| A point to ponder. Is the industry doing the right thing by spending so indiscriminately on film promotion and marketing? Not just money but also the precious time of the actors! As in all other areas, the industry people are guided by the herd mentality as far as marketing and promoting their films is also concerned. If one producer can take his stars to ten cities of India, I can take mine to 15; if he can promote his film in Indian cities, I can do the same abroad too, after completing India darshan; if his stars can be visible on three television shows, mine will visit five – this seems to be the guiding force for all producers, or almost all! No producer wants to sit down and contemplate whether it makes sense to spend many crores of rupees on promotion because nobody seems to have the time and inclination to understand. Sridevi visited every TV and radio channel you can dream of and several cities before her English Vinglish hit the screens but her film could collect just Rs. 2.5 crore on the opening day. Collections almost doubled the next day so, obviously, it was the free mouth publicity which did the trick, not the crores spent on promoting the film. Rani Mukerji left no stone unturned to promote her Aiyyaa but the opening day’s poor collections made the trade sigh “aiyyaa…” in unison. In fact, a couple of morning shows of the film had to be cancelled due to absence of audience! Why are producers on the path to self-destruction? Why has everyone to show his courage by spending crores and wasting the time of the stars? Why can’t someone exhibit his guts of steel by swimming against the tide and not spending mindlessly on promotions, city tours and the like? After all, the crores spent on promotion and marketing are all added to the cost of the film, making it that much more difficult for a film to recover the investment and make profits. Think, producers think! |