(From top): The Centrefresh ad being shot in Khimsar; Hrithik Roshan and a young folk artiste in the Coke ad; Gauhar Khan in the Amarsons ad and Indian cricketers in the Samsung ad

Where do you find the next best thing to a Scottish castle in the Indian sub-continent? The answer won’t be too much of a surprise to anyone who thinks of castles and genuine dyed-in-the-wool royals with a few camels thrown in for good measure.

Yep. The answer is Rajasthan. Ok, so it isn’t Scotland and you don’t have too much highland mist ? and, heck, what would camels be doing in Scotch whiskey country ? but it’s a great location for shooting an ad as anyone in the advertising game will tell you without hesitation. Whatever you want to sell, whether it’s Visa cards or Centrefresh chewing gum, head for the land of colourful turbans and kings.

“The traditional aspects are so well preserved that Rajasthan gives you a feel of the grand past of India. Every other place has some sameness to it, but the character of Rajasthan differs from place to place. There are different kinds of architecture and a look that sets it apart from the rest of India,” says Prasoon Joshi, regional creative director, South and South- East Asia, McCann Eriksson.

Adds ad guru Prahlad Kakkar, “Be it sand dunes, bazaars, vast stretches of desolate land, colourful people, good looking people, you have got them all in one place.”

Nobody is quite sure how many ads are shot in Rajasthan. Rough estimates are that about 40-50 companies decide to put their money on the state each year. Ad filmmaker Shiven Surendranath, for instance, has been there twice in the last 18 months shooting both a toothpaste commercial and the Nokia 1100 ad with actor Rajpal Yadav. McCann Ericksson’s Joshi reckons his firm shoots two or three ads in Rajasthan every year. Says Joshi, “Currently we are on a project in Jaipur. In the past we have done any number of shoots there.”

And, as competition hots up in every business from soft drinks to telecommunications, the creative whiz kids of the advertising world are turning their eyes to the desert state more often than ever before.

Take a look at Iodex, being touted as the perfect balm after a camel ride. The Iodex advertisement currently on air imaginatively uses the desert as a metaphor for showcasing its pain-relieving function.

Or, look at Visa’s latest mega-production at Mehrangarh Fort that squeezed in every bit of Rajasthani exoticism it could find. For a start, there was Hollywood star, Richard Gere, who helps a little Rajasthani girl and buys cages full of birds with a Visa card. Overlooking the Mehrangarh fort, the ad depicts a bustling market place with men and women in colourful traditional gear, bright turbans and moustachioed birdsellers. It may have been over the top, but it did make Rajasthan come alive. Inevitably, it scored high on the memorability chart and was an instant hit amongst TV viewers.

Move from credit cards to chewing gum and from Mehrangarh to Khimsar heritage village. Tourists head for Khimsar Fort and the rustic charm of the surrounding village and that’s precisely what Centrefresh did. Or, if you prefer the Chlormint Ice advertisement where fire comes streaming out of the fire thrower’s mouth, it was shot in Bikaner.

Inevitably, the country’s highest spending advertisers have often made the journey to the desert state, whether it’s Coke with Hrithik Roshan or Samsung and half the cricket team. Coke’s rival, Pepsi has also been in and out of the state and a few years ago, made waves with it’s mega-budget creation starring both Amitabh Bachchan and Sachin Tendulkar, once again at Mehrangarh Fort.

Even companies that are not in the league of the Pepsis and Cokes when it comes to ad spending have splurged in Rajasthan. Consider Siyaram Suitings, with its ‘Coming Home to Siyaram’ campaign, always extensively shot in Rajasthan. Siyaram stirred the ad world when it brought together tennis legend Boris Becker and beauty queen and actor Diya Mirza for their suiting campaign at Samode Palace and Chomu a few years ago. Obviously with Becker in the frame, this was one of the most expensive ad films shot in the state.

Now Siyaram’s has more or less chosen Rajasthan as its permanent shooting destination. Says a Siyaram executive, “Our forefathers come from this land and we have a sense of belonging here. The place is kaleidoscopic and we want to showcase these colours in our campaign.”

Obviously, it’s not just the Boris Beckers of the world who turn up for shoots in Rajasthan. Ace batsman Virender Sehwag was in Jaipur last year to shoot Dabur’s Lal Daant Manjan ad, which is still on air. And there’s a constant parade of film and sporting stars who are turning up for commercial gain.

