Sandalwood rides the promotion

There was a time when the release of a Kannada film was preceded by a handful of posters being plastered across Gandhinagar and pretty much nothing else. Filmmakers just expected fans of the stars to turn up, irrespective of whether they���������d heard about the film or not. But that���������s changing.
Filmmakers these days are waking up to the idea of going all out to promote their films on all forms of media ��������� print, broadcast, airwaves and even social networking.And it���������s not just routine star interviews or having an audio release function; the trend these days is to get innovative and grab eyeballs.
Golden Star Ganesh, for instance, is currently touring the state to promote his upcoming release Romeo. ���������We are just short of going door-to-door to tell people about his film,��������� says the actor���������s wife Shilpa, who also helps manage Ganesh's affairs, in jest. This reach-out-programme apart, what���������s important about this tour, adds Shilpa, is that the makers of the film are taking its trailer to all the cities they are heading to.
���������We had a trailer launch a couple of weeks ago in Bangalore, before which the audio was launched. But we realize that the trailer needs to get a wider audience. In Bangalore, fans will log on to video-sharing sites and check it out. That���������s not the case in smaller cities, where there is no internet connectivity. And there is no guarantee that theatre halls will screen the trailer before another film. Hence, we are taking it across the state,��������� says Shilpa.
In the recent past, actor-director Ramesh Aravind went all out to promote his film Nam Anna Don with a flash mob at a popular mall in Bangalore, bike rallies in smaller cities, and more, while director Indrajit Lankesh had a fashion show with the stars as showstoppers, an audio launch on TV and a website launch for his Dev s/o Muddegowda. Producer Muniratna���������s 3D fare Katari Veera Surasundarangi���������s audio launch was one of the grandest affairs in the history of Kannada cinema, with a three-hour music and dance extravaganza at the Bangalore Palace Grounds, while Kavita Lankesh took the audio launch of her new film to a circus.
But despite these efforts, many of the films have failed to live up at the BO. What���������s going wrong? According to Indrajit, the biggest problem is that not enough time is given for promotional activities. ���������The minute you tell your producer that the film is ready, he/she will be in a tearing hurry to release the film and get his/her money back. In fact, by the time the songs of my film started playing regularly on radio, the movie had come and gone. Of course, we had the disadvantage of releasing during the IPL, but that apart, I���������d say that a film needs at least a couple of months to have a series of promotional activities,��������� says the filmmaker.
Agrees Shilpa, who adds, ���������A 15-20 day window is not enough between the audio launch and the actual release. There should be time for promotions.���������
The time factor apart, money is also an issue. ���������Producers are often not willing to loosen their purse strings and plan elaborate promotional activities or they restrict publicity to Bangalore and a few more metros in the state,��������� says Indrajit.
Producer Rockline Venkatesh seconds that. ���������Promotions are a costly affair and most producers shy away from budgeting for that purpose. When compared to other industries, there are very few promotional activities done for Kannada films. And on the rare occasion that a producer is willing to pay, the stars may not cooperate,��������� he says, adding that the BBMP and Karnataka State Film Chamber of Commerce regulations also restrict publicity. ���������The BBMP has stipulated restrictions on the number of posters that can be plastered across town, while the film chamber rule is that advertisements of films can be released in print media only twice ��������� for the muhurat of the film and on the release day,��������� says Rockline.
And while films, it seems, continue to tank at the BO irrespective of the amount of publicity done, what has come of the increased interest in promotional activities is that first-week collections are on the rise, says distributor N Prasad. ���������In the first week, audiences turn up because they have heard of the film on the radio, television or from newspaper articles. Thereafter, of course, the fate of the film depends on its content,��������� he says.
(With inputs from Mahesh H)