| Gimme a Gimmick! |
| New affairs (for new movies?), break-ups that are good publicity, controversial kisses and appearances in reality shows. In todays short attention spans and anything-goes world, gimmickry is the name of the game in the celeb kingdom. The idea is to gimmick yourself to heights of popularity, says Rachna Bisht-Rawat |
| Between the bare torso-ed Ranbir Kapoor prancing around in a white towel that threatens to come undone any moment and King Khan doing a shirtless dard-e-disco to show off his newly acquired six pack abs, which one do you prefer? |
Pre-release gossip
Just as some others have used pre-release gossip, interviews, affairs and breakups, often first promoted and then denied by the stars themselves, to do likewise.
A lean and mean Shah Rukh smoking at the India-Australia 20-20, the lovely Deepika Padukone cheering Dhoni's shots amidst page 3 gossip that she is his girlfriend, a Mumbai tabloid interviewing the gay community on Ranbir Kapoor's gay icon prospects and the young debutante confessing shyly that he doesn't mind that but give him a chance to prove himself first: all these have helped create curiosity and subsequent hope that audiences will throng the theatres.
If that's not enough, we have a drooping Shahid attending movie premieres alone while the flashing-eyed Kareena, with a heavy dose of eyeliner and mascara, steps out of Saif Ali Khan's car.
Good publicity for both Jab We Met, that looks like a hit already, and the soon-to-release Tashan, where the new pair are together.
Short attention spans
Be it a controversial kiss (Hrithik-Aish in Dhoom 2), a cold war (Rani-Jaya in Laga chunari mein daag), a director-heroine spat (Manisha Koirala-Shashilal Nair regarding Ek choti si love story), a new affair (Kareena-Saif for the forthcoming Tashan) or a cold-blooded break up (Kareena-Shahid), gimmickry has become the name of the game.
In the new age India of busy professionals, short retention spans, and a thousand things happening all around, movies have tried to catch the audience's attention not just for the stories they will tell but also for the smart marketing moves involved.
Anything goes, as long as it is in the name of brand retention in the fickle public mind.
Farhan Akhtar's Don did it by creating a hype around Shah Rukh's politically incorrect smoking. The sensor board was finally appeased by adding a dialogue where the Don wryly claims that he is trying to quit the habit. Dhoom 2 created a buzz with its cool stunts.
Also, Hrithik's negative look with ripped jeans, rippling muscles, sleeveless jackets and long curls; Bipasha's bikinis; Aishwarya's newly-toned body and the sizzling lip-lock with Hrithik.
The smartly circulated gossip that the Bachchans were unhappy with the kiss simply added to the audience curiosity.
Don had a tie up with Tag Heuer watches and Louise Phillippe. Similarly Krrish tied up with consumer brands for Krrish masks, tiffin boxes, bottles and stationery because the film's target audience was kids.
Amitabh Bachchan launched a Baabul mobile game where the players had to get Salman and John to garland Rani Mukherjee. What has all this got to do with a creative art like cinema, those from the old school would wonder.
Fact is that there are only a handful of directors who have the integrity to stay away from the lure of using gimmicks to promote a film. Mani Ratnam stands tall.
No inkling
The fact that audiences had no inkling that a Vidya Balan-Madhavan kiss was coming up in Guru goes to his credit.
Also, despite Aishwarya and Abhishek playing a couple on screen, as also in real life, he did not exploit that for another kiss that would have pandered to the voyeurs and could easily have been woven into the screenplay.
The publicist of Guru, Parull Gossain, has been quoted as saying that since a biography was the focus of the film, they did not want to divert attention from it by publicising the kiss between a handicapped girl and the man who was in love with her. Also, she confessed that the stature of Mani Ratnam is such that "one can never use any gimmick to promote his film." Salutes to the brave.
But let that not bother you. Saawariya clothes are in the stores. Pick the cargos that Ranbir wore, grow your hair to get the Shah Rukh cut, and pay up for the first day, first show of Tashan to check out the chemistry between Kareena and Saif. As long as the entertainment industry is entertaining you, be ready to pay the price. Because, everyone's playing for money.
And gimmickry?
Well, that's just another name of the game.
