Posted:
Saiyaan nainon ki bhasha samjhe na
is playing in the background as an
impish girl in her early twenties is
waiting for a call, on the other side a
guy in his mid-thirties with a cellphone is just a click away from calling her, but hesitates. Thodisi hichkichahat, thodisi ghabrahat, Kuch
Toh Log Kahenge says a voiceover.
A pretty girl enters the bathroom,
secures the latch and only then notices a good-looking bare chested
guy taking a shower! She struggles
to unlock the door as
the guy slowly approaches her. As she
panics, the guy reaches
for the door and lets her
out, the girl shyly walks
away. 'Who says love
doesn't happen twice',
goes a ticker and Punar
Vivah is launched.
With new shows being
launched every other day,
it's become difficult to
keep track of them, which
is why channels are coming up with interesting, innovative, clutter-breaking
promos. No longer is it a
cut and paste job, promos
are shot separately, especially when a show is about
to be launched, has a highpoint or a twist. "A promo is
supposed to evoke curiosity. Naturally we need to
shoot it separately as a story-line. It is like any
other commercial that is made for fast-moving
consumer products. For instance in Kairi, we
have shot a promo where the three bahus are getting together to teach their saas alesson, but the track
has not even started yet," explains Sumeet Mittal, producer.
Another producer points out that a lot of thought
and money is being invested in a promo, because it has to grab eyeballs not just for three
hours but hopefully for a year. Promos today can
cost anywhere between Rs 20 lakhs to one crore
depending on the scale of the show.
"You have to encapsulate the entire
story in 30 seconds, which necessitates a special promo," says producerdirector Rajan Shahi. Usually, the producers provide the actors and the set
to the channel, which has its own creative team to shoot the promo. Nitin
Vaidya, business head, Hindi channels, Star India informs that the track
is gleaned from the producers and
worked upon to make a concise promo, suggestive of the storyline.
The trend has caught on in a big
way, and the number of promos for
one show has increased by 10 percent. Now, whether
the show does well
or not is a different matter, but the
promo better be
good! After all
well begun is half
done.
chaya.unnikrishnan@dnaindia.net .
Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi 2
