Bollywood's interesting movie promotion ideas

Did you hear Vidya Balan is being spotted in different Indian cities in a pregnant avatar? If yes, then you would have also known that she is promoting her Kahaani. This is the latest addition to the novel ideas Bollywood is adopting to market its films. Though a few talented filmmakers have introduced some really unique styles, others are still relying on the age-old rumor mills to market their films.

Before the release of Anurag Basu’s much-hyped Kites, rumors were high about the alleged relationship between Hrithik Roshan and Barbara Mori, and also about the rift between Hrithik and his wife Sussane. The rumors, however, failed to pull audiences to the cinema halls as people are now fed up of such baseless and stale strategies in Bollywood. People are now looking for some creativity, not only in films but also in their promotion.

Gone are the days when film promotion in Bollywood was limited to trailers, posters and hoardings. Filmmakers and actors have given up outdated methods to try something new. Some of them succeed, some don’t.

Filmmakers are using different mediums to have customized marketing strategies for their films. The makers of Luck By Chance had started a campaign in Mumbai by branding some auto-rickshaws as ‘Auto By Chance’ and those, who spotted these autos, were given free rides anywhere in the city. Anurag Kashyap distributed condom-shaped passes for the premiere of Dev D and multiplexes sold 12 different flavors of popcorn during the screening of Ashutosh Gowariker’s What’s Your Rashee that had Priyanka Chopra in 12 roles.

Film stars flocking the sets of reality TV shows and daily soaps either as participants, hosts or judges has become quite common today. Salman Khan had appeared in khaki on Colors channel’s Laagi Tujhse Lagan to promote Dabangg. Recently, he had chosen the sets of Na Aana Iss Desh Lado to promote Bodyguard.

Similarly, Akshay Kumar had gifted his favorite bike to a contestant in Entertainment Ke Liye Kuch Bhi Karega before the release of Action Replayy and John Abraham had lied to the contestants of MTV Roadies while promoting his film Jhootha Hi Sahi. Ranbir Kapoor had gone a bit far and entered into a mock marriage with a contestant of Zee TV's Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Singing Superstar during the marketing of Anjaana Anjaani. Though, despite having unique ways of promotions, many films fail to attract the audiences.

Eyeing huge opening weekends, filmmakers are devising fresh ideas to create urgency among people to see the film during the initial weeks itself. Filmmakers are also experimenting with titles, which speak about the genre and feel of the film. When Dibankar Banerjee named his movie as Love, Sex Aur Dhoka, he knew the unique title was enough to generate curiosity in the minds of people and attract them to cinema halls. Most films from the Mahesh Bhatt and Ekta Kapoor camps are based on either certain controversial people or incidents that already have a curious audience in the market.

Among other ways the filmmakers are resorting to market their films is winning awards in international film festivals, thus establishing the film’s brand value before its release. A number of such awards and rave reviews had generated enough buzz about Vikramaditya Motwane’s debut film Udaan, and people were awaiting the movie’s release.

Imtiaz Ali, with the idea of inclusive marketing, had asked people to vote for one of the three title options, before naming his film Jab We Met. The industry has gone techno-savvy to use social networking sites like Facebook, YouTube and Twitter to connect with their audiences. Today, making a great movie is not enough. It has to be accompanied by a great marketing plan to taste success at the box office.

When it comes to film promotion, Aamir Khan is considered as the most innovative brains in Bollywood. In fact, he is credited to have started the trend of unique and smart promotion techniques with Ghajini. For this blockbuster, Aamir not only himself sported a bald hairstyle but also managed to tie-up with a few multiplexes to have their staff do the same two weeks before the release. So when people went to watch Shahrukh Khan’s Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi, they were welcomed by the staff in ‘Ghajini’ look and their curiosity to watch the film was doubled. It was the most interesting and truly unique kind of marketing Bollywood had ever seen.

For 3 Idiots, Aamir got stickers pasted on the back of auto-rickshaws in Mumbai to market the film. The stickers read “Capacity: 3 Idiots Only”. The strategy was successful in creating a lot of buzz for the movie at a very low cost. So it’s not just about movie promotion, but promotion in a unique way!