June 15, 1998

Publicity budgets are shooting up as producers and stars discover the magic that slick promos can work.

By Anupama Chopra

Ajay Devgan, he of the fists-of-fury fame, spent 10 days repackaging his image last month. At Rajtaru, a Mumbai post-production unit, Devgan and computer specialists working on the super-exclusive software, Inferno, created a special TV trailer for Devgan's forthcoming release, a zero-action love story, Pyaar To Hona Hi Tha. Fifty hours and Rs 5 lakh later, Devgan had it: a 30 second trailer with him and Kajol walking awkwardly even as their reflections meet longingly in a puddle behind them. The promo, being touted as the most expensive ever made, is already creating ripples in Bollywood.

Kids are thronging Mumbai's Cinemax theatre. The bait: the all-new Chhota Chetan. The icing: cartoon characters, a lion, a tiger, a Chhota Chetan figure, who walk around shaking hands and posing for photographs. This has increased operating costs by over Rs 1 lakh but shows have been 100 per cent full since the film was released on April 17. Says Cinemax's Shravan Shroff: "We're adding value for the customers. This is like a picnic for them." The additional publicity hasn't hurt either.

In a swank suburban Mumbai office, producer Firoz A. Nadiadwala is showing off his latest creation: an 8 kg black box, containing 19 specially designed, laminated posters of his new film, Kartoos. The highlight is a made-in-London hologram, which has, in Face/Off style, heroes Sanjay Dutt and Jackie Shroff changing into one another. The box, designed for distributors, "cost a bomb" but is already working wonders: enthused by Nadiadwala's confidence in his project, money men from the central India territory just upped the expected price by 70 per cent.

In Bollywood, hype rules. Trade pundits call it "making a film garam (hot)". In studios and offices, marketing is the new buzzword as makers try to counter TV and Titanic. Splice-and-dice trailers, cut-and-paste posters, cheap hand-painted billboards are as dated today as a Bindu cabaret. Computers and mega publicity budgets have elevated marketing to an art. Stars are supervising publicity campaigns and before signing on, are even asking: "Story to achhi hai lekin aap publicity kaise karne wale hain (The story is nice but how do you plan to do the publicity)?"

"This is showbiz," says Nadiadwala. "Why stop at signing superstars and shooting in exotic locations. Marketing is crucial. After all, there is no point in making great biryani and serving it on a palm leaf." Absolutely. Marketing-wise, Bollywood is decades behind Hollywood -- for Jurassic Park, a $60 million (Rs 246 crore) film, Paramount Pictures spent $70 million on marketing globally -- but desi makers struggle to catch up. Now, an A-grade film with a budget of Rs 8 crore-Rs 10 crore can have publicity budgets of Rs 60 lakh-Rs 1 crore, the money coming from music companies, producers and distributors. In fact, music-rights contracts increasingly specify the company's planned promotion expenditure.

Most of the money goes into television advertising. But the generic, visual-collage trailer is pass . The deluge of film-based programming on television demands that you stand out from the clutter. So an increasing number of filmmakers are opting to shoot special footage for trailers. "Switching ka maza kuchh aur hai, chahe TV ho ya biwi (Switching is fun, whether it's your TV or your wife)," declares Anil Kapoor in a promo for Gharwali Baharwali, a forthcoming David Dhawan entertainer. The promo, made by a new company, Band Box Productions, was shot in Hyderabad, and has generated great curiosity about the film. Says producer Tutu Sharma: "Today, we are working at the same level as other consumer companies. Marketing is critical."

Ditto for producer Yash Johar's Duplicate. On Shah Rukh Khan's suggestion, Johar forked out Rs 7 lakh to record a jingle and shoot promos directed by Shah Rukh and Mahesh Bhatt. The tag line: "Double Shah Rukh, single rate. Yeh hai mera Duplicate." Even when promos are using film visuals, sophisticated special effects make the difference. Says Amit Saxena, a video editor who just did promos for Ghulam starring Aamir Khan: "I had three meetings with Aamir and director Vikram Bhatt before we did the promos. There is a genuine effort to make a good product. Even the B- and C-grade guys are spending money." They don't have a choice. Says Devgan: "I call this the clean-up for the industry. Films aren't doing well. So we all have to try harder." The altered mindsets are reflected in the lingo. Promos are now called ads rather than trailers.

The promos are made in synergy with the film's street publicity: posters, theatre banners, billboards. Designing is now done entirely on computers. The Nanda brothers -- Rahul and Himanshu -- self-taught computer designers, are leaders in packaging films. "The audience can smell a film." says Rahul, "My job is to create the right fragrance." Barely four years in the business, the Nandas forced other designers to go hi-tech. Says Rahul: "Most movies are very similar. We create a mood and repackage the film so the audience comes in." Street publicity can cost anywhere from Rs 35 lakh-Rs 40 lakh. The Nandas work on about 20 films a year. Other leading designers like Atma-Vivek are even busier, packing in 40-odd films annually.

The underworld threat curtailed Bollywood's lavishness -- mahurat parties, the traditional hype method, are rare these days -- but makers have found other ways. In the past three years, posters distributed with trade magazines have become a guaranteed way of creating trade buzz. The exercise can cost anywhere between Rs 60,000 and Rs 2 lakh. In the quest to generate garmi, the unusual works better. Nadiadwala's poster-box and ceiling-high translights (back-lit billboards), also created in London, have earned him reams of newsprint. "My distributors take the box back to their territories," he says. "These posters hang in theatres and exhibitors get excited. This is my film's roadshow." Other directors like Sanjay Leela Bhansali and Sanjay Chhel are creating special, making-of-the-film shows for television. And still others are looking at three-way, motorised billboards, corporate tie-ups and special in-theatre promotions. Says Anil Kapoor: "There is so much competition. You have to keep coming up with better and better ideas."

There is, however, another school of thought. After 50 years in the business, the Barjatyas remain resolutely low-profile -- the Rajshri product speaks for itself. For Hum Aapke Hain Koun, not a single hoarding was put up in Mumbai. The film was released with only 26 prints and went on to create movie history. The Chopras -- Yash and son Aditya -- tread the same path. The Yashraj banner needs no introduction. So for Dil To Pagal Hai last year, they had only one hoarding in Mumbai, gave no interviews (only a making-of-the-film show was aired on DD) and, to the utter surprise of the trade, gave no clippings to the various TV countdowns. It hardly mattered. The music hit the jackpot -- an unheard of 35 lakh cassettes were sold in the first few weeks -- and the film became one of the year's biggest hits. But softsell isn't always successful. Subhash Ghai's Pardes, also working on the low-key strategy, failed to get a house-full opening night, picking up only later on word-of-mouth and its tax-free status.

Of course, the product is what finally matters, Bollywood pundits declare. Perhaps not. Indra Kumar's Ishq recently celebrated its silver jubilee. The film, despite the heavyweight names attached to it, couldn't muster up a decent initial. So producer Gordhan Tanwani got to work: Rs 1 crore was spent on TV publicity after the release. By the third week, the audience was coming in. For the 100 days' celebration, three types of posters were printed and special audio cassettes made -- 52,000 cassettes were distributed free in theatres where the film did 100 days. "I knew my product was weak," says Tanwani, "so I just hammered on the publicity. Ishq ran for only two reasons, good luck and marketing." So perhaps Bollywood has finally discovered a substitute for good films: good marketing.

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