The airline’s return to the Tata group bodes well for the Maharajah too, who somehow has been standing tall with dignity and humility all along despite the numerous ups and downs.
The Tata group, India’s largest conglomerate, has just bought the national carrier, Air India. With that, the Maharajah, the airline’s voice box, its foreign ambassador, corporate spokesman, advertising mascot, too, has moved back with pride and dignity writ large on his persona. The airline has proudly brought the Indian flag to international skies, and in 1948, Air India started international service from Mumbai to London. The Maharajah, the darling of the masses, gained in stature and was omnipresent in all promotions and activities. This airline that JRD Tata founded was the first Indian global entity.
There was a time when the much-loved Maharajah could be seen in most drawing rooms welcoming guests with folded hands. A popular and lovable figure, conceived by Bobby Kooka, then a Commercial Director with Air India and sketched by Umesh Rao, an artist at J Walter Thompson in Bombay, he has ruled the hearts ever since he first made his appearance in Air India way back in 1946. Kooka was responsible for building the brand of Air India around the Maharajah.
The airline’s return to the Tata group bodes well for the Maharajah too, who somehow has been standing tall with dignity and humility all along despite the numerous ups and downs. His body language has been consistently exuding the willingness to serve. The Maharajah is here to stay
He is easily one of India’s most recognisable and loved mascots, created when India was known as the ‘Land of the Maharajas’ Also, Air India was the country’s only international carrier. Hence the mascot depicted both grace and elegance with a distinctive personality, rotund in shape, sporting a flashy moustache. What followed were puns and humour, besides antics, that set the Maharajah apart from other such representative figures and mascots.
Maharajah won several awards, national and international, for Air India, for being original in promotion and activities. But 1989 saw the Maharajah being dropped by Air India, due to the socialist aspirations of the country, despite protests launched by his numerous fans. However, he had to be brought back on popular demand from even those who could not afford to fly. In 2017, while his face, turban and figure did not change, he became trimmer and was seen wearing jeans and an attire that was as modern.
The Maharajah has been in trouble for some time now, as the airline ran into losses. He had become a national figure, a proud presence in every middle class home.
Ratan Tata could not have been happier than the time when the news of Tata’s bid being accepted by the government, was broken to him. The airline’s return to the Tata group bodes well for the Maharajah too, who somehow has been standing tall with dignity and humility all along despite the numerous ups and downs. His body language has been consistently exuding the willingness to serve. The Maharajah is here to stay.
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