Trailing ahead

Shekhar Ravjiani, Jackie Shroff, Abhishek Bachchan, Deepika Padukone, Shah Rukh Khan, Farah Khan, Boman Irani, Sonu Sood, Vivaan Shah and Vishal Dadlani at the trailer launch of Happy New Year

The Happy New Year event held recently had the entire cast comprising Shah Rukh Khan, Abhishek Bachchan, Deepika Padukone, Boman Irani, Sonu Sood, Vivaan Shah and director Farah Khan participating in a fashion show to formally announce the arrival of their film. The event, like its trailer, was so vibrant and colourful that it has apparently created a record of sorts for becoming the most viewed movie trailer on Facebook.
However, debutant director Omung Kumar who has the biopic Mary Kom coming up says, “It is a marketing strategy. If the trailer is not good, it does not make sense to have such events. It also makes an impact if a big star attends the function. Having said that, if the movie demands that kind of a launch, then why not? I don’t know if that is the trend or whether all movies do it. Each to his own. I feel the trailer speaks for itself. We, however, had a normal launch for Mary Kom. ”
The art director turned film director added that the internet and social networking sites also help the film reach out to a larger audience. The trailer of Mary Kom, he says, got good response after it was uploaded on the internet. “The trailer started trending immediately and simultaneously, we launched the trailer in a theatre. The first look really made the trick for my film and had the people talking about it.”
However, preparing a trailer is no mean task. Encapsulating the essence of a three hour long movie into a three minute clip, that would lure the audience to the theatres requires expertise. A successful trailer is not just about the hype around its story and its starcast, but also the way it is presented.
According to Rudrarup Dutta, VP Marketing, Viacom18 Motion Pictures, the trailer is the most important creative communication of the film, it establishes the film’s positioning and determines the perception of the film. “According to me, any investment to make it bigger and more impactful is totally justified. Whether it is one trailer or two trailer depends on how the campaign of the film is planned. A second trailer is used when the film has multiple layers and you want to bring new elements to boost the campaign.”
When the trailer of a big film is released, small film trailers get lost or are ignored. For instance, Nisha Pahuja’s documentary, The World Before Her could not make an impact because of the big releases. Dutta explains, “When you have a small film and lesser resources you can’t follow the same norms or strategy that is used for big films. Each film has its audience and it’s the job of marketing to find the audience and connect to them.”
Dutta goes on to elaborate that smaller films are definitely a challenge and hence more exciting to market. “Marketing a big film with a big star is more about the star and less about the film. A smaller film is all about the content and how well it is marketed. As a studio, we have time and again proven that Indian audience are ready for content driven cinema if marketed correctly. Films like Tanu Weds Manu, Shaitaan, Pyaar Ka Punchnama, Gangs of Wasseypur, Kahaani, Madras Café, Bhaag Milkha Bhaag, Queen are testimony to that,” he says.
Trade analyst N.P.Yadav recalls the time when trailers of films would be shown only in theatres. “During Doordarshan days or when television had just arrived or for that matter, when Star/ Zee came into being, there was no system of showcasing film trailers. It was gradual that teasers made inroads into every home. Today the trailer launch or the first look is in vogue because of the media; more so the digital/ satellite media as it reaches out to crores of homes at one point of time. This is the handiwork of the visual media,” he points out
At times, it is just the music launch that garners attention as it has dances and live performances by either the actors or singers. “But performances during music launches has always been there. It happened during Saawariya too. It is just that with many movies releasing now, everyone is trying to be more innovation with old ideas,” states Omung Kumar.
The makers of Finding Fanny instead released two songs at different occasions and garnered a lot of attention for the unique way the songs were promoted. Dancers wore masks of all the main actors and performed to the song Fanny Re at one event in the presence of lead actors Deepika Padukone and Arjun Kapoor who also acted as the emcee thus regaling the people present with their light banter. This was followed by another song Shake my booty at another event.
The more whackier the trailer, the better it is for the film these days. Gone are the days when a few hoardings or a standee worked for a film. Kick was one movie that had its grand trailer launch at a single screen theatre in Mumbai and it worked for the film. Besides this, the trend is to launch more than one trailer for a film.
