Why are so many films nowadays not even taking decent starts? Not doing well because the content is rejected is one thing, but a star-cast film not even opening well is quite another thing.
– The main culprit is lack of quality and effective promotion. Producers are concentrating more on digital promotion of their films but the fact is that the target audience for films are not all digitally connected or savvy. A large section of the 35-plus audience is still dependent on television, newspaper and street publicity for their knowledge about films releasing in the cinemas. As these media are not being well exploited for promoting films because the emphasis is on social media, producers are unwittingly ignoring a chunk of the potential audience in their marketing campaigns. Also, trailers and music are still the two most important tools of promotion but, sadly, not many producers are working on their music and, therefore, they cannot use their (weak) songs to promote their films. There’s another point too. Stars are becoming more and more reluctant to appear before the public (through interviews, mall appearances, etc.) at the time of their release, as used to happen in the pre-COVID era. This is another reason for lack of awareness about the release of films and, therefore, dull openings.
Was it right on the part of the producers of Auron Mein Kahan Dum Tha to postpone its release this week?
– It was definitely an intelligent move. Had they released their film on 5th July, they would’ve not got the optimum number of shows as KALKI 2898 AD (dubbed) is going so strong that exhibitors wouldn’t want to drastically reduce its shows to accommodate AURON MEIN KAHAN DUM THA. The new probable release date — 2nd August — is a good one because the other Fridays before that are all booked: SARFIRA and HINDUSTANI 2 (dubbed) on 12th July, BAD NEWZ on 19th July, and DEADPOOL & WOLVERINE (dubbed and English) on 26th July. Further, there’s no major release slated for 9th August.
One word for the star power of Prabhas?
– Better than that of many Hindi film heroes!