This story is from August 9, 2010

If looks could kill

TOI finds out why the first look of a film is a make-or-break situation at the BO.........
If looks could kill
First impression is the last impression. Ask apna filmwallahs and they will vouch for it. After all, one look at the promos or the posters and the audience has made up its mind - to watch or not to watch a film.
With an impending release, the battle to grab eyeballs and create a flutter in the filmi market hots up. More so, when one���������s project is much-talked about, be it in terms of the cast, director or story.
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A case in point is Srijit Mukherji���������s Autograph. CT finds out why the first look of this signature promises to stand out.
Srjit expresses, ���������As a director, my first take on the promos were that they should not be run-of-the-mill and instead highlight the uniqueness of the film. The USP of Autograph is the story, which is set in contemporary times but is a shadow of the past. Both these needed to be highlighted in the promos.��������� What was also important was that the promos have a different cinematic language. ���������Every promo now tells a story. But what is important is how it is told,��������� says the film-maker, adding, ���������The promos should have an element of intrigue. I wanted the teaser to actually tease the audience. And the way the promos have been structured gives a tantalising impression of the story. It seduces the audiences��������� curiosity without giving away the actual story itself.���������
Equally important is how the text appears in the promos. And the model Srijit has followed is international, ���������in the way the catchlines have been framed and how they appear���������. The director explains, ���������Why it stood out for a lot of people is because this isn���������t how a film is served to a Bengali audience. I���������ve used English as a language to render the text. This enhances the sleekness, smartness and international feel of the promo.���������
Promos aside, when it came to the poster, the marketing pitch was clear. ���������To drive Prosenjit Chatterjee���������s matinee idol image and the fact that he plays a superstar in the film,��������� Srijit continues. Needless to mention then that the lines on the poster, ���������I am Arun Chatterjee. I am the Industry��������� is tantalising because it���������s close to reality. And according to the director nothing excites the audience more than seeing a slice of reality on celluloid. The subsequent posters will stress on the premise of the film, which has other elements apart from Prosenjit playing a superstar. ���������But what will remain consistent throughout the posters is the unifying thought that this is a film set against the backdrop of the Bengali film industry,��������� Srijit stresses.

Interestingly, what catches the fancy of the viewer is the film���������s title. ���������Autograph means one���������s own writing. And playing on the word ���������graph���������, it can also mean one���������s own graph, since this film is about the emotional and existential graph of three characters. In that sense, it is about three autographs or three journeys,��������� the director opines.
Ask him if the use of English too acts as an add-on and Srijit answers, ���������Bengali as a language has grown to be more cosmopolitan. We tend to use English words in our day-to-day parlance. This makes the positioning of the film more contemporary.���������
And in keeping with this contemporary trend of assessing a film���������s outcome through posters and promos, producer Shrikant Mohta suggests, ���������It���������s essential that through promos and posters, we convince the audience.��������� Considering that the producers and distributors understand the pulse of the audience best, they have a major say in the first look. ���������The director gives a brief to the publicity designer,��������� he adds. Going by the brief and after much thought the ���������Lights. Camera. Love.��������� was coined. ���������Based on the film industry, this one is a story about a star and his relationship. The promos proclaim ���������Kolkata 1966��������� and there are three shots of Nayak. Then it says ���������Kolkata 2009. The film changed three lives forever���������.��������� But Shrikant cautions, ���������This is not Nayak, but how Nayak changes three lives, that of the director, who wants to make a film with the industry���������s numero uno star, the star himself and his girlfriend.���������
As if on cue, Srijit adds, ���������I included the irresistible hook in the story. The hook was the film-within-a-film, the hook was revisiting a classic, the hook was extracting a contemporary love story from the womb of a masterpiece, instead of making an inane remake.���������
With the ���������star��������� featuring on the first look of the posters, Indraneil Sengupta opines, ���������Bumba da plays a superstar here and it���������s natural that he is there on the posters��������� first look. As an actor, what matters to me is the character and its significance in the context of the story. Whether or not I am there in the first look isn���������t important. I���������ll say that all the three characters in the film are well-etched out.
Aiding in such well-etched out attempts is the music. Says Debajyoti Mishra, who has scored the music for the film, ���������A film���������s promo gives a peek into the film���������s spirit and soul. Promos have their style of narration. While music can create an eagerness in the audience, one has to bear in mind that it���������s in keeping with the film���������s soul.���������
Amen, to that.
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