Two minutes of Indian advertising

There is an ad on TV right now, during the drinks break. Religious clean-shaven cultish-looking men in robes walk down a street firing rays of blue light into houses. The rays bounce off one particular house. They look amazed and very impressed. It turns out the walls are painted with Dulux. They go inside and are impressed with the furniture as well. In another, a Punjabi is beaten up by a shopkeeper in China because he’s asking about a mint. Then Sachin Tendulkar appears. What’s that? His face is painted! He says “Whoa!” and “Yeah!”

And then comes the one that makes the wait worthwhile: a woman, trying out different outfits and expressions, looks at the screen and introduces herself. She mouths “Rahul” over and over, figuring out the best way to introduce herself to Rahul Dravid. Cut to Rahul Dravid, getting ready for a date. He looks good, she looks better.

The break is over. Whaddya know, Rahul’s batting and looking good!

Update: Lots of severed hands walk the streets on two fingers to happy music. They are multi-coloured. What's the ad about? A phone. Why? Because every hand wants one, says the tagline.

Sheesh.