In screenwriter Abhijat Joshi’s book Unscripted, Vidhu Vinod Chopra reflects on the stark contrast between the budget for a two-minute Pepsi ad and his first hit Parinda, which was made on a shoestring budget. The Pepsi ad had an astonishing budget of ₹1 crore, and Chopra himself earned ₹50 lakh for directing it. However, he revealed that he only took on directing ads when he was in urgent financial need, as he didn’t want to “corrupt his soul and art.”
When ad executive Mika Khanna later urged Chopra to direct more commercials, the filmmaker firmly stated that he would only do so if he ever went completely broke. That moment came after his 1998 film Kareeb flopped at the box office, causing financial strain. This led Chopra to direct his second and final ad, this time for ICICI Bank, charging ₹1 crore. He admitted that this payment helped him finance his next project, Mission Kashmir (2000).
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