What’s the most photographed location in the desert state for the admen? The fact is that there’s an almost endless choice of scenic spots that look great in both video and still photographs. In fact, admen are spoilt for choice. Take palaces and forts alone. There is, for instance, Udaipur Lake Palace which has never-fading charms. Or, there’s another hot favourite, the Rambagh Palace, Mehrangarh, Khimsar or scores of other places.

And, if you are tired of palaces, there are always the raw outdoors. &M shot the award-winning Fevicol ad that shows people stuck to the roof of a bus in Jaisalmer. And the Asian Paints Mera Walla Blue ad was filmed in Pushkar. Says Piyush Pandey, executive chairman and national creative director, &M, “It is the rawness of Rajasthan that appeals to an ad filmmaker the most. There is a colourful aspect too.”

Adds Suhel Seth, CEO, Equus, “Rajasthan has the most abundant array of settings in the country. That’s in terms of colour, vibrancy and the people.”

Of course, some companies have attempted to capture and bottle the charm of Rajasthan in an entirely different way. Take cigarette company Godfrey Philips, for instance, which twice attempted to create an upmarket brand that it called Jaisalmer. Two years ago ? during the brand’s second launch ? the star of the campaign was a local model called Bissa, who with his big moustache and typically Jaisalmeri features quickly became a household name in Rajasthan.

Similarly, a famous French perfume manufacturer produced a perfume named Jaipur and shot the campaign extensively in Jaipur. It helped to put the city even more firmly on the international map. Other foreigners have tried to sell on the back of the desert state’s charm. Some years ago, Ford UK chose Rajasthan for its ad film shown in UK and parts of Europe. The film conceived by Prasoon Pandey was shot at Khamlighat near Mavli, Jaipur’s Sisodiya Rani Ka Bagh and at Musi Rani Ka Bagh in Alwar.

Then, there was the BMW ad campaign shot in Jaipur a few years ago using Indian models and a brand-new BMW, brought from Germany. The ad was shown only in Germany for 30 seconds. Several advertisers have filmed their campaigns around Udaipur’s Lake Palace and this includes a world-famous brand of wine.

Admen who’ve shot in Rajasthan say there are unexpected benefits. Danny Pope, a 44-year-old Australian cinematographer, who shot the Fevicol ad praises the perfect conditions he found in the state. “We shot the ad in winter so the lighting was quite perfect. We wanted the bus to bump around a bit, so we dug small ditches for it to go through while ensuring the lighting was uniform. It was very simple and we enjoyed the shoot. The local actors were fantastic and sat patiently for hours.”

Pope also did the Chevrolet ad in Rajasthan, of which he says, “It was a really difficult ad to make because of the dusty terrain.”

Rajasthan is, in fact, especially popular with car and bike companies. Surendranath reckons that about 50 per cent of Indian auto and bike ads are shot in three regions ? Rajasthan, the Little Rann of Kutch and Ladakh. Says Surendranath, “These are among the few places in India that have the barren landscape needed to take long shots of a car.”

If all this wasn’t enough, after years of experience, the state has geared itself for ad films and movie shoots. Surendranath reckons the state is very “shooting savvy”. Over the years it’s built a network of local assistant directors and producers. Says Surendranath, “For the Nokia ad, I didn’t even take an assistant director as I knew two there. The assistant directors are on par or better than anyone in Mumbai.”

Also, there are other support services like good reconnaissance services, professional catering units, hotels that know how to provide for a shooting unit, and car rental companies for shooting convoys. Says Surendranath, “The state government realises that we need permissions quickly. These things happen fast in Rajasthan unlike in, say, Delhi. The systems are in place in Rajasthan.” Also, he says, because it is tourist country even if the unit is shooting in remote areas there are tents available. “You are in reasonable luxury wherever you shoot in Rajasthan,” he says.

Nevertheless, some experts feel that more can be done to attract ad filmmakers. “Although Rajasthan being a product in itself attracts fimmakers on their own, pragmatic planning by the state government with incentives can make them come in greater numbers,” says Tripti Pandey, an author and a cultural tourism expert.

The amazing fact is that there are scores of other untouched locations in Rajasthan still waiting to be discovered. There’s the green Hadoti region, the enchanting Crystal gallery of Fateh Prakash in Udaipur, the Sawai Madhopur in region. Some advertisers like Amarsons, a big Mumbai departmental chain, for instance, used the relatively lesser-known Balsamand for shooting their campaigns with model Gauhar Khan.

Whether it’s to the Lake Palace, Khimsar, Jaisalmer or even newer locations like Balasamund, there’s no question that the admen will always descend on the state in large numbers. For the bottomline is that Rajasthan works real well for them.