Unilever and its ad agency Lintas launched a one woman army to take on the competitively priced Nirma. The idea of samajhdar Lalitaji was inspired by her creator Alyque Padamsee’s mother who always stressed on not just bachat but ‘value for money’ as she haggled with the vegetable vendor over `.

For Padamsee, Lalitaji always remained a special character since she was crafted on his mother.

“My mother would always say, ‘Saste cheez kharidne mein aur acche cheez kharidne mein farak hota hai’ [there’s a difference between buying cheap and buying good], and that’s how we created that brand value,” Padamsee had said.

“The price of Surf washing powder was higher than other detergent powder brands, but we were determined not to alter the price or lower it — so we went ahead with it and it was a huge success,” Padamsee had explained while recalling why the ad worked.

Lalitaji, played by Kavita Chaudhury, was not a diminutive woman. She was a homemaker who was assertive and powerful. She convinced the audience that Surf was the right product to buy, even though it meant shelling out a bit more.

“Back in those days, it was not an easy task to promote a product that was more expensive than others,” he had said. Buying Surf almost became a status symbol in India.

Padamsee would go on to create many iconic ads for India — from Hamara Bajaj to KamaSutra — but Liril and Lalitaji continue to be among his best work. Both showed powerful women who were taking their own decisions or doing their own thing, even though they seemed to represent two different faces of India.