Just saw Bajirao Mastani on Colors channel. The film was just released in theaters in December 2015. This makes me think whether it’s not a successful movie as it has come on TV so early after release. Also I wonder about those days when a movie used to run for weeks and months in a particular theater and completed what was known as Silver Jubilee and Golden Jubilee.
However, nowadays this is not the case. The success and the box-office performance of the movie depend also on how successfully it is marketed. In earlier times, posters were enough for the promotion of films. That was the era of jubilees. The film actors had an aura about themselves. There were a couple of film magazines and a few newspapers also to promote them.
Films now are more than just an entertainment, they are like full-fledged business, and television has become bigger than cinema. Television and internet have become big challenge for Indian films. But now the film industry is trying to take advantage of this by selling their movie rights to television channels for big money before the release of the film.
The audience profile has also undergone a sea-change in India. They are more educated, informed and critical and want value for their entertainment. The audience doesn’t accept any repetitive story-based films and want more of content-driven films. They want action films matching Hollywood standards and filmmakers are trying new horizons.
The actors and filmmakers are learning the tricks of marketing from experts and use them while promoting the films. The marketing campaign focuses on capturing the imagination of audience. Many films are made in Bollywood, Hollywood and in regional languages. How many movies can we watch? The best marketed movie has the best chance to do well at the box office.
When it comes to marketing, the sense of humour of Shahrukh Khan helps him in his strategic marketing techniques. He carried out a programme for his movies Ra.One and Fan. The trailer was first made available on the internet to garner interest and then associated himself with popular television serials. He sold the television rights of Ra.One much before the movie was released.
Nowadays, marketing of the film is equally important as the creative part. The domain of promotion and marketing in Bollywood is one of the biggest sectors in the film-making world. In fact with making a movie, only a part of the job is done, rest depends on promotion and marketing. Nowadays we can find the poster, trailer and songs embarking way before the movie hits the theater.
The first Look of Bajirao Mastani movie was released four months before the release of the movie. The marketing campaign has to catch up the imagination of audience. Hence at such junctures, the idea of marketing both for the movies and television shows has to be innovative and unique. In the busy life, catching up the attention of audience is among the biggest challenges.
Promotion and marketing are challenging jobs. Hence the presence of star value in these events makes the difference. Imagine the promotion of the movie ‘Kick’ without its lead actor Salman Khan; it’ll become meaningless in his absence in the promotional event. Instead of more movies with bad promotion, less number of movies with effective marketing can lead to more revenue.
In the current tough times, it’s really important to take up the promotion and marketing activities with added amount of creativity and innovation. Even the actors are now part and parcel of the promotional and marketing events for their films. It’s not just about producing any movie but selling that what counts. How well it’s possible to sell the movie is the key to box office success.