BOLLYWOOD’S NET PROGRESS

The film frat is using the web to promote films, release trailers and more

Sukh E, musician I released my film on the internet because there was no other window for my product. The thing with the internet is that it is not format-bound

D irector Sujoy Ghosh’s 14-minute short-film, Ahalya, was directly released online this week. And Ghosh isn’t the only one mining the power of the worldwide web. Many of his industry colleagues are using it to launch the teasers, release first looks of their films, among other promotional activities.

“While it surely is a costeffective way of promoting a film, it also has huge reach because the internet has become all-pervasive. So it makes sense to utilise it and draw mileage out of it,” says trade analyst Atul Mohan.

Ghosh says that the internet has also opened up a plethora of avenues for the creative kind. “I released my film on the internet because there was no other window for my work. Where else would I have released a 14-minute story? And again, it is one platform which helped me reach so many people. The thing with the internet is that it is not format-bound, so you can let your creativity run loose,” says Ghosh, who believes that an advantage is that one gets instant reaction — good or bad.

Director Sanjay Gupta observes that releasing a teaser of the film online “has personal connect”, unlike in a theatrical release.

In fact, actor Shah Rukh Khan also tweeted about ‘crazy fan’ spraying graffiti on his bungalow’s walls. The tweet got picked up in no time and captured his fans’ imagination. Only later, everyone realised that it was a publicity gimmick for one of his upcoming films. Just like releasing a motion poster or a first look poster saves publicity cost, creating buzz online also saves money while piquing audience’s interest.

Rapper-singer Sukh E of Jaguar fame says, “Your digital footprint determines how famous you are in the music circuit.”

And Mohan makes another point, “All the trailers, teasers, et cetera can generate a lot of money. Every hit the video gets, and the ads you see there, all that is actually money.”

Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Salman Khan posted a dubsmash video to promote Bajrangi Bhaijan; Gangaajal 2 is being promoted on the web; singer Sukh E says that online popularlity of a song is directly proportional to the chances of a song becoming a hit;...