Amardeep, you are completely right. This ad is so orientalist... beautiful palace, white woman, desi man, little native servant girl(?). It reminded me of a scene out of "Heat and Dust".

I love it! Though I didn't quite get the little girl's role.....

Bored shrug, not hate.

wha..? huh? I don't get the ad at all, WTF is going on? I watched it on mute I admit, but could not follow the rationale of the ad or the alleged irony..

I saw this commercial/ad previously to this post. Waaaay too dramatic for something like Schweps... why is the girl in the ad? Arjun Rampal looks like he is about to hurl as Kidman approaches!!!! AND why is she wearing a white wedding dress???? The whole thing makes no sense...

It's deeply self-referential yaar. The message is "if your ad is a lemon, drink lemonade."

AND why is she wearing a white wedding dress

Arey yaar! Don't you get the implied storyline? She was recently widowed (hence the white), but defied tradition by not shaving her head. She pursued a forbidden relationship with Arjun (one of the Pancha Pandavas - Ksyatriyas. Ksyatriyas code of ethics is that they cannot deny any woman who supplicates them, even widows). Through that forbidden rishta her soul would find redemption and she would attain moksha.

This whole commercial sums up itihasyas, puranas and upanishads; history, culture and philosphy - all in one go. Brilliant!

Sumi, the audio will not help you make much sense of this bizarre mishmash of an ad. There is one half-hearted cue for irony at the end, when the pseudo-classical music cuts out after Nicole Kidman shuts the door & goes to the Schweppes. Kidman sips Schweppes, and says, in over-enunciated English, "What did you expect?" But even the attempt at humor there is a bit confused, since viewers probably didn't "expect" much of anything from the confusing first part of the ad.

I thought there was something romantic going on between Nicole and Arjun. And then the "irony" is that there really isn't and she's interested in the drink rather than in him? But I agree with Amardeep that the ad doesn't really make sense.

If he had incorporated and elephant and a spice market we could have had a home run!

Is it just me or does that girl look a lot like 'Latika' from slumdog. Latikaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

Is it just me or does that girl look a lot like 'Latika' from slumdog.

It is little Latika.

........and appearantly she earned more from this commerical than she did from SDM!

Good on her!

........and appearantly she earned more from this commerical than she did from SDM! Good on her!

I hope she actually gets to see some of that cash; her parents are pretty shady...

If he had incorporated an elephant and a spice market we could have had a home run!

Maybe a snake charmer or two as well!

Shekhar Kapur is now aping Baz Luhrmann's Australia.

Note that Baz Luhrmann had previously aped Chamma Chamma for his Moulin Rouge.

"What did you expect?"

Something better than what can be cobbled together by a bunch of baboons.

Shekhar Kapur is in serious condition after being bitten by a tame shark today. Zookeepers have stated that he provoked the shark by taunting it and jumping over it several times, until it leapt up, and bit him in the fracas.

What did you expect?

Out of all the white women in the world...Nicole Kidman? I mean REALLY?

What is that Latika doing during her purportedly seduction scene with Kapur ?

OOps I mean Rampal...( not Kapur)

comment #18 should read as....

What is the kid doing during Kidman's purportedly seduction scene with Rampal ?

Wait, so is she implying that it was silly of us to think that she'd kiss a brown dude?

> it was silly of us to think that she'd kiss a brown dude?

undressing just to kiss..thats a real bonus ;) Btw if she undresses and doesn't kiss then she prob think very high of brown dudes.:)

What did you expect?

From Nicole--nothing. The ad appears to have been made for a French audience (I'll look for it on TV). Now in France, anything that is not European is exotique, oriental etc... This is colonial era thinking. On my first extended visit to France, to Nice, I remember thinking that I had gone back to the 1920s.

I don't get the ad at all. This is obviously a take-off on Bolly style romance. Now those who don't know about Bolly won't know what the hell the ad is about. Those who do know Bolly will be utterly disappointed. At least in Bolly the scene cuts--the hero runs off in one direction looking for a tree, the heroine in another. Because of the great music all is forgiven. Here there is no music, no chemistry, no Rajesh Khanna, no Sharmila.
...
Objectiion # 17: What the hell is little Latika doing there? She and Nicole together--just cognitive dissonance.
Objection # 18: Arjun is like Fabio.
Arjun should have been cast as the wastrel Prince, Rubina his spunky illegitimate daughter. Nicole as a spoiled, clueless foreigner. I don't know. If I was paid as much money as Shekar Kapur was, I'd think of something good.

