It’s aLL About Marketing… (Part 1 : Movie Marketing)

The Story of First Weekend:

If one takes out the collections of some of big hits of 80’s, one would be surprised to note they had collected less than what many movies are collecting in first day of their release today. Though it is worth noting that making these comparisons is unjust as the inflation has taken a toll during these decades and the ticket prices and the numbers of screens today are much higher from that era. But another interesting aspect is that films during that period used to collect this amount over a long period of time, celebrating silver jubilee and golden jubilees during their run. Today the much larger collections are witnessed over a much shorter period of time and even biggest blockbusters today don’t need to (even intend to!) eye a silver jubilee if not more.

The Box office has become huge & so have the efforts to rake in moolah in shortest possible time. Today a shelf life of the film ranges from a week to month, some being very lucky to survive a couple. And thus the concept of “Bumper Opening” has become significant. This makes marketing guys relevant, having a task clearly cut out for them. The film marketing has suddenly become as important as making a movie if not more. The content and quality come more into play from the first Monday, but the weekend is all dependent upon the hype which has been generated by the stars and makers thanks to the positive/negative publicity generated before the release. Earlier marketing would mean a good Premiere of the film with few interviews, but today it is about creative hype across the media spectrum sustained over a period of time. Now even superstars like Shah Rukh Khan realize this importance and go on a marketing blitzkrieg with every release. The results are evident: Ra One has collected a humongous 80.5 Crore on an extended 5 day weekend and collapsing to a total of 115 Cr net lifetime from India (Hindi versions). Similarly Bodyguard collected a thundering 85 crore in its 5 days weekend against a total lifetime of 140 Crs from India. Irrespective of the feedback/content, films are clocking over half its lifetime business in the first weekend alone.

This brings us to a very important aspect: Today weekend is all about Right Date + Appropriate Genre + High Print + High Marketing & Huge Hype which translates into Bumper opening. This wins more than half the battle for the makers. The only rest left is to convince the people through good reviews/paid PR through media that film is good, this gets their shelf life enhanced with greater lifetime for their product. Yes, movies are not only about creative satisfaction for most today, its about a highly entertaining product which is bombarded on the paying public for significant ROI!! You would thereby find big stars like Aamir & SRK going hammer & tongs using their creative thoughts publicising their flicks. Even makers like Karan Johar, Sajid Nadiawala & Farah Khan know this bitter fact "Jo Dikhta hai, Vo Bikta hai".

With increasing channels and exploding media including social networking, the game is simple. From the day of ideation, the marketing shoes need to be ON :)
Generate HYPE to get max. public in to see your movie once it opens and then plant desired PR to get other potential audience making them believe the flick is worth watching!! The 3 M is clear: Manufacture Movies & Market them like hell, I mean well :)

Bodyguard, Rockstar, Desi Boyz : Short Synopsis!

Bodyguard:
Every Star has a time when their good films don’t work & then there are times when even the average ones ROCK! Salman seems to be having that dream run where anything he touches would turn Gold, or probably Diamond!! The film has been made to target the masses showing their star in the manner they Love to see him, and results are for all to see. Sallu bhai is HUGE!! Whether you are “Ready” or not, Salman is “Dabangg”, he is “Bodyguard”, seems currently he can be anything he wishes to be. Kareena also looks good in the movie. An Eid release and produced by Salman’s sister & brother in law, you don’t need to know anything more! 

Rockstar:
There are paintings, some of which convey a message. Then there are others which are abstract, you need to derive inferences, without being given one. This one is an Imtiaz Ali abstract, some may love it some may hate but you will have to use grey matter for this heavy stuff. It’s something different, something fresh, and something youth will relate more than their parents : "Rebellious, uncertain & unclear" are their traits which get highlighted. One of the best performances from Ranbir, establishing him further as an “Actor” with “Starpower”. He has put in his heart & soul in this one reflecting pain from his eyes & importantly it gets reflected in power backed role. Nargis looks fine and gets a debut many would look forward to. Rahman seems to be back with this effort, enhancing the story telling by notches. Every film maker has his style stamp, you would see Imtiaz’s trademark on this, the good or bad you will need to figure out!!

