Prahlad Kakkar Age, Wife, Children, Family, Biography

Some Lesser Known Facts About Prahlad Kakkar

• His mother was half-Burmese and half-Maharashtrian. His father belonged to Dera Ismail Khan in Pakistan.

• When Prahlad Kakkar was 3 years old, he learnt horse riding from his father.

• When his family moved from Allahabad to Delhi, he enrolled at a playschool named Kumkum near Lodhi Gardens. However, he was soon expelled from the school. He once told the reason in a media interview, he said,
  

  One day, Kumkum ordered my friend Navin and me to answer the call of nature in her presence. Discovering the anatomical difference between boys and girls, she ran to her mother. We were rusticated from school.”

  

  A childhood picture of Prahlad Kakkar with his sister

• After the incident, Prahlad Kakkar was sent to live with his grandparents in Dehradun, where he joined a boarding school named St. Thomas High School.

• Once, during a media conversation, he shared that his first crush was his house help in Lucknow when he was eight years old.

• When Prahlad Kakkar was nine years old, his father died. He did not let his mother marry someone new.

• Later, he joined a Sainik School in Karnal. When General Chaudhri, the then Chief of Army Staff, once visited his school, he became the headboy. Chaudhari advised him,
  

  Young man, don’t join the Army or you will be court-martialled.”

• Prahlad Kakkar did not join the Army as he had poor eyesight.

• He earned third division in his tenth class results. He then studied at MH University in Baroda for some time, but left.

• After that, his grandmother, who was the first woman doctor in Maharashtra, enrolled him at Ferguson College in Pune, where he changed his name to Robin.

• In 1971, Prahlad Kakkar joined the advertising industry and started working as an Accounts Executive at ASP in Delhi.

• After a year, he shifted from Delhi to the ASP office in Bombay.

• In 1972, Prahlad Kakkar started working as an assistant director with the noted Indian film director Shyam Benegal.

• Once, during a media conversation, Prahald said that Shyam Benegal allowed him (Prahald) to work under him after so many requests. Shyam gave him six months of training with a Rs. 300 salary. Later, he assisted Shyam for more than six years and made many ad films.

• He assisted Shyam in films like Ankur (1974), Manthan (1976), and Bhumika (1977).
  

  An old picture of Prahlad Kakkar with Shyam Benegal

• After training under Shyam Benegal, he, along with Mandeep Kakkar and Ravi Uppor, founded Genesis Film Production Pvt. Ltd. in 1977.

• Genesis Film Productions is also known for producing the short film ‘Bali.’ It was made in collaboration with the Star One channel.

• The major clients of the company include Nestlé, PepsiCo, Britannia, Hindustan Lever, United Breweries, Procter and Gamble (India, Vietnam), Sony Entertainment Television, Mastercard, Visa International, Fab India, Pizza Hut, MOEF India, and SUD Insurance.

• After Genesis, he started two production companies named Offspring and Offshoot, which are managed by his wife, Mitali Dutt Kakkar. Prahlad Kakkar works as the Principal Director for the two companies.

• Prahlad Kakkar is known for his popular Kamasutra advertisements.

• After that, he, along with Jennifer Kapoor, started a Gourmet Restaurant at Prithvi Theatre. The restaurant closed down when Jennifer died.

• Later, Prahlad Kakkar designed a dhaba named ‘Papa Pancho Da Dhaba’ for Indian designer Mamta Sekhri.

  

  A picture of the restaurant ‘Papa Pancho Da Dhaba’

• He met his future wife, Mitali, when she visited his office with a friend for a modelling job.

• Prahlad Kakkar gave her a role in a shampoo advertisement and fell in love with her.

• After that, they started dating, and at that time, she was 22 and he was 36 years old.

• Prahlad Kakkar proposed to her in Siliguri, West Bengal, while she was on holiday with her parents. They got married in 1983.

• Their son Anajinsama appeared in a Britannia advertisement with cricket player Sachin Tendulkar.

  

  A poster and a still from the Britannia advertisement featuring Sachin Tendulkar and Anajinsama

  

  Prahlad Kakkar while filming with Sachin Tendulkar

• They named their children after oceans because both of them love the oceans and are expert divers.

• Prahlad Kakkar once noticed that his son Arnav was facing problems in remembering things. The doctors found that Arnav was dyslexic, and it was hereditary, as Prahlad also had dyslexia.

• He works as the Chief Advisor and trustee of Natura Outdoor Education Trust.

• Prahlad Kakkar has won many awards for technical excellence, innovation, and creativity in advertising in India.

• In 1995, he, along with his wife, Mitali Kakkar, founded ‘Lacadives,’ a scuba diving school, at Kadmat Island in collaboration with the Government of Lakshadweep.

• The school is affiliated with the Underwater Federation of India. It has also started the Indian Scuba Diving Association to maintain safety standards.

• After that, he co-founded an NGO named ReefWatch Marine Conservation to promote marine awareness. This organisation regularly conducts workshops for children on the marine environment.

• Lacadives operates the Sea Urchin, a 55-foot boat with a 150 HP Scania engine. It could accommodate eight passengers, four crew members, and essential diving facilities.
  

  Prahlad Kakkar during the opening of the store ‘Lacadives’ at Bandra in Mumbai

• His company, Genesis Film Production Pvt. Ltd., has won both gold and silver awards.

• In 1996, it received the Campaign of the Year award for the Pepsi commercials at AAAI.

• After that, his advertisements for the Ceat company won many awards in the New York Festival of Advertising.

• Many of his commercials have also been nominated for Lions at Cannes.

• In 1999, Prahlad Kakkar directed international commercials for clients like Unilever and Pepsico in Burma, Vietnam, Pakistan, Bangladesh and the Asia Pacific Region.

• That same year, he started a restaurant named Tea Centre at Churchgate in Bombay, in collaboration with the Tea Board of India. This was the first enterprise of its type in the country. He took the initiative to spread India’s tea culture with sophistication.
  

  A picture of the Tea Centre at Churchgate in Bombay

• Prahlad Kakkar is a passionate scuba diver.

• In 2000, he became a CMAS 2 Star Scuba Diving Instructor.

• In 2001, he started Casa Amore, a wine bar and restaurant.

• In March 2002, Prahlad Kakkar opened a traditional Indian food outlet named ‘Sarson da Saaga’ in Mumbai, which offers home-cooked Punjabi food. It is known for being the first ‘Slow food, Punjabi- home-style cooking’ restaurant located at IMAX.

• In 2003 and 2004, Genesis was announced as the top Production House for two consecutive years by Brand Equity.

• Some of the popular campaigns he made are ‘Yehi Hai Right Choice Baby! Aha!’ Pepsi Ad, ‘The Zing Thing’ Gold Spot Ad, ‘2 minutes!’ Noodles Ad for Maggi, ‘Ting Ting Ti Ting’ Britannia Biscuits Football Ad, ‘Zor ka Jhatka’ for Limca, and ‘It’s different’ for Maggi Ketchup.