I've got it all figured out.

There was a previous ad shot by Shekhar Kapur for something where exotifying is not completely inappropriate, like some Indian tourism package tour company. However that ad shoot ran out of funding because the clients pulled out or folded. But the ad agency still had that unused footage lying around, so they asked some low-level employee of theirs to just shoot Nicole Kidman swigging a Schweppes and asking "What did you expect?", and they tacked it on. That explains all the lack of continuity between the little girl and the guy. Credit to Shekhar Kapur, not to the flunky.

This method of film-making was pioneered by the great American director Bill Rebane, whose 1965 film Monster A Go-Go remains one of the most incomprehensible ones to have ever graced Mystery Science Theater 3000.

Kidman cant pull off the maharani costume. Most white people cant.

ewww.

the white/blonde savior thing is too intense. little brown girl looking at the white angelic woman with so much admiration. wow.

The sound of Kidman drinking the Schweppes....

Sorry I meant to say "The sound of Kidman drinking the Schweppes is disconcerting".

Bilkul Vakwaas!

"Hey, what did you expect?"..... Well, I expected some soft porn, dammit !! Next time, skip Shekhar Kapur and let Jag Mundhra direct your ads.

I think I’ll abstain from Shekhar Kapur (and probably also Schweppes) entirely.

I'm with you, Amardeep. Abstinence only!

Nicole Kidman. Seriously? The loud gulp you hear is from an esophagus trying to move despite the botoxed muscles surrounding it. Gross. Looks like she's trying to relive the post Moulin Rouge glory days...only "downgrading" from the French Chanel ad to Bollywood and Schweppes. Same level of breathy "the most beautiful woman in the world" adoration though.

I wonder what Tarsem would have done with this. I'm imagining Nicole...rigid on her back as a princess turned to wax, floating on raft down a river of bright orange carbonated fruit beverage.

Amardeep,

It is an OK ad or even above averge, seldom ads are masterpieces. They are not made on same budget and effort as a movie.

You should not expect a Shekar Kapur's ad (or every effort) to be Masoom or the first Elizabeth movie. Everyone needs to pay bills too. Picasso painted in hundreds of thousands, and not all are master pieces. To put in context, Kapur is no Picasso.

The key thing about brilliance is that they do not happen every day, otherwise the world and life would be Lake Woebegone.

I would not write off Shekar Kapur.

Amardeep, let's do this exercise.

In 10 minutes, please name 10 ads which are better than this Kapur's ad on your current TV world/ viewing (Note: You cannot use your entire TV viewing experience). Sure, in your cable offerings, you must be watching hundreds of ads every day when you watch TV for an hour or two.

Hope you get my point.

Out of all the white women in the world...Nicole Kidman?

Why not? Indian obsession with fair skin, so rare in India, is well known around the world; and Nicole is as fair as one can get without being an albino.

Shekhar deserves credit for hiring the little girl from Slumdog Millionaire, she has such a joyous look and smile. Why is Bollywood ignoring the precious little actors from that film?

Considering the amount of discussion, the ad served its purpose. I don't know when I thought "Schweppes" last. Now I can't get the word out of my head.

Looking at the ad's style, the product should have been 'Schleppes'.

Amardeep, between half-baked E2 & half-naked Maharani Nicole (or at least, bare back) what did you prefer? :-) Anyway, at least Shekhar Kapur is consistent - he continues to be partial to Aussie women (Cate Blanchett & Nicole). Is it possible that Nicole & her little slave girl were out on the chhat taking in night air because in the absence of air conditioning the Rajastan heat was killing her? So much so that she was about to take off her dress, when she suddenly spied Rampal also on the ramparts, & in a state of heigtened sexual confusion like Adella Quested in Passage To India decides to run for it. Once back to her room she tries to be all cool shool & pulls out a cold drink. Yes, that must be it. I am off to sleep now.