Dutta feels that music launch as a concept is pre-historic and related to the old world where the CD’s of the film would go on shelves. Today music is downloaded. So the song and dance is an opportunity to present the film and showcase the music but it’s usually never really a ‘launch’. Going back in time, Yadav recalls how in the olden days, music launches were a big thing. Celebration parties were held as per the sale of long play (LP) records of the film’s music. “There were golden disc or platinum disc celebrations which saw all the big names of the industry attending and sharing each other’s success. Today the teaser and music launch events happen at one instance. Only a big star like Shah Rukh Khan takes the event to a different level by making it a big affair. Earlier people like Rajesh Khanna, Raj Kapoor and Subhash Ghai went all out to celebrate the success of their films,” he says.
As for eating into each others’ promotions, when there are two good films releasing at the same time or around the same time, Dutta points out that two films competing definitely is a strain on the resources as there is a need to shout louder, but competition is the essence of any ideal business environment and makes the space exciting and drives you to innovate better. “Budgets have to be in line with the strategy and expectations from a film, having a big budget doesn’t guarantee success. It is always the ‘HOW’ and not ‘HOW MUCH’ that determines the quality of a campaign,” he explains.
The first poster of Aamir Khan-starrer PK created a lot of intrigue and buzz for the actor’s nude look with a transistor protecting his modesty. So there was a lot of anticipation around the film’s second poster which was released on August 20 which also created a lot of buzz as it has the actor fully clothed with a trumpet in hand. With many big films in the pipeline, there is a big rush to release the teasers. However, film-makers are cautious not to clash with the projects of their contemporaries. The trailer launch of PK being one of the latest examples when the makers waited for Shah Rukh Khan and Farah Khan to launch the teaser of their forthcoming film Happy New Year which also came one day prior to the release of Singham Returns, so as to not eat into each others’ promotions.
Vijay Singh, CEO, Fox Star Studios, which is presenting Finding Fanny, Bang Bang and Bombay Velvet, during an earlier interview with Screen said that all these films are of diverse genres, hence each film has a unique, tailored marketing program. “Finding Fanny‘s trailer and Bang Bang‘s teaser have been released and have received a huge endorsement from the audience. So much so that, the Bang Bang teaser shattered records to become the most viewed teaser/trailer in the history of Bollywood with 2.33 million views in just 24 hours! Our teaser/ trailer launch plans for both movies have been done with clockwork precision and I can assure you that we are leaving no stones unturned to roll out exciting innovative campaigns,” said Singh.
Being in a competitive field, every maker is vying for an innovative space. While Indian boxer Mary Kom was present for the trailer launch of her biopic, legendary athelete Milkha Singh also made his presence felt during the Bhaag Milkha Bhaag (which is based on his life) event. Hence novelty brings in a different essence to a film. In this scenario, Vijay Singh says that as a studio, Fox is constantly innovating with marketing, digital, social and mobile innovations — domains that the company is hugely keen on exploring. “If you look at how we started our marketing campaign, none of the films held a traditional press conference for the trailer and teaser launch; we chose the online route, concentrated on social media and the results have been outstanding — they have become films that people are excited for. And we, as a studio, are very happy about that feat.”
Sharing a similar point of view, Amrita Pandey, VP and Head, Marketing & Distribution – Studio, Disney India says that a trailer is the first introduction of the movie to the audience, and hence a lot of emphasis is laid on how the trailer is cut, music, character introductions, look and feel and even the timing. She adds that depending on the movie, trailer launch events are tailored to the theme of the movie and are a great tool for the promotion of the film. “It sets precedence for what is expected from the movie and if done well can help garner great buzz and word-of- mouth on the upcoming release. For Kick, we launched the trailer at Gaiety cinema amidst hundreds of Salman Khan fans which fit in really well with the movie as it was a mass entertainer. For our upcoming movie, Disney’s Khoobsurat, at the trailer launch we had a photo booth with props used in the movie like a photo frame, crown with which Sonam poses, keeping in mind the Royal misfit that she is. We also had royal butlers and flowers to capture the royal atmosphere which is a very intrinsic part of the movie,” elaborates Pandey. Dutta is of the opinion, “When we launched the trailer of Queen, we first put out an online teaser where Kangana in her character asked viewers to send in their suggestion for what to do on her honeymoon. This helped in generating curiosity and established the simplicity of Rani’s character. We followed that with the trailer which began with Rani crying over her breakup.”
With a variety of films, big and small gearing up for release, adopting a unique approach to promotions which trailer launches are an integral part of, has clearly become inevitable.