Learn how to market yourself by seeking inspiration from ‘Gabbar’

Sholay (1975) is amongst the greatest movies in over 100 years’ history of Indian cinema, and has earned numerous accolades. While most of us remember all its characters by heart, it’s Gabbar who still rules over millions heart.

The character of Gabbar, played by Amjad Khan, contributed immensely to the success of this blockbuster movie. Even after four decades, people remember his iconic dialogues such as "Kitne aadmi the", "Ab tera kya hoga Kalia?”, “Jo dar gaya, samjho mar gaya", etc. In 2013, Filmfare named Gabbar Singh the most iconic villain in the history of Indian cinema.

To cash on the popularity of Gabbar Singh, few movies have used his name for hero’s character. In Telugu film - Gabbar Singh (2012), the male lead, who played a role of apolice cop, renamed himself as Gabbar. This movie became one of the highest grossing Telugu movies. In Hindi movie - Gabbar is Back (2015), the hero of the film, who was man against corruption, renamed himself as Gabbar. This movie also did amazingly well at the Box Office. During the end of this flick, Gabbar kidnaps Digvijay Patil and both the characters quarrel to prove their brand power and eventually, Gabbar proves and says, “Gabbar is a bigger brand than you”.

Many marketing books teach about importance of marketing of companies and their products, but Gabbar’s example teaches about marketing your most important asset all by yourself. Besides, it also tells you how to create your own personal brand in a super crowded market.
Here we list 10 characteristics that helped Gabbar Singh to become one of the most powerful personal brands are as follows:

Passion: Gabbar was a dacoit, but people love his character because he played the role of dacoit with passion, which was reflected in his dialogues, actions and strategies and made this role unforgettable.

Preparation: Amjad Khan was almost dropped from the project because Javed Akhtar found his voice too weak for Gabbar Singh's role. But, Amjad Khan made Gabbar one of the most popular characters. In preparation for the role, Amjad read Abhishapth Chambal, a book on Chambal dacoits written by Taroon Kumar Bhaduri (actress Jaya Bhaduri's father).

Reputation: Gabbar had a very strong reputation in his profession. The authorities declared a big reward of Rs 50,000 for getting him arrested. He made sure that his team and audience know his reputation; he asks one of his team members - “Arre o Samba, kitna inaam rakhe hai sarkar ham par?”

Leadership: Gabbar led a group of dacoits, and kept them inspired and loyal towards him, but when needed he even punish them.

Visibility: Gabbar used to regularly send his dacoits to Ramgarh (market) to keep an eye on villagers (target audience), maintain his terror (positioning) & watch any upcoming competition. When his dacoits came back without getting anything from villagers (zero business), he measured his competition by asking "Kitne aadmi the".

Communication: Gabbar was a strong communicator. His voice modulation, emotional touch, eye contact, dialogues (content) and delivery style (body language) fascinated audience.

Association: If Gabbar would have been alone, he would not have been very powerful, he associated himself with likeminded people (dacoits) and became leader of his association. And this gave him network, credibility and power.

Remembrance: Gabbar made sure that people remember him and use his brand for creating fear. He used to say, “yaha se pachas pachas kos door gaon me jab bachcha raat ko rota hai to maa kahti hai beta soja nahi to Gabbar Singh aa jaayega”. In 2002, The British Film Institute wrote that fear of Gabbar Singh is still invoked by mothers to put their children to sleep.

Endorsement: Gabbar Singh was the first villain character used by a company to publicize its products. He endorsed Britannia Glucose Biscuits, the advertisement was an instant hit in children and the sales almost doubled.

Opportunistic: To attack his competitors when they are not prepared to face his attack, Gabbar asks his team “Holi kab hai, kab hai holi?” and plans to attack Ramgarh during Holi celebration.

People perceive that brands are different and better than commodities. When they buy any product or service, they pay higher prices for the products or services from known and reputed brands than for the products or services from unknown brands, and commodities serving the same requirement.

In Sholay, there were many other non-branded dacoits (except Samba and Kalia because their names were mentioned by Gabbar in popular dialogues), and it is difficult to differentiate them from one another because they all seem to serve the same need, solve the same problem, and deliver the same value for Gabbar. In today’s highly competitive and super crowded world, individual’s personal brand is his most important asset and he can achieve his dreams by trying to become his field’s Gabbar.

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(About the author: Harsh Pamnani is alumnus of XLRI, Jamshedpur & former Senior Manager at TiE Mumbai.)