Btw, when will the inevitable parody ads with Nicole as Sonia & Arjun as Manmohan come out?

i can't speak for the ad, but nicole kidman rocks. don't hate.

yeah nicole kidman does rock, and the ad is not that bad. don't knock the hustle.

yeah, why do people hate nicole

Ok. Here's my explanation. The ad is a parody of Eyes Wide Shut. That's why it doesn't make complete logical sense, if you've seen that movie. She unzips the back of her dress and heads inside for a steamy sex scene. Instead she drinks a soda. Even the look she gives the camera at the end is similar to the dvd cover of eyes wide shut.

So, Schweppes is telling me that their product is terribly carbonated and fattening and I have to unzip dress or loosen belt before imbibing. Got it.

^^Maitri^^ The bestest best ever explanation for this video ;-). No woman is EVER going to be picking up Schweppes again at the grocery store. heh heh heh

I know Shekhar Kapur directed the ad - but it's unlikely that he wrote the story of it or the dialogue. More likely it was the art director + copywriters in the advtg agency who're to blame.

That doesn't excuse the abysmal direction, the weird acting & timing and the bad costuming, of course - but the story not making sense isn't Kapur's fault.

Eyes Wide Shut is probably the inspiration here. Kidman has an odd look, like she's got something she must keep secret; an extreme type (if you know what I mean), beautiful in her way but not to everyone's taste. Her best roles are always those that don't make sense until some twist at the end, and then only maybe. I used to think she was an extraterrestrial, but I don't think they would need botox if cicatrix, our catty (hey, I like cats) but astute SMr, has observed the wedding dress wearing actress correctly.

the problem i have with the whole orietalism/exoticism thing is i can't get any confirmation from the natives. i mean, if i show stuff like this to my mom or grandmother they almost always think its wonderful. in order for somethng to be considered offensive along ethnic lines don't we need a consensus among the alleged exoticized? if arjun and shekhur are ok with this who am i to argue? i'm just an american neocon obsessed with sushi and 6-packs. i can't represent. i know there's always some diversity and renegades in any society and maybe mom & co qualify for that label but do we even have a majority here? i need a poll.

now, the peeps i hear pushing this orietalism thing are usually western intellectuals of the progressive type, so of course i'm suspicious. there's a contradiction here: on the one hand the new age anti-racists tell us we must shut up (especially if you're white) and listen to poc... but the poc talking are usually westernized, so what standing do they really have? this all vaguely reminds me of the dave chapelle skit where a white guy comes up to him and says he should stop telling some of his jokes because...black people don't like it.

Manju #46: I will forever associate you with sushi and six-packs and nothing else. I swear, nothing else.

you know you're just eroticising me, maitri

Why not? Indian obsession with fair skin, so rare in India, is well known around the world; and Nicole is as fair as one can get without being an albino.

Love how the 'Indian fair skin obsession' gets shoe-horned into every conversation. Indians are obsessed with being fair in the Indian spectrum - not the pale-white look that Nicole rocks. Think golden/golden brown.

Just pointing out a fact (as I see it) - not saying anything about this skin-color preference as right or wrong. Please don't jump down my throat.

Love how the 'Indian fair skin obsession' gets shoe-horned into every conversation. Indians are obsessed with being fair in the Indian spectrum - not the pale-white look that Nicole rocks. Think golden/golden brown.

Thanks! I agree with what you said -- Nicole Kidman would get beaten hands down by Salma Hayek.

There's fair and there's fair.

Love how the 'Indian fair skin obsession' gets shoe-horned into every conversation.

the person who made that comment is Prema and she's well-known to twist everything South Asian as a negative to the point of making out lies. I thought the comment was stupid, but I'm glad you said what you did and you're right, Indians like the Indian light skin, which is reflected in the mostly Indian bollywood stars and many members of our own family, north to south.

My sociology professor told me that a bias towards fair skin comes about in countries where being out in the sun is associated with poverty (having to work outside = manual labor.)

Apparently Americans didn't start being all about bronzed skin until the 60s when laborers started spending more time indoors. Once that happened then getting a tan indicated that you had spare time to enjoy leisure and go outside rather than indicating that you're too uneducated to get a job away from the sun.

Then again, I think my opinion of sociology as a discipline is well documented on this board. So take that with a grain of salt.

