There’s a trailer on my phone

Aamir Khan (TOI photo)

Innovation is the buzzword in movie promos today. 


Take, for instance, the recent release, Rock On!!, which was publicised through live concerts. “When we were brainstorming on new ideas to promote the film, we came up with the idea of organising Rock On!! concerts across the country,” says director-turned-actor Farhan Akhtar, who made his on-screen debut with the movie. “We started with the film’s music release, which was followed by a series of concerts in Delhi, Mumbai and Pune,” he says, adding that out-of-the-box promos help a film stand out.

For his forthcoming movie, Ghajini, Aamir Khan is steering away from TV promos and going online. The actor reportedly wants a novel, user-friendly, interactive website for the film. He’s also considering a mobile phone website for the film, which will make Ghajini the first Hindi movie to have such a website.

Film-makers are also increasingly turning to Bluetooth-enabled film promotions. It works on the principle of ‘Catch them while on the move and run an end-to-end movie promo on the mobile’. Bluetooth marketing solutions company, Telibrama, is doing just that. After promoting the British movie Sucker Punch, the company is now pursuing the Tamil, Telugu and Hindi movie markets, pushing movie content at zero cost for the customer.

“This not only provides a richer media experience to the customer, but can be easily scaled up with more options like a fan club and feedback forms, which can always be added,” says Suresh Narasimha, CEO, Telibrama Communications. The company has provided Bluetooth-enabled display vans to promote Kannada films like Gaalipata and Taj Mahal.

Producer of the Kannada flick Mussanje Maatu, Vikas Jain, says Bluetooth promotions go a long way in creating excitement around a particular movie and ensure easy recall as the visuals remain on the phone.

Blogs and video-sharing site YouTube continue to be popular with film-makers, especially those wooing young audiences. “The trailers of Psycho have become a rage and it had more than 35,000 visitors. We contacted those interested in Kannada films and they’ve uploaded promos and songs on YouTube and Orkut,” says Gurudath, the producer of the film.

Interestingly, after the ban on hoardings in Chennai, action hero JK Riteesh used some pushcarts with huge posters of his recent release Nayagan.

Courtesy: timesofindia.com

Kamal in Mani Ratnam’s next!

We had to wait nearly 20 years after Nayagan to see this day. The duo that created one of the 100 all time greatest movies in the history of cinema is back together and there can be no bigger or better reason for celebration. Yes, Kamal and Mani Ratnam will work together in 2008, the only regret being that it will be a short association, a cameo. But never mind, at least we get that after all these years.

Mani will soon start work on his next movie, Hindi again, with Abhishek and Aishwarya. It will be an urbane love story showing the problems that newly married coupes face, Alai Paayuthey-like, but yet different. Music, no doubt will be courtesy Rahman and so we have another chartbuster in early 2009 for sure. But the biggest news now is that of Kamal’s entry into the project.

In Guru, Mani gave Madhavan a cracker of a role. In this move he was actually planning on giving Vikram the chance of essaying an arresting cameo, as we had reported some time back. But, on second thoughts, the role seemed to suit his old friend, ally and genius, Kamal. So, Mani Ratnam asks Kamal the question, explains the role, which Kamal simply loves and there we have it: the best combination in Indian cinema. The role, as we said, will be short and sweet, but just the fact that Mani called on Kamal to do it suggests that the role will be something very special, something ‘Kamal-worthy’. The wait has ended, or in another sense- just begun. We can’t wait for it to release.

One other thing: we had told you earlier today that Kamal was sporting a beard as part of his Marmayogi look. Maybe that’s not correct, maybe it is for the Mani movie! Perhaps for both. Let’s just wait and watch.

Courtesy: behindwoods.com

Story is bigger than stars: Mani Rathnam

A good story idea and its distinct depiction on screen are more important than filming technique, director Mani Rathnam said.

“I believe that audience comes to watch a film for its story and not for its look on screen”, Mani Rathnam said while taking part in the International Festival currently on at Goa.

“It is more important for me to tell the story convincingly, backed by good performances from actors. A good story without the support of good acting will have no impact on people. However, story is bigger than stars”, he said.

The director, who gave us films like 'Nayakan', 'Roja', 'Bombay', 'Dil Se, Dalapathi', 'Anjali', 'Yuva' and 'Guru', said, “When one is writing he has to take inspiration from everyday incidents to get better story ideas. One must also read as much as possible to be able to give contemporary touch for audience to relate with the subject”.

Mani Rathnam introduced A R Rahman in the film industry as a composer. All his films starting from Roja in 1992 have music compositions of Rahman and the director now shares a special bonding with him.

“I have worked with two very classy composers - Ilayaraja and Rahman. Both are from two different schools of music composition. While Ilayaraja is more spontaneous in his response, Rahman takes time to think over tunes and story situation and labours over it”, he said.

According to him, Rahman, if pushed a little, is willing to think laterally.

Courtesy: IndiaGlitz.com