RIP: Advertising's titan Bal Mundkur passes away

Among the tallest figures of Indian advertising, the founder of the extraordinarily talented Ulka, which later became Draftfcb, breathed his last on January 7, in Goa

BestMediaInfo Bureau | Delhi | January 9, 2012

It was one man's passion. He brought together an extraordinary team he and inspired them all along. Bold, path-breaking ideas. And today, Draftfcb Ulka, ranked third largest advertising group in the country, stands as a proud testament to what talent, guts and imagination can achieve.

Bal Mundkur, the man who set up UlkaAdvertising 50 years ago (the agency recently celebrated the milestone, with the Founding Chairman gracing the occasion), succumbed to a heart attack on the morning of January 7, 2011, at his residence in Goa.

Bal joined DJ Keymer, the forerunner of today's O&M, on the first day of 1951. Ten years later, he started Ulka – meaning, meteor. And the new agency's rise was indeed meteoric – within the next ten years, Ulka was the fourth largest agency in the country – and by far the largest independent Indian startup.

An avid collector of all things rare and beautiful, Bal's prized chess set starred in Satyajit Ray's celebrated 'Shatranj Ke Khiladi'.

Bal was not just a businessman; he was also an extremely passionate crusader for a wide range of causes, from a building for a cerebral palsy hospital to bringing the choir of Trinity College, London, on a tour across India.

In the nineties, Bal retired from Ulka (which had become FCB Ulka, and more recently, DraftfcbUlka) and moved to Goa, where he continued working for causes close to his heart, which included helping set up Asia's very first Museum of Christian Art in Goa.

Bal remained full of energy and enthusiasm till the end. At 85 he set up the Centrum Trust, which recently published 'Ad Katha: The Story of Indian Advertising'.

Bal has moved on, but he will live on in the hearts of those who knew him.

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