Rumour rules: A still from Duplicate. |
Less misleading -- other than in the sense that they were leading on the misses -- were the Avvai Shanmughi -- the Tamil remake of Mrs Doubtfire -- sarees that hit the Tamil Nadu markets. These could have been put down to the success of the film had they not appeared in the market during the film's early publicity phase. The film's star, Kamal Hasan, says it won't be long before some Chachi 420 -- the Hindi remake of Avvai Shanmughi -- sarees hit the Hindi market too.
That selling saree: Madhuri Dixit in Hum Aapke Hain Koun. |
So it was Barjatya doing them the favour instead of the other way around. As a result, more money came in and with less resistance. And, unlike Mukesh Bhatt who has to yet to live down his 'gimmick', Barjatya gained only goodwill for giving away his own f ilm!
Hero on CRT: Prabhu Deva |
Next, Kapur cocked a snook at the audience with Mr India, which mixed H G Wells, hammed-up Hindi film villainy, Brahmachari, kitsch, with jingoism thrown in to prove the man's sauce. But again, it was a well-made film, and a huge success .
Third time around, he played on controversy to sell his film Bandit Queen. Since it was a 'serious' film, he had the literati right behind him when he depicted frontal nudity -- as always because the film demanded it. "Without controversies Kapur saab never makes a film now," says one of his assistants.
Glamour pitch: A still from Rangeela. |
Without such marketing, it isn't possible to sell a film properly, says Mutkote. And the pressure has grown, with the easier availability of films from Hollywood and other Indian languages and the insistent presence of television, free, with channels f or every shade of interest at one's service around the clock.
Maybe Vidhu Vinod Chopra got a little cute, erecting a miniature set before a theatre to mark the release of his 1942, A Love Story, but so did J P Dutta, perching a replica of a tank atop the marquee of Bombay's Metro theatre for his Border.
Sometimes the gimmicks can get really hilarious. Like when the director of a Kannada tear-jerker offered all the women in the audience free handkerchiefs to see them through the movie. Not so funny was the attempt by a producer to cash in on a spate of ki dnappings at that time. He invited all parents of missing children to the theatres since, in the film, the child protagonist is safely returned. The enraged and distraught parents nearly destroyed the theatre. The film was finally banned!
Accused: Jackie Shroff Gardish. |
Television, that old enemy, has also been made an ally by film-makers who get songs from forthcoming telecast. Some manipulation of listings of popular programmes too have been hinted at.
Prabhu Deva is among the first actors television made famous. Time and again his numbers in Kadalan aka Humse Hai Muqabla were flashed on the small screen. And, despite being an indifferent actor, dark, thinly bearded, and not very attr active, the ex-choreographer was a mega-star.
In fact, television is such an effective way of selling a film that even though most channels acquire song sequences illegally, the film industry takes no action against them, argues Mutkote. Why kill free publicity seems to be the argument. Yash Chopra i s a exception. Not only does he not allow channels to screen his songs, but he even refuses them clippings. Which is why some angry bigwigs in the television industry are just waiting for his next flop...
Saree windfalls: A still from Chachi 420. |
"Sixty per cent of our programmes are film-based, but the Kannada film industry is yet to wake up to the potential of television," says Srinath, who heads Udaya TV in Karnataka. Resistance is slowly eroding, though. Marketing rules again.
Lala Damani, who pushed his film Saazish by getting former screen vamps Helen and Aruna Irani to dance together, is shoring up his bets with spots on Doordarshan and FM radio. "Their reach is far wider that newspapers or cable television."
Of course, everyone agrees that the best way to sell a film is to make a good one.
No matter what gimmicks a producer does employ, the film will fail if it is bad," says actress Urmila Matondkar, whose Rangeela and Daud both played up the scantiness of her clothing. Rangeela did well and Daud was a fl op.
Proof, perhaps, that the better film won. Or maybe the audience had already seen all they wanted to.