New Delhi : Noted Writer, Poet, Lyricist, Screenwriter and Advertising Guru Mr. Prasoon Joshi, a star alumnus of IMT Ghaziabad has been conferred the biggest ‘Special Lifetime IMT-Community Award’. This award was bestowed upon Mr. Joshi by the Management of Institute of Management Technology, at IMT Ghaziabad’s Annual Convocation 2015. Celebrating the stellar personality, the award acclaims the exemplary contribution of Padma Shri Mr. Prasoon Joshi to the Indian media & entertainment industry along with noteworthy contributions to social causes. In his acceptance speech, Prasoon Joshi accredited IMT for his successful journey from being a small town guy with no exposure in marketing and corporate world, to becoming the most celebrated Ad Guru in India. Since 2005, every year IMT confers a Distinguished Alumni Award to their alumni for exceptional  contribution to the industry and the institute. The recipients of the Distinguished Alumni award in the past have been Rajeev Karwal, Prasoon Joshi, Arshi Narang, Ravi Soni, Abhijeet DuttaRoy, Sandeep Dhar, Dev Amritesh, Deepak Mangla, Atul Chand, Suprakash Chaudhuri and Debashis Das. However this year a special award was installed to honour Prasoon Joshi as a special Lifetime Achievement award for his outstanding work and contribution to industry, social causes and alma mater.

Receiving the award, Mr. Prasoon Joshi said, “I thank IMT for giving me this Special Lifetime IMT Community Award. I would like to thank all my teachers & professors who shaped me in a particular way and it is because of them that I am what I am today. I also thank all my batch mates who have been indulgent with me.  I believe that an institution is definitely about inculcating certain value system and shaping you in a certain way. More importantly it is to unleash the very authentic you from you. This is what IMT has done for me. It has unleashed the very me. I did not have any idea as to how my crazy ideas will find meaning in this world. I would look at communication and advertising but had no idea how to go about it and had no idea about the business aspect to it. IMT taught me to look for that destiny. It taught me to create my own world, and I am thankful to all those years that I have spent here”.

India has a big talent pool with great potential in various domains but it is the right set of education and direction which is lacking in the country. As a torch bearer in management education since 1980, IMT has come a long way to be widely recognised as one of the best management schools in India and a hub to unleash the best of innovation, entrepreneurship and skilled engineering required to succeed in a globalized and dynamic world. IMT Ghaziabad’s over 5,000 strong alumni spread across various corners of the globe which comprises of think tanks, industry veterans, business leaders, successful start-ups and known industry professionals are the pillars of societal growth, and are working closely with the social order to lead the change of tomorrow.

As a part of this distinguished alumni fraternity, Prasoon Joshi is one amongst the lead contributors of the dedicated mission that aims to transform the modern Indian society. At his alma mater, the Institute of Management Technology – Ghaziabad, Mr. Prasoon Joshi decided to fuse his love for culture and art and his faculty for the commercial dynamic and make his career in advertising. After completing his MBA, he started his career with one of the world’s leading agencies, Ogilvy & Mather in Delhi. In a span of 10 years, he rose to the position of an executive creative director. In 2002, he became the executive vice president and national creative director of McCann-Erickson. At the age of 35, he was promoted to the Regional Creative Director for South Asia and South East Asia, McCann-Erickson. Within a few months, he was elevated as the executive chairman of McCann Worldgroup India and regional creative director for Asia Pacific.

Making his debut as film lyricist with Raj Kumar Santoshi’s ‘Lajja’, Mr. Joshi’s keen music sense and a distinctive flair for writing soon led him to a string of highly successful Bollywood films like ‘Fanaa’, ‘Rang De Basanti’, ‘Taare Zameen Par’, ‘Black’ and ‘Delhi 6’. His work for script, screenplay and dialogue writing is highly appreciated in Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra’s ‘Bhaag Milkha Bhaag’ released in July 2013. Winning the prestigious National Award twice, he has been awarded Padma Shri by Government of India for his contribution towards the field of Arts, Literature and Advertising.

In the advertising domain, notable are his campaigns for NDTV India (Sach dikhate hain hum), Saffola (Abhi to main jawan hoon) LG, Marico, Perfetti (Alpenliebe, Chlormint), and the Cannes-winning Thanda matlab Coca-Cola campaign with Aamir Khan. His Happydent television commercial is considered by experts as India’s best ad till date and was that year listed by the authoritative Bob Garfield of Advertising Age as one of his personal choices for the Cannes Gold. He has rightfully earned the title of “The Ad Guru of India”.

Mr. Prasoon Joshi has also been a part of advertising for public service campaigns which include Breakthrough Trust’s Anti-HIV Campaign, Pulse Polio, National Literacy Mission: child education films, UN Millennium Goals Anti-Poverty Campaign, Anti Child Abuse and Cancer Patients Society against tobacco consumption.

In 2014, Mr. Joshi was the first Asian to be the Chairman of the Cannes Titanium Jury. In 2008, he was invited as the Cannes Jury chairman and in 2009, he was named among the exclusive 10-member Cannes Titanium and Integrated Jury at the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival. In 2006, he was chosen a ‘Young Global Leader 2006’ by the Forum of Young Global Leaders, an affiliate of the World Economic Forum. He was part of the select three-member Core Creative Advisory Committee for the Commonwealth Games 2010 opening and closing ceremonies.

source : Lokesh Shastri