Wacky .. wacky .. wacky is the name of the game,
If you can't tickle the funny bones, only you are to blame,
While you promote a product that it was never meant to be,
Act it all out as you let your wild imaginations run free!
Promote a product for the uses it was never meant for by creating a Mad Ad highlighting the wackiest of the uses!

Ashvin Mathew

Biography

I began my experiments with performing arts at the age of 15 with a series of projects with professional theatre groups the first being Artist's Repertory Theater. Realizing that I had the requisite talent to make a career of it I decided to strengthen it with academic moorings as well. Post a course in performing arts in Australia, I signed up for a Bachelor's Degree in Mass communication (Radio and TV production) in Cyprus. I have attended several workshops and studied under many international theatre groups such as The Footsbarn Theatre Company from France, the Commedia dell'arte from Italy and the Northern Broadsides from the United Kingdom.

On the professional front, I have had varied experiences including a stint as an RJ in Cyprus and as a teacher at the Millennium School in Dubai teaching drama and literature. My close association with Black Coffee productions over the past years gave me the opportunity to play leading roles in plays like 'The Dresser', 'The Secret Death of Salvador Dali', 'Closer' and 'Dancing on Glass'. Utilizing my understanding of theatre, I also conduct workshops for children and adults on personality development, team building and, public speaking using theatre techniques.

Besides performing arts I work as a Stand-up comedian and have had successful performances in countries across the world including Australia, Cyprus, Dubai and Qatar. Some of the corporate events that I've performed at are Flextronics, Microsoft, Accenture, Deutsche Bank, Infosys, Qsit Solutions, HSBC, DELL and Intel. I hosted The Radio Advertising Awards, The Media & Marketing Awards organized by Exchange4Media. Opening the "Whose Line is it Anyway India Tou" of reknowned comedians Colin Mochrie and Brad Sherwood was a performance that got me widespread acclaim.

Radio and TV commercials is another activity that I have been successful at - having over a 100 radio adverts to my credit including Royal Challenge, Nitesh Builders, Brigade Group. Hutch Telecom, Lenovo, Kissan and WorldSpace Radio. I have also acted in TV commercials such as Prestige induction cook tops, EXO Dish shine and Hamam soaps.

Description: You have to come up with an ad for a product and act it out within a few minutes. It's important to note that the ad must highlight the uses of the product OTHER THAN what it is generally meant for, e.g., "Hanuman Soap" may be used to catch burglars by using it as a weapon.

Rules

1. The team shall consist of a maximum of three members.
2. The event is open to all participating colleges as well as companies
3. Registrations will close 1 hour before the event starts.
4. For the first round, teams shall be given the description of a situation 15 minutes before the event. The time limit for the performance is 1 minute and this will be an elimination round.
5. For the remaining rounds, the situations & the time limits will be announced on the spot.
6. Teams exceeding the time limit will be strictly penalized
7. The decisions of the judges are final & binding.
8. Props of any form are not allowed.
9. The judges may choose to ask questions to the team after their act.
10. The teams shall be judged based on their creativity, originality, spontaneity, coordination, acting skills & dialogue delivery.

Shantanu Chaudhary - +91 96869 07348 - shantanu.chaudhary[at]iimb.ernet.in

Jithu Krishnan - +91 99860 44845 - jithu.krishnan10[at]iimb.ernet.in