Desi Boyz:
Fresh treatment by debutant director Rohit Dhawan. Narrative is good, however content could have been better. It is a descent one time watch but probably the basic idea may not have too many followers. But these days even “Fine/OK” films work well @ Box office if promoted aggressively (Did I hear Ra1??). This one could certainly have been pushed better for a bigger opening. Deepika, John & Chitrangada are fine/ok. Music is descent, "Subah hone na de" being the best of the lot.
Irrespective of his performance and quality of overall content, would just like to ask one Question to Akshay Kumar as a fan : “Akki, would any of the other current Superstars have taken up this role at this point in career??” I am sure that a majority of the film going public would not revert in affirmative if tossed with this query. Barring a "Patiala House" (which was also not commercially successful), I am waiting for the day I would be able to write a review like the one below sketched in 2007 for my star!! But then I am sure, that day would come soon:)

http://www.mymovies.net/reviews/review_item.asp?t=Namastey+London+-+Rochak+Vig&filmid=6196&rid=4689&s=3&n=3

The Last Over Syndrome!!

I have faint memories of my childhood, watching those cricket matches where India would find itself slogging it out in the penultimate overs of the match. We may have seen many one side losses, but when it came to winning, we almost invariably tried to ensure we took the fight to the last over!! With Commonwealth games around the corner, I am having flash frames of those moments all over again!

We are still trying to fire all our cylinders in the last over of the match trying to come out victorious. With less than a week for the games to kick start, the OC for CWG, the CWG federation and the Indian Govt, all have collectively woken up to the fact that we need to deliver almost a boundary off every ball to pull this off… Not getting into the merits of charges and counter charges over corruption, lack of preparation and quality of the deliverables, we must try and cover the last mile now. As PM Manmohan Singh has stated, we need to ACT now to get things right and ensure a successful games. But its interesting to note this from another perspective. Yes, it is true that last minute glitches do prevail at times, yes it is unfortunate that the media seems to be going overboard at times to make an overkill of the underlying situation harming national pride but then the fact of the matter remains we have waited for the last week of Sep 2010 to act when the games where awarded to India some seven years back.

Whether it is a cricket match, a global event like CWG or any other plans we undertake, the basic psychology of waking up in the end remains a constant feather on our caps. It would be unjustified to just blame the authorities for such advent; it seems this habit has become a way of our everyday lives. Even if we peep into our routine daily activities, we would realize that whether it is sending our children to school, attending the classes in college, reaching office on time or turning up for a marriage function; the last minute adrenaline rush gives us that high which we has become a part of our blood. This rush gives us a sense of security that we are on track and a satisfaction that yes: “All is Well”…

We have made it a habit of redefining IST as Indian Stretchable Time, and then stretching it to the extent of needing a six off the last ball as maybe the case with CWG! Whether we win such adventure games or concede loss as in the case of the famous (or the Infamous) last ball hit from Miandad off Chetan Sharma, we consider any match competitive only when we are present on the field till the very last! On the contrary, our immediate neighbor China has become a Superpower in its own right with sheer hard-work, detailed futuristic planning and flawless execution of the laid plans. It seems they wish to finish the matches right in the middle overs to ensure no uncertain moments are seen on their way to Victory.

I wish either our neighbor learn something from us or unlearn to us some of its abilities to plan the wins well in advance! Till then, we will continue with our endeavors to witness more CWG’s and live life King size with the “Last over Syndrome”:) Jai Hind!

Where Media takes the Public for a Ride…

If Shiv Sena seems to be on an unjustified rampage against the Shah Rukh Khan starrer "My Name is Khan", the media is no different in taking the general public for a ride by championing the cause of democracy by provoking the masses to go and see the movie in order to show their solidarity for their star. It is not the noble motive behind this extreme reporting but it is the manner in which the media has gone overboard which mars the shadow over the intent. Its interesting to see the reporters prompting the people on the road to see the movie and then cheering on the 90+% occupancy of one single show in the riot marred zone in Mumbai. The reporting from the champions of democracy has gone to an extent of becoming PR machinery for Dharma productions or a tool of the “King Khan” to prove his mettle to the other “Ace Khan” in the light of the recent success of latter’s movie 3 Idiots. It seems that the makers wanted to match the media wave the 3 Idiots team created over the Chetan Bhagat controversy and ensure they dint disappoint Fox Films (global distributors of MNIK) by not using the media blitzkrieg to create unprecedented hype!