My sociology professor told me that a bias towards fair skin comes about in countries where being out in the sun is associated with poverty (having to work outside = manual labor.)

There may be something to it. I have observed my people (Telugu farming class) getting lighter skinned as generations go by and we make the transition from working the fields to working in AC rooms (which also translates into transitioning from monsoon-dependent low income levels to consistent high income levels).

Now conversely, I have also seen dark skin being lauded, in my grandpa's case, as a sign of hardworking nature ("yeah, he is dark. What do you expect? He is out in the fields every freaking day"). But he may be an exception. People in general loved him. He was 6'4" - built like a tree trunk and could charm the pants of a whole town.

Please, say wheatish!

This reminded me so much of Baz Luhrmann's awful colonialist-fantasy "Walkabout" ad that I had to double-check that Nicole Kidman wasn't in that one, too. The hands of a small brown child can save you too, pretty white lady! Barf.

I wonder, though -- does the context make a difference here? I see this as really Orientalist in part because I know it was made for/aired in France. Would it come across as Orientalist if it was made for/aired in India?

Please, say wheatish!

Wheatish!

Hope that did it for you.

Shekhar, keep it up!
What the man does well is create a textural sensuality. Elizabeth II was a lame storyline but you've got to admit it was beautifully shot. You feel the scratch of a ruff against your neck or the varied textures of the brocades under your finger tips.
The man can tell a sensorial story and with this ad, what's done so well is how he lit Kidman in a way that made everything around her stand out and not her. Your eye catches the colors, the sequins, the curve in the architecture. She's almost hard to look at (thus the negative comments about her paleness, I guess).
And with keeping Rampal in darkened silhouette, then half light and then in full aching view - dmn! I don't want Scweppes I want Rampal! Let's hear it ladies. I can't be the only one.
And I liked the irreverent ending with Kidman swigging a wine cooler. ah memories! I can taste the peach fizzies and smell the polo blue...

rampal's definitely one good looking dude. much better than tom cruise who's getting goofier by the minute. i used to think kidman was butt but now she's suddenly attractive and i don't know why. must be the best cosmetic surgery ever b/c its unnoticable. she looks sharper and more sophisticated, which goes well with her affectation.

i wouldn't be surprised if rampal ends up bagging her soon. he comes from the land of the kamasutra you know.

You can't blame Shekhar if it was made for the French market. The French require that all matters that touch on issues of diversity be totally nonsensical. Really. It's in their constitution.

"Apparently Americans didn't start being all about bronzed skin until the 60s when laborers started spending more time indoors."

It started a little earlier than that. In the second decade of the 20th century, with a transitional economy where the bulk of the workforce was increasingly indoors, and often sedentary, most of the time. Beaches became the place to go and fewer clothes could be worn there than any time in known history. Naturally the sign of leisure was to have spent time on the beach, or engaged in some outdoor sport. The rich and famous led this change. The last Czarina of Russia, shortly before the end of the family around 1917, was baffled at the "new fashion" of her daughters deliberately exposing their faces to the sun while they were on the train to Siberia. They couldn't have gotten too far with those tans.
I get that the Indian concept of "fair" is a relative one, as is the traditional Hollywood evocation of the tall, "dark" and handsome leading man, who would hardly be considered dark by most of the world.
Just wondering though--are Indians ever rejected (by other Indians) as grooms or brides for being too pale? Do they face social discrimination? I've seen some whose coloring is hardly different from some Europeans. I guess they'd be considered odd in India. I've wondered about this and been embarrassed to ask my desi friend about it. She'd probably feel she'd have to say something to be polite.
I once worked with a very nice, Christian Indian. One of her brothers needed a wife, so she was on the look out--or was it a husband for her sister? I forget--it's been years. Anyway, I mentioned an Indian Christian I'd met, who I thought might be a good candidate based on the slim list of traits I'd been given for consideration. However, she kept asking "what's his (or her) LOOK". I didn't get it at first, but then I realized she wanted to know the color. She wasn't prejudiced--her sister-in-law, of whom she was very fond, was a white American--but I guess there are just certain expectations that must be adhered to.

If only I'd happened on this blog at the time, to facilitate cultural understanding, I could have answered with confidence, "wheatish of course."

