1. Piyush Pandey

He provides creative leadership to one of the leading advertising agency of India. He leads by example and the interesting bit is that most of his creative education came by travelling in trains. He was playing for Ranji Trophy and they could only afford train travels for their players. During these travels he got insight into the small-townIndiawhich he uses in his creatives. Trains give a glimpse into different types of people and their lives which can weave into beautiful stories.

2. Prasoon Joshi

He is a brilliant music writer besides being an excellent advertising professional. He has made it on his own from a small town inIndia. He is the original bilingual copywriter ofIndia.

3. Aishwarya Rai Bachchan

We had launched her with a three-second presence in Pepsi commercial where she said: “Hi, I am Sanju”. Her presence made every male from 8-80 get into a tizzy and they wanted more of Sanju. She has become one of the most recognizable face of the Indian advertising, besides being that of Indian film industry.

4. Katrina Kaif

She made it fashionable for foreign faces with an accent to make their presence felt in Indian advertising. She is every director’s dream come true and a face that is not easy to forget.

5. Me

Beauty is only skin deep but my motto is ugly is forever. So I am immortal face of the advertising industry.

Prahlad Kakkar is an ad filmmaker and CEO, Genesis Films

Photograph: Fotocorp