Promoting Films

Bollywood used to have a great pre-release promotion tool in the sixties and seventies - a sponsored 15 minute radio program anchored by Ameen Sayani or some other RJ- that it has all but lost these days. Internet has compnsated to an extent, and the TV news about movies about to be released. Stars are much more accessible on the idiot box and also in person these days- Aamir Khan and Rajkumar Hirani had come to Nagpur before the release of 3 Idiots, and Akshay before the release of Khatta Meetha, for instance.

During the film's run, the newspaper ads and listings still play a major role in conveying basic information like show timings and actors. But many of the ancillary parts like script-writers, song writers and music directors, etc. get less and less attention in the publicity these days, even in movie credits. Can anyone recall the music director of the last three movies you saw?

The product life cycle for a film in traditional movie theatres is down to a week or two in most cases. Therefore, the money may actually come from non-traditional rights like TV rights, music rights sold to companies, product placements (branded products used as props in the film for a price) and so on. This also means that the release has to be simultaneous in many towns, unlike the good old days when movies used to release in metros like Mumbai first, and then the same prints were carted off to small towns. Remember ads that said "Brand new print" because many had scratches from having been rerun several times? Digital copies are also making it possible not to have the traditional reels or spools of film.

Has all this resulted in a better experience for the film-goer? Yes and no. I still recollect the best movies seen in good cinema halls with awe. Ramakrishna 70 mm in Hyderabad, where I saw Sholay, and a few English films, or Sangeet in Secunderabad, for example. They had great sound, picture quality, ambience, some better than the multiplexes. Rajmandir in Jaipur is built like a palace.

On the other hand, availability of tickets through multiple channels has made life a bit simpler. Black-marketing has almost vanished. Single theatres are still affordable, but multiplexes are exorbitantly priced from the point of view of a common man. Earlier, movies were socialist in audience mix, while they now have an elitist bias in the pricey multiplexes. That has brought down some of the enjoyment of going to a theatre.

Another phenomenon that has emerged of late is the dubbed film. Most Hollywood movies are dubbed into Hindi or regional languages. This enlarges the audience base but can also turn off some sections-albeit smaller in number.

3 comments:

Common Man said...

Your observations in the penultimate paragraph is 100% right. Popcorns which were meant for intervals are now being close-to-mandatory while entering the hall. Whether one needs or not, he needs to have a popcorn/pepsi/combo packs in hand during interval. Else he might be seen as 'not-for-the-multiplex' candidate, an outcast.

With movies mushrooming these days unlike in the 60s and 70s, one doesn't even remember movie names, let alone writers or music directors. Most times we remember by songs, names of actors and scenes.

Looking forward to read your views on Social Media Marketing (v/s Traditional Marketing) It has no doubt arrived in a big way, but is it here to stay? Is it a fad or has it got some stuff?

Rajendra said...

I think (though what I think has no relevance to what will be)social media marketing will not be able to replace traditional marketing, for several years. But in some niche areas (like movies marketing, which is needed for brief periods pre-release, or for books marketing, or cause related marketing which is expensive to do otherwise), social media marketing can play a significant role.

Paddy said...

The new-age cinema halls certainly provide a much better entertainment package and they manage the whole customer experience (online/phone booking, parking,good seats,uninterrupted AC,restaurant etc) to be enjoyable.Being pricey, the hall sizes also have become small compared to the past. Even this model might change as technology develops further. What with cloud computing etc, the digital distribution can be made via internet,DTH etc simultaneously all over the world direct to viewers wherever they are...

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