What drives the ‘one star, one poster’ trend?
Posters are the first point of contact every viewer has with a film. A good poster should be able to tease the audience and keep the buzz going. It’s easy to see why multi-starrers such as Baadshaho releasing separate posters for each character, but films with fewer characters, e.g. Padmavati, Ittefaq, and Parmanu, have now begun adopting the exact same strategy.
This is a stark departure from classic Bollywood posters, which gave viewers the full spectrum of the cast. Analysing the trend, trade expert Atul Mohan says the Internet helps film-makers exploit each leading cast member’s fan following. “In the age of social media, film- makers get to sustain the buzz by focusing on different actors. They can easily keep the respective stars’ fans occupied, like releasing Deepika Padukone’s poster first, then Shahid Kapoor, and then Ranveer Singh.”
Milan Luthria, director of Baadshaho, has a similar view. “You want to tease the audience, and play with their curiosity,” he says. “For example, after they’ve seen Ajay Devgn wearing a bandana, they want to see what would be special about Emraan Hashmi’s poster, and so on. One has to look for various devices to engage the viewers.”
Mohan points out another possible factor: “The filmmaker has to appease the ego of each star, too, because they [all] want equal hype for their characters. After the separate posters, a poster with the whole cast is released, so you have to justify each one of them.”
Rahul Nanda, the man behind posters for films such as Ittefaq, Jab Harry Met Sejal, and Bareilly Ki Barfi, says, “A dedicated poster for each actor creates interest. Today, the market is completely digital — social media users need different things that they can consume. The newest and best way to inform them about each character is to make it look more interesting.”