Film Promotions - The Indian way!

India produces the maximum number of films in the world. So what makes Indian movies larger than life? Indian movies are good at fantasy. Movies offer a kaleidoscope of emotions. Relationships are glorified, especially between mother and son. Film promotion generally includes press releases, advertising campaigns, merchandising and media, and interviews with the key people involved with the making of the film, like actors and directors.

As with all business it is an important part of any release because of the inherent high financial risk; film studios will invest in expensive marketing campaigns to maximise revenue early in the release cycle. Marketing budgets tend to equal about half the production budget. Publicity is generally handled by the distributor and exhibitors.

The fans identify themselves totally with the hero so much that they become heroes themselves. Next time observe the photographs of fan association presidents and other members. They bear slight resemblance of the heroes. The fans watch themselves on the screen. They romance the actress, beat up the villains.

Indian movies where the hero plays roles of a railway porter, auto rickshaw driver and other such roles to which the common man relates to become blockbuster hits. Movies pander to the common man’s dream. He has a chance of making it big in real life. He might become rich one day and can romance the most beautiful girl in the world. However great a movie might be it needs to be promoted well so that it can catch the attention of the audience.

The traditional methods of film promotion include:

Song books being sold at lower price

Indian movies feature many songs. More than 50 per cent of music revenue in India is generated from sale of movie songs. Till the 70’s and 80’s song books were printed and sold at a throw away price at the theatre. These song books would have lyrics of all the songs from the movie which have now become history as everything is available on the web. They made the songs popular and to watch the songs the viewers would come to the movies repeatedly.

Rickshaw with a loudspeaker

Till the 80’s the cycle rickshaw was used for promotions in the rural and the semi urban areas announcing the release of new movies. The announcement and the movie songs which played during the promotion attracted attention. Movie pamphlets were distributed or thrown in the air from the rickshaw much to the delight of the children who flocked to catch them. For a Telugu movie “Papam Pasivadu” the producers threw pamphlets from a helicopter to promote the movie.

Film trailers

Trailers are a mainstay of film promotion, because they are delivered directly to movie-goers. They screen in theatres before movie showings. Generally they tell the story of the movie in a highly condensed fashion compressing maximum appeal into two and half minutes. A short clip from the movie played to attract the audience has been a very good source of film publicity.

Film trailers are often showed on TV, on music channels, at movie theatres before the movie starts and also during interval. Film trailers are now popular on YouTube. Film trailers are entertaining and give the viewer a short gist of the storyline. It is now quite common to watch the trailer even on mobile phones.

Sarees, umbrellas, caps and other film merchandise: Sarees worn by the leading actresses are advertised and sold by the name of the actress who has adorned a similar one in the movie. Similarly umbrellas, caps all have the name of the movie printed; film merchandise is a huge hit.

Latest ways to promote a movie: The movie industry has gone techno-savvy and uses social networking sites like Facebook, YouTube, Instagram 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 the total marketing budget of a Bollywood movie is 30 per cent of the total cost, of which 50 per cent is spent on digital marketing. TV shows remain the most popular destination for actors, directors and film units to promote their films. Leading actors, directors and producers make a beeline to be featured in a show so that they could get ninety (90) minutes of publicity.

Reality shows and shows like Comedy Nights attract popular actors free of cost. Some of the newer ways of film promotions that Indian movie makers have tried include:

Talaash

Aamir Khan wanted Google the search engine to replace its search button with the word 'Talaash' (Talaash means search in Hindi) in India for the publicity of his movie named Talaash. 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 Indians who knew the language. The plight of non-Hindi speakers, a majority in India would have been horrendous.

Lootera

A period film which was set in the 50’s. The makers decided to launch the movie trailer at SOBO theatre, Liberty, which is known for its old decor and is one of the oldest theatres in Mumbai to promote the film.

Kahani

Vidya Balan appeared in public with a prosthetic pregnant belly during the promotional events of the film Kahani. She mingled with people in various cities across the country. Along with that she carried a sketch of her missing husband to show people and ask their help in finding him. She being pregnant and her missing husband are a very integral part of the movie’s storyline.

Three idiots and Ghajini

Aamir Khan did a two-week country tour "Bharat Darshan" in different attires as part of his promotion of the movie "3 Idiots". He got stickers pasted on the back of auto-rickshaws in Mumbai to market the film. The stickers read “Capacity: 3 Idiots Only”. Aamir Khan also became a barber for his fans to promote the movie "Ghajini", offering people his "Ghajini" style haircut.

Rann

Amitabh Bachhan who played the role of a media magnate in the movie "Rann" appeared on a TV channel to do a year-end news roundup. Director Ram Gopal Varma of the same movie launched a 10-page daily newspaper called Rann Times as a way of promoting the film.

Bhoot Returns

Ram Gopal Varma’s publicists sent out news stories that claimed that the child star Alayana Sharma’s (who acted in the movie) mother has filed a case against the filmmaker as the child was badly affected after she watched the film. Later it was revealed as a publicity stunt.

Veer, Dabangg & Bodyguard

Salman Khan launched a nationwide hunt for unsung heroes to connect with the masses and also to promote his period film "Veer". He appeared in khaki on the sets of a TV show, “Laagi Tujhse Lagan” to promote “Dabangg” and chose the sets of “Na Aana Is Des Laado” to promote “Bodyguard”.

English-Vinglish

Sridevi appeared on KBC along with her director to promote the movie “English-Vinglish”.She also danced with Madhuri Dixit on the show “Jhalak Dikhla Jaa” where she promoted her movie.

Luck by Chance

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.

Barfi

Ranbir Kapoor appeared on the sets of TV serials like “Afsar Bitiya”,“Phir Subah Hogi”and “Pavitra Rishta” to promote “Barfi”a woman oriented movie.

Action Replay

Akshay Kumar gifted his favourite bike to a contestant in “Entertainment Ke Liye Kuch Bhi Karega” before the release of “Action Replay”. All this for a movie promotion!

Jab We Met

Imtiaz Ali, the movie’s Director had asked people to vote for the movie titles he had released before naming his film “Jab We Met” which was the most popular choice among the three options given by the director.

By:Dr M Anil Ramesh