In Bollywood, actors are known to rake in big moolah from their many brand endorsements.

And looks like now director Imtiaz Ali too has joined the bandwagon of stars becoming brand ambassadors.

Our sources say that Imtiaz will be seen in an ad of an electronic notebook/tablet company. And it was after some hard convincing from photographer friend Atul Kasbekar that the filmmaker agreed to sign on the dotted lines.

A source informs, `Imtiaz has signed his first endorsement deal. Earlier too he had been approached for many brands. However, he preferred to stay away from this space. Imtiaz has a massive fan following and Atul convinced him that the product in question belongs to his intelligent space. After much deliberation, the director finally agreed.`

Atul, whose agency handles Imtiaz, says, `He is a huge brand in himself and has grown over the years. We don't want him to be associated with any product that he wouldn't himself use or believe in.

Me too!
It was initially Karan Johar who started the trend of filmmakers supporting brands. He was soon joined by Anurag Kashyap, who endorses a chocolate brand. Industry insiders say that the ads endorsed by directors are made keeping in mind their personal style of filmmaking.


Karan Johar What the ad gurus say:
Ad filmmaker Prahlad Kakkar: I think Imtiaz is a good choice. He is young, has dreamy eyes and makes very intense romantic films.

All of that makes him a female icon. As far as other directors are concerned, it is interesting and a good choice to have them to reach mass audiences.