In all such events, it is ultimately the general masses that are forced to form an opinion or act in a desired manner by hijacking the entire communication mechanism. Some free observers feel that this SRK stand, though an individual choice was a double edged sword for the Box office fate of the movie where in a major territory was being sacrificed seeking the huge media galore in return which resulted in mileage for the film to an extent where viewing the movie was presented as a means to support democracy!! If that was not enough, the icing on the cake was the HUGE box office figures being circulated by the makers through media citing victory of their star over the political vandalism!! Trade analysts had however ascertained that despite a good opening thanks to the controversy, the collections started sliding from the 4th day of the release and this hot gas balloon is not going to have long legs at the box office as it is only section of classes, critics and overseas audience which is appreciating the movie where in the general masses have rejected it due to heavy content and lack of entertainment. The public in general is coming with negative feedback for the film criticizing the media for their reviews and promotion for this caper.

Sometimes one really wishes that the Indian media is more responsible and balanced in its approach while disseminating information for social good. If the recent reporting trends are any indication, we are heading towards a society where in we just don’t need to be very selective in reception of news content but also analyze the same to reckon the real worth of the message. There are couple of major challenges with the current reporting which one can witness : Firstly the media content needs to be reviewed as it tends to have issues/topics least relevant for the development of the society and nation. Secondly the topics which are relevant, mostly witness biased reporting which sometimes is far from reality. Coming back to the former one, we can see every channel is interested in covering Rakhee Sawant’s valentine day "fight" with her beau, how the filmstars are "back-biting" or how Harbhajan lost his "temper" to physically assault someone. Such special packages are screened across the clock and are lapped by the masses asking for more. This vicious circle prompts endless software being aired with matters which have no contribution to the growth of the society or the country. The other prominent trend is the bias which seems evident in the news coverage where inclination and judegements are an integral part of the communication.


The biggest excuses which can be seen as an unjust justification to these trends can be attributed to few major reasons:
1) The objectivity in reporting has been lost due to the self induced bias and prejudices with in the media think tanks over social issues which are closely followed by the presumption of being in the chair meant for pronouncing the judgments. The ring leaders in this media circus are self pronounced social aristocrats who have been bestowed the responsibility of getting the justice for the victims such as SRK!!

2) To run 24 Hour news channels, it is very important to have such “breaking news” as this is the staple fodder for churning out high TRP’s in the competitive media space where every India TV has an increasing set of audience and the other comparatively subtle channels need to follow such breaking news to keep their viewers intact.

The supporters of this trend however would come up with the logic that media is not just a tool for reporting, it has to be an effective means for socio political change where it has with it the responsibility of creating public opinion over anything and everything for empowering and uplifting the public at large. They will point out that it was media which has forced those in power/judiciary to bring to justice the powerful criminals in cases like Jessica Lal Murder and more recently Ruchika suicide case. They would defend such media activism and suo moto campaigns are necessary in booking those who would have otherwise escaped from the clutches of law.

But then one would agree that there is a very thin line demarcating the issues where media intervention and lapping is a pre-requisite for creating appropriate public opinion in the interest of the society to the others less relevant events where media becomes a PR tool in the hands of individuals seeking communication umbrella to serve their interests. The Indian diaspora needs to urge the legal framework and freedom which has been granted to media by the law of the country to exercise some restraint in their reporting mechanism and also evaluate the issues and events which really need attention. 24 hour run time should not be an excuse to sensationalize non news worthy content just for the heck of TRP’s resulting in the more important and focal stories taking a back seat. Till then we can enjoy this role reversal on going in the media circus where in Bollywood entertainers will make political and media headlines; where as the politicians and media personal will Entertain you to the hilt :)