The great grand-old man of Indian theatre and advertising, Gerson da Cunha is no more. He breathed his last at 12:30 pm on Friday.
Gerson da Cunha belongs to a generation of Indians who have revolutionized the advertising world in the post- independence era in India. He became the Chief Executive Officer of Lintas at a very young age. Cunha was recruited by UNICEF for South America, where he spearheaded and implemented social marketing strategies for programs like vaccination for children in Brazil’s slums, and healthy motherhood in Central America.
When the telecommunication sector in India was being revolutionized under the leadership of Rajiv Gandhi in the early 1980s, Cunha played a major role in streamlining India’s telecommunications sector alongside Sam Pitroda. He has functioned in an honorary capacity as advisor in various union ministries and the National Technology Missions under the Cabinet Secretariat.
Cunha has acted in numerous plays and movies namely Electric Moon (1992), Cotton Mary (1999), Asoka (2001) and Water (2005), among others.
In 2018, Cunha was honored by the Government of Brazil with a medal of ‘Order of Rio Branco’ for his services to Brazil during his stint with UNICEF.
One of India’s advertising greats Gerson da Cunha passed away, aged 94. A multi-dimensional person he was also a film/theatre actor and a Mumbai civic champion. Some may remember him as the Bombay DD news anchor or news reader, as they were called back then. RIP Gerson da Cunha🙏 pic.twitter.com/1LK86DAYZj
— Lloyd Mathias (@LloydMathias) January 7, 2022
Sad to learn of the passing, at age 93, of a giant of Bombay's English-language theatre, @GersonDacunha. In my childhood I watched him on the stage in many plays: his Othello was unforgettable. Till the last, his presence, voice & aura remained formidable. RIP. https://t.co/Iy88xhrlAM
— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) January 7, 2022
