NO BUDGET FOR FILM PROMOTIONS?
Bollywood cuts down on city tours and elaborate events to promote films
With no profits coming in, Bollywood filmmakers have decided to cut corners and go in for low-key, economical promotions for films. Makers of recently released films such as Bombay Velvet, Piku, Mr X and Khamoshiyan drastically cut down on their promotional budget, avoided city tours, and instead went in for low-cost strategies. “Touring cities with the entire cast and their individual teams just adds to the cost of the project. If an actor visits a city to promote a film, the fans are more interested in the actor and less in the film. It is good PR for the stars, that too on the expense of the production house,” says trade analyst Atul Mohan.
Film producers, too, feel that promotional budgets are a bit much, and eat into the profit margin. “If someone makes a film in say 5-6 crore, you would need another 5-6 crore for marketing, so yes, the profit in cinema today is very little because the cost of production and marketing is very high,” filmmaker Raju Hirani had told us earlier.
Thus, makers are now looking for cheaper, yet more effective ways of promoting films. “Sometimes, promotions of a small films cost as much as the film itself. I feel that the digital space is a more effective way to connect with the audience,” says producer Dinesh Vijan, who cut down on budgets by giving a miss to small cities while promoting the Varun Dhawan starrer Badlapur.
The stars of Bombay Velvet, Piku and Khamoshiyaan, too, did not go to tier two cities to promote their films. Filmmaker Zoya Akhtar did not organise an elaborate trailer launch of her film Dil Dhadakne Do, and instead screened the trailer at her house for the cast of the film, and her industry friends. Filmmaker Bobby Khan who, too, avoided city tours while promoting his Sunny Leone starrer Ek Paheli Leela says, “Even if an actress has four appearances, the cost of the outfits and makeup gets very expensive.”
Sometimes, promotions of a small film cost as much as the film itself Dinesh Vijan, film producer