Dulquer Salmaan’s latest Telugu film, Lucky Baskhar, took everyone by storm, but did you know that there is this one element that connects the movie to Visakhapatnam?
Written and directed by Venky Atluri, the film follows the story of a lower-middle-class man who struggles to make ends meet.
As the movie is set between 1989 and 1992, vintage elements in the drama are bound to appear. One such element was the use of ‘Gold Spot’ soft drinks as a backdrop. The brand, as it turns out, has a surprising link to Visakhapatnam.
Gold Spot was a big part of the Indian soft drink market in 1993. It was considered the GOAT beverage of the time, despite not being produced by one of the biggest players in the industry: Coca-Cola. Let us take you through an amazing story of this ‘Uncola’ brand.
Parle Vs Coca-Cola
The Story of Gold Spot can be dated back to the 1940s when Parle was led by Ramesh Chauhan, (the man behind the famous mineral water brand Bisleri).
During that period, Parle’s reputation skyrocketed with its famous glucose biscuits, popularly known as Parle Gluco.
Riding on the success of the Gluco brand, Parle decided to launch a cola drink called Gluco Cola.
Everything was set to make the new brand successful, and the marketing campaign for it was designed by legendary R K Laxman.
However, a few weeks after its launch, the brand had to face a legal battle with the global giant Coca-Cola. After two years of conflict, Parle gave up on cola and discontinued it in 1951. But wait – this isn’t the end of the story!
Gold Spot – The Zing Thing Saves The Day
Without giving up on their ambitions, Parle launched an orange-flavoured drink named Gold Spot in 1952. It soon stole the hearts of Indians with its amazing taste and unique advertisements! That’s when Visakhapatnam entered the scene!
In the mid-1970s, Visakha Bottling Company became the sole franchise of Parle products. All the credit goes to the man behind the brand – MVVS Murthy, who hailed from a small village in Konaseema.
After working as a lawyer for a while, Murthy began Visakha Bottling Company in 1967, and later became famous as ‘Gold Spot Murthy.’
He was also a politician and the mastermind behind the famous GITAM College in Visakhapatnam.
Telugu Movies Paying Tribute to Gold Spot
In the movie Lucky Baskhar, during an emotional scene, Bhaskar makes a decision that changes his life. That’s when this dialogue comes up:
“Rendu rejulalo nanna ni hospital checkup ki teeskellali, varam lo an koduku school fee kattali…. okka rojulo nenu chaala kolpoyanu ra, inka chalu intiki matram geliche velthanu.”
You can see the famous ’80s drink making an appearance in the backdrop of this scene. This once cherished drink, which is now lost in memories also made an appearance in the Telugu movie Mahanati.
End of an Era
Gold Spot and other soft drink brands by the company including Limca, Maaza, and Thums Up accounted for a majority of the Indian soft drink market in 1993. After these carbonated soft drink brands were bought by global giant Coca-Cola, Gold Spot was discontinued.
Let us know what you think about this connection between Lucky Baskhar and Visakhapatnam.
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