No more channel-hopping for film promotions
It isn’t only the content that’s changing in Bollywood films, but also the manner of promoting that content in the pre-release stage. The nonstop promotions through reality shows or TV serials have given way to a more subtle strategy.
TV’s reach is still used, but it’s no longer a bombardment; instead, actors now make guest appearances on shows in different languages to tap into new sets of audiences.
Actor Rishi Kapoor, whose 102 Not Out released this year, has two more films out soon. He feels that this “mindless” promotional spree is “wasting time and money”. He says, “It is herd mentality — one or two people did it in the beginning and it became a tradition that we must visit every channel to sell our film. But viewers are very smart and sharp and they won’t fall for such gimmicks.”
Recent films such as Pad Man, Pari, 102 Not Out, October, and Parmanu took the road less travelled. The industry feels that it’s because actors and filmmakers now understand their target audience better. October’s producer Ronnie Lahiri says, “The number of reality shows have increased manifold, so it’s nearly impossible for one single film or actor to cover all of them. Hence, it’s important
to select the ones based on the content and appeal of your film. For our film, knowing Varun Dhawan’s following among youngsters, we launched one of our songs on a dance show’s grand finale.”
Filmmaker Vipul Shah, who has produced films such as Force 1 and 2, Commando 1 and 2 and Holiday, feels that “it can’t be just a blanket template”. He adds, “Unless there’s a perfect alignment and marketing match with a particular show, it won’t add to the promotional value of the film. The show has to be close to film’s narrative.”
There have also been cases where the film’s producers happen to back a TV show, so in one-off incidents, actors may or may not appear on that show. Varun Gupta, who has marketed several films, says, “We focus on content fitment and ratings to take a call on it. These promotions shouldn’t be an integration of the star/ actor over an integration of the film. To promote Pad Man, we chose a Marathi show over a mainstream Hindi show, and a special [slot] on a news channel instead of a general entertainment channel, as we wanted the taboo topic to be discussed there in detail. For Pari, there was no point going to any show, as the genre (horror) was very different.”
It is herd mentality — one or two people did it in the beginning and it became a tradition that we must visit every channel to sell our film. RISHI KAPOOR ACTOR
Unless there’s a perfect alignment with a particular show, it won’t add to the promotional value of the film. VIPUL SHAH FILMMAKER