New Hindi films ride on marketing hype

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: film has become more feasible as there are various avenues for revenue generation in the film industry. With corporate companies pumping money into Bollywood, filmmakers are experimenting more with new talent.” Gada points at how Imraan Khan was extensively promoted, maybe even more than his film. “This strategy was helpful as the essential amount of buzz that was created around the actor worked constructively to draw audiences to the theatres,” he adds.

Says Merchant: “Bheja Fry which had a new director was made on a shoe-string budget of Rs 2 crore but because of a smartly packaged marketing campaign, the film managed to rake in Rs 8 crore at the box office.” Similarly, the marketing budget for a film like Loins of Punjab, which had an entirely new star cast, was greater than the production costs of the film.

There are also various celebrity management companies these days that are solely responsible for publicising and promoting an actor and most actors feel that these companies add the much needed thrust to an actor’s career. An industry expert reveals that Tips acted as an artist management company for actor Shahid Kapur when they launched him in his debut film Ishq Vishq and they promoted Kapur much more than the film. This helped in creating the initial buzz about the actor that in turn attracted a sizeable number of footfalls to multiplexes.

Producer Ramesh Taurani of Tips Films feels that if films starring newcomers do not do well at the box office, the main reason behind the failure is the lack of proper marketing and promotion conceptualised around the actor. “A few years ago, the ideal budget for marketing a film was about Rs 50 lakh. It was often considered as an ancillary expenditure and most film makers viewed marketing spends as bad debt,” explains Taurani.