'Air India back with Tatas': Amitabh Bachchan recalls iconic ad from college days

Amitabh Bachchan quoted the iconic line from an Air India ad.

Superstar Amitabh Bachchan celebrated the return of Air India to the Tatas by recalling what he saw during his college days.

Amitabh Bachchan, as a student of Delhi University’s Kirori Mal College, used to see a banner ad of Air India on a building in Connaught Place in the heart of the city as he travelled to college.

“I remember the banner ad, in the late 50s on a striking building in Connaught Place, New Delhi, that I would pass by as I travelled to University in the Univ Special: 'There's an air about India.’ Bobby Kooka at his best,” the actor tweeted late Sunday night.

Bobby Kooka was the commercial director of Air India. He was the brain behind picking the much-loved and easily-recognisable “Maharajah” as the mascot of the airline. The sketch of the "Maharajah" was once drawn on the corner of a letterhead by HTA artist Umesh Rao. Kooka, a good friend of JRD Tata, saw the huge potential in it and the rest is history.

The national carrier landed back in the hands of its founders, Tata Group, in January, nearly seven decades after it was nationalised and following years in debt.

The historic handover marked the end of a long search for a buyer by the government, which has spent nearly crores propping up the airline since 2009. Tata Group is back in charge of Air India after concluding the Rs 18,000 crore deal.