Six-pack publicity
Om Shanti Om publicity has zeroed in on the fabulous six pack abs which SRK has acquired specially for a dance number in this film. His luscious new look was so widely publicised on TV and print media that it left millions of women drooling all over the world though Farah Khan claimed that he was in extreme pain while doing the item number in the film for which he had to take off his shirt and show his six pack abs for the first time!
"This is as naked as I will get," said SRK, who according to reports, had severe cramps while doing the dance numbers because of his strict diet and exercise schedule during the making of the film. Farah Khan, director of OSO, is soon to deliver triplets and that too is fodder for the publicity bandwagon.
So is her whacky idea of getting over 30 hottest stars of Bollywood including Salman Khan, Rani Mukherjee, Kajol, Sanjay Dutt, Priyanka Chopra, Preity Zinta, Saif Ali Khan and many more to make a guest appearance in a dance number choreographed specially by her.
Media reports say that since all these megastars danced the number for free, Shah Rukh Khan presented each one of them with a gift hamper containing the world's most expensive gizmos and gifts. Om Shanti Om, a story of reincarnation and romance between two film stars in the 70s and the present, has Shah Rukh Khan teamed with newcomer Deepika Padukone, who has been a supermodel till now.
Both of them are busy doing showstopper appearances in fashion shows which promote the 70s look with SRK mimicking superstars Rajesh Khanna, Jitendra and others. This film is a hit even before its release. Every day, new gimmicks add layers of publicity to this mega-film.
With the huge success of Chak De India, Shah Rukh Khan went as a cheerleader to the 20-20 World Cup match between India and Pakistan at the Wanderers Stadium in South Africa and came back victorious as the icon of encouragement. Now OSO is being shown to the cricket team headed by Mahendra Singh 'Mahi' Dhoni, the winning captain and his pix with Deepika are all over the papers.
Rewriting rules
Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Saawariya, together with OSO, are slated to 'rewrite the rules of marketing Bollywood films' says a source from producers Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) which is poised to spend Rs 200 million worldwide to promote this film.
Sony has tied up with the Future Group headed by Kishor Biyani to market Saawariya merchandise such as clothing, home dcor, bed and bath linen along with promotions for the films. Cosmetics, caps, badges, CDs of music etc will be marketed across 42 cities in India to fans of the film.Additionally SLB himself, launching new stars Ranbir Kapoor and Sonam Kapoor, has been participating in reality music shows like Star Voice of India to present the music of the film to millions of TV viewers. Saawariya, says Sony, is the first ever truly international film jointly produced by Bollywood and the Sony powerhouse and its success is guaranteed.
As if that's not enough, there are controversies galore about the stars to promote the film. For example, there is a perceived competition between Sonam Kapoor and Deepika Padukone as to who will rule the marquee in future. Ranbir Kapoor, with his almost-nude towel number, is the newest icon of the gay community of Mumbai whose members are waiting to gatecrash the premier show!
What's more, SLB is supposed to take Ranbir Kapoor to the infamous Red Light district of Mumbai to show him faces of pain and make him feel real compassion which he needed for his role in Saawariya! Saawariya is the first film which indicates Sony's recognition of Bollywood's international influence and its desire to team up with the film industry in India.
It marks the dawn of a new and exciting chapter in the life of Sony Pictures Entertainment in India, as it presents a wonderful opportunity to extend their horizons beyond motion picture distribution and interact with the enormous creativity that the Indian film industry has to offer.
This historic co-production encourages the integration of two of the world's biggest and dynamic film production communities and offers an excellent opportunity for the enormous talent in India to interact with a premiere Hollywood studio like Sony Pictures Entertainment. Not surprisingly, the marketing and publicity of this film has been done on an unprecedented scale.
With inputs from Vimla Patil
WHAT'S A GIMMICK REALLY!
*No matter how skillful you are, you can't invent a product advantage that doesn't exist. And if you do, and it's just a gimmick, it's going to fall apart anyway.
William Bernbach
*God gave me a voice to sing with, and when you have that, what other gimmick is there?
Whitney Houston
*I often talked to Bing Crosby, and while I liked him, I never understood why he was so popular. To me his voice was just a gimmick.
Hedy Lamarr
*You gotta have a gimmick.
Ethel Merman
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