Journalism of Courage
Film promotions have become the new cultural tourism; they happen periodically after every release
When R Madhavan,Kangana Ranaut,Deepak Dobrayal and director Anand Rai made an appearance at Inox,Pune,early in March,it was already a week since their romcom Tanu Weds Manu had hit the silver screen. Rewind a few weeks back,and the city will remember father-son duo Dharmendra and Sunny Deol,dropping in at three multiplexes to interact with fans and get their response to their film Yamla Pagla Deewana. Their Pune visit was almost two weeks after their film had released.
Malgaonkar terms this trend as ‘breaking the ice’. Earlier,we would only get stars coming here for press conferences or 10-minute appearances at the screens. This was gradually viewed as a selfish strategy. The motive remains the same now,just the approach has changed.
The multiplex executives harp on the star power. Even if word-of-mouth reviews deter someone from spending a couple of hundred rupees on a ticket,the presence of a star overrides the hesitation. Siddharth Manohar,unit head,Inox Leisure Ltd,Pune,says,We regularly host star visits,film festivals,contests and promotions. These are ways of making the movie-going experience more interesting for patrons. Manohar feels the effect is equal whether a star comes before or after the release of a film. Actors add that extra edge and attract people to the theatres,irrespective of when they come, he says.
Suraj Sharma,manager operations,E-Square multiplex,feels that this new marketing strategy can only work for A-list stars and films that have received a rating of three stars and above in their first week. Like,when Sunny Deol and Dharmendra visited Pune,the multiplexes were thronged by eager fans. It ultimately generated a good response towards the film. However,if stars of low budget films or below average films try to follow this trend,it won’t work in their favour. It will hardly draw people to the screens, he opines.
