TEASE and TELL_ DNA NEWPPR- PV

Tease and tell

With promos, more often than not, deciding the fate of the serials channels are putting in a lot of money and thought into it

Chaya Unnikrishan

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 producer-director 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