads on humour, ads on social issues, ads with celebrities, ads with kids, ads on women which show you how different brands weaved in their own stories around the same emotion/same type of protagonists etc. What's wonderful is that along with the conversation around each ad, Sridhar has also embedded QR codes for the reader to actually go a watch the respective ad.
While I liked reading the book, I felt it would have been more insightful had the author included specifics on the objective and the impact of each ad campaign. In that sense the book is more targeted at the general public rather than advertising or marketing professionals.
I'd recommend it as a fun read for people who're curious about Indian TV advertising, but not really as a learning resource for folks in advertising/marketing.
I like that the book is an easy read since it's a collection of conversations about relatable ads that evok nostalgia, especially for a 90s kid like me. There are sections in the book like ads on humour, ads on social issues, ads with celebrities, ads with kids, ads on women which show you how different brands weaved in their own stories around the same emotion/same type of protagonists etc. What's wonderful is that along with the conversation around each ad, Sridhar has also embedded QR codes for the reader to actually go a watch the respective ad.
While I liked reading the book, I felt it would have been more insightful had the author included specifics on the objective and the impact of each ad campaign. In that sense the book is more targeted at the general public rather than advertising or marketing professionals.
I'd recommend it as a fun read for people who're curious about Indian TV advertising, but not really as a learning resource for folks in advertising/marketing.
October 12, 2025
Truly lives up to its name of being about thrillers. I was engrossed from the first word. I wanted to read this books from the time it was launched but perhaps it was meant to happen only now.
Some of the stories that stood out for me -
Torch of freedom, Bombay times ad, Sachin adidas ad with its multi camera set up, Fevicol bus ad, idea ad with Abhishek Bachchan, Liril - Karen Lumel one and the fact that the Preity Zinta one was shot in a studio
What was inspiring-
The camera techniques, editing mastery, the right storyboard, and the conviction with which the ad makers approached their work and even convinced the clients.
Read more at https://itchingtoread.blogspot.com/20...
Some of the stories that stood out for me -
Torch of freedom, Bombay times ad, Sachin adidas ad with its multi camera set up, Fevicol bus ad, idea ad with Abhishek Bachchan, Liril - Karen Lumel one and the fact that the Preity Zinta one was shot in a studio
What was inspiring-
The camera techniques, editing mastery, the right storyboard, and the conviction with which the ad makers approached their work and even convinced the clients.
Read more at https://itchingtoread.blogspot.com/20...
September 26, 2021
This book is a journey of ad life. I had no idea 30 secs ads we see on screen Contain rich stories and ideas behind it. I love it how Pops have kept the genuineness of his conversation with his fellows. It was fun revisiting some old ads making and it also gave me a chance to watch these ads again on YouTube collect the memories from the past. It was a great read undoubtedly. From someone who’s interested to know behind the scenes of ad life, this is an amazing pick!
September 28, 2024
Honestly my best read so far. I never thought i would enjoy a non-fictional book so much. Its been two years since i started reading books and this was my first ever book, so its safe to say that this book made me start my reading journey. Enjoyed every page till the end and learned a lot. Worth a read!!
January 12, 2019
Enjoyed reading the book
It was amazing to know all behind the scene stories of the famous indian commercials. Got to know the tremendous amount of study and hardwork that the ad makers do to make the 30 seconds a wonderful memory.
It was amazing to know all behind the scene stories of the famous indian commercials. Got to know the tremendous amount of study and hardwork that the ad makers do to make the 30 seconds a wonderful memory.
February 24, 2019
I loved loved loved this book, there was no other book which made me fall in love the making and the reaction of the ads so much, it was almost as if I were watching a movie but the reading that I had to do for the same.
August 30, 2021
An amazing collection of tales and set of classic advertisements of yesteryears.
While the focus has been on behind the scene stories, the on screen 30 seconders are a delight to watch once again, through an altogether different lens now.
Overall the book makes you laugh, cry, analyse and feel emotional but above everything get nostalgic.
Must Read !
While the focus has been on behind the scene stories, the on screen 30 seconders are a delight to watch once again, through an altogether different lens now.
Overall the book makes you laugh, cry, analyse and feel emotional but above everything get nostalgic.
Must Read !
November 8, 2023
Marvellous, even for those readers of brand equity who didn’t have enough exposures to follow their advertising passion and settled into boring excel sheets. Provides a fantastic insight into the weeds ad making.
June 22, 2018
Such a fun collection of short stories from the world of Indias Mad Men. What a nice way to learn about the evolution of advertising in India.
November 6, 2018
The book has okayish stories about how ads were made, nothing great about them. The writing felt stretched like a chewing gum. Unnecessary school like jagron.
April 18, 2020
I regularly read on Marketing & Advertising and happened to pick this book in order to learn more about TVCs. The book states that it will reveal stories behind the 30 Second Thrillers (basically TV Commericls) we love. Certainly, it does that but all the anecdotes a very transactional.
The stories lack insights and the real thought process that went behind making some of the iconic ads India has ever seen. As the writer states, these are converstations he has had with the ad makers. To make it like a Q&A there are questions plugged in between which are very obvious.
However, the conversation is more around who did the music in the ad, who did the camera, which location was this shot - Names keep popping up in bold letters, few of them which you might know and majority you hear for the first time. Shallow accounts like - the waterfall in the Liril ad (with Priety Zinta) was made in studio; The ZooZoos are female artists suited up. I expected to learn why the waterfall; how did the thought of Zoo Zoo come up altogether.
As the book progresses, so does the typo errors in the book. e.g. Page 294 alone has 2-3 typo errors. On page 305-306 the same paragraph is printed twice (Clarifying, I have a genuine Bloomsbury Copy).
After reading few books previously which give beautiful insights on the subject, I found this one quite shallow. Only good enough to remind you of some of the good ads created in the country.
The stories lack insights and the real thought process that went behind making some of the iconic ads India has ever seen. As the writer states, these are converstations he has had with the ad makers. To make it like a Q&A there are questions plugged in between which are very obvious.
However, the conversation is more around who did the music in the ad, who did the camera, which location was this shot - Names keep popping up in bold letters, few of them which you might know and majority you hear for the first time. Shallow accounts like - the waterfall in the Liril ad (with Priety Zinta) was made in studio; The ZooZoos are female artists suited up. I expected to learn why the waterfall; how did the thought of Zoo Zoo come up altogether.
As the book progresses, so does the typo errors in the book. e.g. Page 294 alone has 2-3 typo errors. On page 305-306 the same paragraph is printed twice (Clarifying, I have a genuine Bloomsbury Copy).
After reading few books previously which give beautiful insights on the subject, I found this one quite shallow. Only good enough to remind you of some of the good ads created in the country.
September 18, 2017
The book lives up to its promise of sharing interesting behind the scenes anecdotes about some of India's most loved advertisements. Some of India's leading ad-men tell Pops about how a simple idea became a 30 second ad that sometimes teared us up, lifted spirits, and at other times entertained us.
Bad editing is one thing that made this book a pain to read. It almost seemed like neither the author nor the publisher made the effort to run a simple spell-check even.
Add to that, the almost amateurish Q&A format of telling the story did not work for me in places.
I wish this book is given a better shape in the next edition. In its current form, it is just a collection of raw information.
Bad editing is one thing that made this book a pain to read. It almost seemed like neither the author nor the publisher made the effort to run a simple spell-check even.
Add to that, the almost amateurish Q&A format of telling the story did not work for me in places.
I wish this book is given a better shape in the next edition. In its current form, it is just a collection of raw information.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews