We are nearly six months down in the current year, and are yet to see a big blockbuster Hindi film. Other than a couple of critically-acclaimed films (Haraamkhor, Trapped, A Death In The Gunj, etc), a sleeper hit in Hindi Medium and one of the hugest hit in the Telugu film industry, Baahubali: The Conclusion, there's hardly been anything to have hit the mark at the box-office despite huge promotional stints in most cases. From city tours, hundreds odd interviews in print, on television and digital channels, and everything else in between, the star-cast of the films did it all, but did it help? Not really. It is evident from the box-office report.
The half-year is set to mark a close with one of the most anticipated films of the year, Salman Khan-starrer Tubelight. When we met director Kabir Khan in his office a couple of days ago, he had already given a few print interviews and was getting ready for radio appearances. We wondered if he enjoys the promotional stints or if it takes a toll on him.
“The last few days before the film’s release, it’s hugely hectic. It doesn’t take a toll on me [but] I do feel we overdo marketing,” he responded.
As a filmmaker, Khan, who has mostly succeeded on the box-office (his last with Salman – Bajrangi Bhaijaan – being a huge hit), thinks that in terms of promotions it isn't required to do as much as being done. “We just need to get the message across, especially if it’s a big star [film]. As it is, everybody knows when this film is releasing. As long as you have sent out that information [it’s okay]. You show people the trailer, you show people the content, buy television spots. After that I don’t think you need to make too much of a hue and cry. I don’t think it helps,” he says.
But Tubelight has seen a huge buzz from before the time its first trailer came out. There have been many smaller videos, songs, etc since then. Five days before launching the trailer in May, posters from the film were being put out from Salman's Twitter account to create the right buzz.
“Every image that he put out was getting picked up by websites, fans, news outlets, etc. We got a high visibility because of that. Even with the Baahubali fever on during those days, we managed to hold the interest of the people,” says Amar Butala, COO of Salman Khan Films, who thinks it's about spending the energies on people who have their single-point focus on Salman. “We put the fans first.”
The realisation is to cash in on the digital traction, especially if it's a huge star like Salman. “There's a huge digital traction that bigger stars have. Two years ago, we were using the print and the TV mediums to build up the promotions, but now we have realised that these guys have a consolidated following. Through digital mediums, we are talking directly to the fans. We are using Salman's Twitter to reach out to them and targeting people who we know are going to go to the movie theatres,” he says, adding, “That is pretty much the case with most of the big stars – if you reach out to the fans first, they pretty much start owning the films.”
According to Butala, quality scripts and content-driven films work better. He is right. Even if Irrfan's Hindi Medium was mildly promoted, it picked up business through word-of-mouth. The hype around Baahubali: The Conclusion was also a creation of the larger-than-life yet rooted content of the first part of the film, which was left at a cliffhanger. More than any promotional activity, it was the curiosity that made the second part such a huge success.
“We think that's the case across the table, whether it's a Salman film or otherwise. If we look at the films that have released in the last one to two years, it's evident that films with quality scripts do well. The importance of a good script, the importance of a good filmmaker takes precedence over everything else,” says Butala.
Khan, however, says it is unfortunate that nobody is ready to take that call [of toning down promotions]. “Sometimes, some films have done that and have done exceedingly well on the basis of the story. A machinery has been generated and everybody is just following,” Khan says with a helpless expression.
On his part, he says he has tried to change things. “If you see, I don’t do as much as I am expected to do. I let the actors do that. But overall, we have toned down to some extent. We are not travelling to many cities or stuff like that. It does not really help. What helps is the awareness about the release date of the movie and the content they have seen in terms of the trailer. You don’t need to know what pranks were played on the sets on whom by who. That’s a good material for publications and television channels and for the audiences to have fun, but it’s not helping a film,” he laughs with a hope that the approach to film promotions will change soon.
Butala says that producers are now realising that it is better to spend less, but spend it correctly. “I don't think you can market a bad film. The audience is way too smart. They smell good from bad from the teaser.”
One advantage, according to Butala for the film is that not many films are releasing in the week or the week after Tubelight's release. The budget dedicated to the promotional activities, he says, entirely depends on the release date of the film. “If there are more films releasing with your film, you have to cough up a little more because then everyone is trying to grab eyeballs since we have serious limitations on the number of screens in this country and you have to fight for the visibility to win in the exhibition space.”
At a recent promotional event, Butala said Tubelight will one of the widest release for any Salman Khan film. According to reports, internationally it is releasing in 1,200 screens, which means 100 more screens than Baahubali: The Conclusion; Salman Khan's Bajrangi Bhaijaan (2015) got 800 screens while Sultan (2016) had got 1,000 screens. But as they said earlier, it's content that works more than anything else. So we'll have to wait till tomorrow to see if Salman's magic will work once again.
