Poster politics

A king-sized photo of Salman Khan dominated the posters of Hello while the images of other prominent actors were squeezed in.

A king-sized photo of Salman Khan dominated the posters of Hello while the images of other prominent actors were squeezed in. Those who went to theatres judging the film by its poster were in for disappointment. Instead of catching Khan8217;s antics and histrionics, the viewers could spot the superstar on big screen for precisely 10 minutes while the rest of the cast entertained them did they? for a good two-and-a-half hours.

The case of posters misleading movie-goers is not exclusive to Hello. A number of recent movies have resorted to similar tactics. After all, film hoardings are a reflection of the producers8217; mindset. They obviously think the spotlight should be on saleable stars. 8220;It happens unconsciously. Some highlight the concept, others go for star value. Having Salman8217;s picture on the poster was important because he plays a key role in the movie. The entire story is imparted to the audience through him,8221; says Atul Agnihotri, the producer-director of Hello.

The imagery of hoardings is not a recent phenomenon. Khuda Kay Liye highlighted the blown-up countenance of Naseerudin Shah for a favourable opening even though he appeared only at the fag end of the movie. Similarly, recently-released Heroes has Salman Khan and Sunny Deol almost jumping out of the poster, followed by Preity Zinta, Bobby Deol, Mithun Chakraborty and Dino Morea. But both the actual protagonists, Sohail Khan and Vatsal Seth, make do with a much smaller image of them on a bike. 8220;It is part of our marketing strategy. When you have a good film in hand, you want it to reach the audience. Posters and other publicity get people to the theatre, and then people can judge the film for themselves,8221; insists Samir Karnik, director of the film. 8220;Moreover, since the movie was set against a military backdrop, we wanted to glorify our real heroes.8221; Or should we say reel heroes.

Hoardings more often than not are also the barometers of an actor8217;s popularity at box office. Post Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na, Imran Khan was all over the posters of his next, Kidnap. Lately the single-minded focus on Kareena Kapoor in the posters of Golmaal Returns, which has an ensemble cast, has raised eyebrows.8221;Let8217;s be honest. Kareena is a big star today and she had to be a major part of the publicity campaign. It was too difficult to accommodate all the girls. Kareena is the main actor, the rest play the supporting cast. The girls were aware of it,8221; says director Rohit Shetty.

Anjana Sukhani, who has been missing on the posters along with Amrita Arora and Celina Jaitley, sighs at the lack of visibility, but then adds in the same breath, 8220;Kareena Kapoor is senior to us and commands a lot of respect. She8217;s worked hard to get where she is today. So she does deserve every bit of prominence in the movie posters.8221; Sukhani then adds jokingly, 8220;I knew about the publicity bit even before I started filming for it, but just yesterday I was telling Rohit Shetty that our faces should have been there at least in some of the posters.8221;

Not just box-office performance but being the actor-cum-producer of a movie too helps manipulate publicity. Kamaal Khan of Deshdrohi has done exactly that. Staring at you from various bus stops, flyovers and railway stations, he wishes to declare his makeover as a hero by simply asking the publicity designer to show his face as the biggest. 8220;When you are a producer-actor the situation is always under your control,8221; says actor-producer Anuj Saxena, who is set to make his big screen debut opposite Udita Goswami.