By Hindustan Times

Mumbai, April 13 -- Internationally, owning a Birkin bag, designed by Hermes for the British actress Jane Birkin, is making a statement that says 'you've arrived'. Back home, we have one of the country's biggest cricketing legends launching a new toothpaste brand called Sach. "Sach Toothpaste available in white paste (100g) with calcium and mineral and red and blue gels..."

is not the ideal introduction for a product that one would expect to fit Sachin Tendulkar's bill. Its tagline, 'Ab Din Ki Shuruvaat Sach Se' (Now start your day with 'Sach') is based on the understanding that, "like Sachin, toothpaste also performs relentlessly and is the most important aspect of starting your day," says Devendra Chawla, head of private brands Future Group, who have launched this toothpaste.

Sach by Sachin

After using Shahnaz Hussain's products to look pretty, and spraying on Amitabh Bachchan's perfume to smell good, now you can wash away bad breath with Sachin Tendulkar's toothpaste. Says Chawla, "It's an extension of our brands. When we approached him with the toothpaste, he was very encouraging. He even used it to give us productive feedback, which we could then incorporate into the brand and make it more Sachin." A very limited number of celebrities from the Indian film or glamour industry have merchandise named after them, unlike Hollywood, where most actors have a label to suit and sell their personality. Incidentally, most such Indian products have failed to please consumers. Says Nitin Patel, from Decent Collection, a perfume store: "When something new comes to the market, we usually stock it to see what the demand is like. But there was absolutely no demand for Amitabh Bachchan's or Shah Rukh Khan's perfume. We had to show it to our customers and then if they liked it, they would buy it. Shilpa Shetty's perfume, I haven't even heard of. But I don't think people would buy perfumes just because they celebrities had their stamp on it, they only buy international brands."

The scented side

The lucky ones so far have been - Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan, Lata Mangeshkar, Zeenat Aman and recently, Shilpa Shetty. Aman, apparently, was the first Indian actor to have a perfume named, Zeenat, after her, by a company based out of Saudi Arabia. While Shah Rukh Khan's Tiger Eyes by Jeanne Arthes was launched in 2005, Bachchan's perfume by his name, by Lomani, was launched in 2002. In January 2009, Bachchan also issued an informal notice on his blog, talking about the second perfume that he was to launch. The perfume is yet to hit the market. "We had stored Amitabh Bachchan when it was launched, but do not keep it any more. The consumers demand more luxurious brands like Christian Dior, Davidoff, Givenchy and Calvin Klien and Armani, we have never had anyone ask us for any Indian celebrity perfume," says Macwinn Fernandes, spokesperson for perfume section at the multi brand store, Shoppers Stop.

Fitness on sale

Shilpa Shetty produced a Yoga video of her own meditation sessions, soon before she launched her own perfume brand called S2. International publications then reported that the sales of the actor's perfume had gained global appeal since her popularity from the Big Brother House and is competing with the likes of Jennifer Lopez and Britney Spears' perfume brands. But not many stores in the city seem to stock the product. Most stores in the city that sell perfumes are either clueless of the existence of any celeb named brands or appear least interested in giving it any space on their shelves. Ad guru Santosh Desai feels that "the celebrity has become an intrinsic part of our lives and we too, have begun reaching out to them more than ever, but that's not all that is needed for such products to work in the market."