Film Promotion - The Indian way

Blog Entry No - 393

There was a time when film promotion in India was limited to trailers, posters and hoardings. Filmmakers and actors have given up outdated methods to try something new. Celebrities are leaving no stone unturned to promote their films.

Aaamir Khan wanted Google to replace its search button with the word 'Talaash' (Talaash means search in Hindi) in India. Despite hectic parleys the brilliant marketing ploy did not work out. Google was worried about the dilution of its carefully crafted and nurtured brand name. It would have been a win for Talaash but a loss for Google. Typing Google and getting Talaash on the screen would have confused even Hindi knowing Indians. The plight of a non-Hindi knowing person in India (and they are a majority in India) would have been horrendous.

Aamir Khan did a two-week country tour called "Bharat Darshan" in different get-ups as part of his promotion of the movie "3 Idiots".

Aamir Khan became a barber for his fans to promote his blockbuster hit "Ghajini", offering people his "Ghajini" haircut.

For “3 Idiots”, Aamir got stickers pasted on the back of auto-rickshaws in Mumbai to market the film. The stickers read “Capacity: 3 Idiots Only”.

Amitabh Bachchan who played the role of media magnate in a movie called "Rann" appeared on a TV channel to do a year-end news roundup

Director Ram Gopal Verma of the same movie launched a 10-page daily newspaper called Rann Times as a way of promoting the same film. 

Ramgopal Varma’s publicists worked 24/7 a week before the release of his latest film “Bhoot Returns” to send news stories to every paper in town that the child star Alayana Sharma’s mother has filed a case against the filmmaker because the child was affected badly after she saw the film.

Salman Khan launched a nationwide hunt for unsung heroes to connect with the masses and also promote his period film "Veer". 

Salman Khan had appeared in khaki on “Laagi Tujhse Laganto” to promote “Dabangg” and chosen the sets of “Na Aana Iss Desh Lado” to promote “Body Guard”

Sridevi appeared on KBC along with her director to promote the movie “English-vinglish”. Sridevi  also took time out to promote her film dancing with Madhuri Dixit in the show “Jhalak Dikhla  Jaa”.

Vidya Balan had gone to different Indian cities in a pregnant avatar just to promote her film “Kahaani”.

Before the release of Anurag Basu’s “KITES”, rumours were high about the alleged relationship between Hrithik Roshan and Barbara Mori, and also about the rift between Hrithik and his wife Sussane. 

The makers of the movie “Luck by Chance”  started a campaign in Mumbai by branding some auto-rickshaws as ‘Auto By Chance’ and those, who spotted these autos, were given free rides anywhere in the city.

Producer Asit Mehta shot three episodes of his popular show “Tarak  Mehta  Ka Oolta Chasma”  with Ajay Devgun, Abhishek Bachchan, Asin and Prachi Desai with director Rohit Mehta by making them appear in a press conference for “Bol Bachchan” with real life journalists like Inder Mohan Pannu, Rajesh along with the members of the Gokuldham Society who appeared as gate crashers in the press conference.

Ranbir Kapoor came  in  serials  like  “Afsar  Bitiya”, “Phir Subah Hogi” and “Pavitra Rishta” to promote “Barfi” because he knew a lot  of women  are  watching  these  shows and they would come and watch him in Barfi.

Akshay Kumar had gifted his favorite bike to a contestant in Entertainment “Ke Liye Kuch Bhi Karega” before the release of  “Action Replay”.

Imtiaz Ali had asked people to vote for one of the three title options, before naming his film “Jab We Met”.

The movie industry has gone techno-savvy to use social networking sites like Facebook, YouTube and Twitter to connect with their audiences. Today, making a great movie is not enough. It has to be accompanied by a great marketing plan to taste success at the box office.

Eros one of the movie distributors struck an alliance with Google’s Youtube, and has its own partner channel on the video sharing site that gets over 100 million views, markets its videos on websites like MSN, Rediff, AOL, Yahoo to drive the audiences to its content.

Typically, total marketing budgets of a Bollywood movie comprise 30 per cent of which 15 per cent is spent on digital marketing.

Common Wealth Games or Crass wealth Gains

The latest edition of Common wealth games have been shrouded in mystery and controversy right from the start. There have been allegations that Indian Olympic committee has paid money to the tune of 1,00,000/- US $ to various countries Olympic associations to win the bid for the Delhi games.

The games bid was won by India in the year 2003 and for five years everyone was sleeping. There was confusion as to whom the games belonged. Did they belong to Suresh Kalmadi, or to the erstwhile sports minister Mani Shanker Aiyar who resigned apparently disgusted the way the games preparations were going on. Aiyar also questioned the way the bids for the various civil work contracts were being doled out. Or did they belong to the Delhi state headed by Shelia Dixshit?

Whatever it was the entire country watched with disgust the way things were handled. Each and every dead line was missed and the gobble’s propaganda kept on mounting. The glib lies that Kalmadi, Gill and Banot were doling out were amateurish. They kept on saying that everything would be all right. They told us that our hygiene levels are different from that of the other countries? They said that CWG would get ready just like the typical Indian Shaadi where all the things would be tied up literally at the last minute.

What went wrong was the miscalculation of the scale of things that have to be done. The end result India has become a laughing stock in front of the whole world. Bridges were falling, dogs were sleeping on beds made out for athletes, and security was not up to the mark. The repercussions were swift and humiliating. World calls athletes were pulling out. Things had become so serious that there were rumors that the games would have to be called off.

What else can we expect from a sports minster who refuses to recognize Pullela Gopichand, the All England Badminton champion or insults the coach of the world champion wrestler? The same sports minster tries to give a presentation when the Prime minister calls for a last minute firefighting meetings. The Prime minister had to tell him that time for talk was up and it was time to work. Rather walk the talk.

Last minute efforts are being made. But the country has lost out. We have already spent in excess of Rs 40,000/- crores and what do we have to show for the money spent? Increase in metro lines in Delhi and some very faulty and shaky stadiums. The same money could have been fruitfully spent on issues that are starting us in the face including runaway prices and farmer’s suicides.

The lessons that we should learn are many. We need management experts who have expertise in project management. They need to be free of political interference and work under the scrutiny of the Indian government. They should not have WISE men like Kalmadi, Gill and Lalit Banot putting spokes in the games work. A committee should be set up and the guilty should be punished for showing the country and showing us up in the worst light possible.

Let us hope that the next time India is awarded a major event we can pull it off with better coordination than we did it this time. Let us not forget Indira Gandhi who made the 1982 Asian games a huge success. Also let us not forget China which is hosting the Asian games in December who has handed over the games village in September itself a full two months AHEAD of schedule. Let us at least learn from our neighbor if we have any pretense of being a world power and challenging the might of China.