Bollywood’s Newest Marketing Fad : Cooking Up Controversies

Gone are those days when plastering a few posters on the walls and hand-painted Billboard signs were the only means available for a film’s publicity; Actors barely promoted their films, film-makers never ventured in-front of the camera and our main stream media couldn’t care less.

But today’s Bollywood presents a very different scenario. With over 1000 films releasing in a given year, all of them fighting for a common goal aka. The box-office success, the multiplex domination – it has become a necessity for those involved, to do whatever it takes to enforce that “must-watch” feeling among the masses in order to win this very competitive rat-race. And yes, the Indian media plays a vital role in this process.

Superstar Shah Rukh Khan is a fine example of the above. His perfectly knitted marketing tactics, be it non-stop television promotions, tying up with news-channels and popular online sites, birthday celebrations with the Indian media, the 6-pack (over-toned) tag line, cricket matches and last but certainly not the least, the OSO clothes line – in short, King Khan took the job of film-marketing to a whole new level. And as a result, despite a crappy storyline and equally pathetic performances; Om Shanti Om ended up being a super duper box-office success.

Off-late however a new marketing tactic appears to be gaining importance in the Hindi Film Fraternity – Cooking up Controversies, is what I prefer to call it. All one needs to do here is hook up with a couple of news channels and/or daily tabloids and conceptualize a story (around the concerned film and/or on the ones involved in it) that would guarantee sure-shot attention. The aim is single; create maximum impact with minimum time and effort.

Here are some good examples (looking at the last few months)–

1. Director/Writer Anurag Kashyap was heard criticizing practically every known-Bollywood personality during the pre-No Smoking days. Yes, the intention was to talk about his up-coming film but somehow thrashing the likes of Chopras, Johars and one-time mentor, Ram Gopal Verma ended up getting maximum attention. Now it’s a different story that the film failed to float beyond the first week-end.

2. While promoting their respective products, Shah Rukh Khan and his loyal friend cum director Farah Khan made use of every given opportunity to take a dig at rival team, Saawariya’s director Sanjay Leela Bhansali. Mr. Bhansali being no saint returned the favor with equal enthusiasm.

3. Just before the release of another John Abraham release, film Goal – More than the film and its theme, the news of rift between the leading stars i.e. Johnny boy and Arshad Warsi managed to create the much-needed stir. Later on these very people did their best to harp on the most controversial topic of the recent times, “Racism”. Guess they were expecting million dollars results as in certain Ms. Shetty’s case – but hey, everyday is not Sunday.

And the most recent event involving two of Bollywood’s superstars, a super-hit film and a most sought after film-maker. Okay Sillies, I am referring to – the “thou shall not talk”, the non-media friendly, the “I-hate-awards ceremonies”, the over-bossy, the “I-am-perfect”….uff! Apna Aaamir Khan and his remarks on Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Black and Mr. Bachchan’s performance, re. Now obviously the names involved are good enough to get the attention of the least-bit-interested souls, so let’s not even begin talking about us, the Bollywood fanatics.

In Aamir’s very own words…

I didn’t like the film. I found it very insensitive, it sends out very wrong signals. It was extremely manipulative. I could see the effort in the manipulation, and the art of the director is in not letting you see the manipulation. Also, the sensibility wasn’t right for me, I couldn’t make out if they were living in a house or a museum or a library or a church. The performances were over the top. And most importantly, it was about a child who had these problems, an alcoholic person comes and says you have to leave her alone with me for forty days, and he slaps her around. I don’t know of any parent who’d agree to that. Black reminded me of The Taming of the Shrew, and I found that very disturbing. It was a film about ‘I can teach a bear how to dance’. [Link]

Nothing wrong in the above, me thinks. I mean we are living in a democratic (?) country and nothing can or should stop us from asserting our opinions. But what I find dodgy in this case is the actor’s intent – as if more than voicing an opinion, Aamir was most interested in creating an impact and he said the above to do so.

The reasons for doing so are galore; Taare Zameen Par is not only produced by him but is also his directorial debut, writer cum film’s original director Amol Gupte’s walk out confirmed Aamir’s over interfering nature, the film’s storyline isn’t your typical Bollywood commercial plot (hence the risk is far greater than the norm) and last but most important – he is not King Khan, commercially and politically speaking. And as it often said, “desperate times require desperate measures”, Aamir looks to be just doing that.

So what it basically boils down to is this; actors and film makers are willing to go the extra mile even if it involves dissing their own kind in order to provide maximum exposure to their creations. As for the notion, “Bollywood is one big happy family” – Ya Rite!

[Ps – Mr. Bachchan puts the above brilliantly in very few words. A must read, I say.]