I found the ad incredibly creepy, because the last Kidman movie I considered going to see (and didn't) was The Golden Compass, where she plays Mrs. Coulter--the head of the Gobblers organization which kidnaps children with promises of treats (especially poor children and street children) and does awful things to them. That was one of the last big releases she was in, and it makes the Rubina Ali juxtaposition super creepy, especially in light of no plot and the bizarre snub of the gorgeous Mr. Rampal.

Mrs. Coulter--the head of the Gobblers organization which kidnaps children with promises of treats (especially poor children and street children) and does awful things to them.

is there no end to hollywood's liberal bias?

It was very funny reading through all the comments...and some of them gave me a good laugh. After I saw the second ad, I felt that we can conclude whether this makes sense or not if somebody can translate exactly what was being said in french. Was it about beating the hot summer by gulping some nice cold drinks ?

Q: What did you expect?
Me: It looked like memsaab was rushing for a bathroom break.

Seems like also some reference to her role in Australia as the noble white woman who loved the brown child...substitute Indian for aborigine....and voila! Schweppes ad!

62: liberal bias? The name Mrs. Coulter comes from the British novels the movie is based on; the first novel (and Mrs. Coulter's appearance) was first published in 1995, well before Anne Coulter had a conservative media career, let alone any reputation in England. Don't jump to conclusions.

"My sociology professor told me that a bias towards fair skin comes about in countries where being out in the sun is associated with poverty (having to work outside = manual labor.)"

Your sociology professor must be speaking of more homogeneous societies where skin colour is not a function of ethnicity. I think you have black boxed yourself in a convenient model and have not really tried to understand racial and colour prejudices as they exist on the ground in India. I pray its that and not some ideology induced denial. The difference in Indian skin tones is clearly a result of different ethnicities than a result of a 'tan', and the Indian elites are well aware of it in having attuned their prejudices against any darker underclass, and these prejudices get passed on as negative stereotypes. Talking of normative samples and not the sophistry using exceptions - the evidence is overwhelming that upper castes are lighter skinned as compared to the so called lower castes.

Also, please note its not exact to say 'fair skin' enjoys an exalted position in Indian consciousness as much as fair skinned with marked Caucasian features. The porcelain skinned North-easterners for example are treated worse than animals by the northern Indians (to the degree of being dehumanized) Racism and colour prejudice tends to decrease from the North to South, Punjab to Tamil Nadu, any observant native will attest to that.

The difference in Indian skin tones is clearly a result of different ethnicities than a result of a 'tan'

Multiple genetic studies (including studies of Y-chromosomal and mitochondrial DNA) have shown that there is no such thing as a "separate Dravidian race." The only distinct ethnicities in South Asia are the Balochi, Brahui, Burusho, Hazara, Kalash, Pathan and Sindhi peoples.

"My sociology professor told me that a bias towards fair skin comes about in countries where being out in the sun is associated with poverty (having to work outside = manual labor.)"

Yes, this is true in India too. People will stay out of the sun there because they don't want to get darker. So even though kola-nut-techie says its due to ethnicities in India, still, regardless what your natural skin tone be, if you hang in the sun, it will get darker. And darker skin is associated with "lower classes" in India, despite the fact that all classes run the gamut of skin tones. And Indian people who do labor long hours in the sun, do in fact, get darker than if they would not to be in the sun.

Or course people who are naturally dark and do not labor in the sun will be dark no matter what, but they will be trained from young childhood NOT to stay in the sun lest they become even darker.

Sometimes dark skinned Indians are said to "look like labor class". That statement is un-pc on so many levels, but the East is not hung up on pc-ness like the West is, not yet anyway.

I finally saw the ad on French TV. All that raw footage has been happily edited --the incomprehensible slave girl is gone and Udaipur and Arjun are just an exotic silhouette. It's rather nice if you know the "what did you expect" reference or like to be reminded of exotic Udaipur--a favorite French destination in India.

It's possible they will re-edit and use other parts of the shoot later in the year. The George Clooney Nespresso ads, for instance, have many different versions. They make a lot more sense but just as with the Nicole ad, those ads are also only about the extremely sexy George Clooney.

Whoever would pass up a kiss from Arjun for a sugary soda needs to have their head examined.
And the cliched sitar music ... arrgghhh, my ears, my ears.