StoryTelling is now Story Built-up!!

The first thing that comes to mind when you think films is "Story telling". A story of people, their problems, their ways to over come those problems and whether they succeed or not.

With time the stories seem to have exhausted and the audience seemed to have grown, as such filmmakers came up with the convenient and novel idea of remakes.

However that too did not seem to satisfy the apetite of the audience and hence came the far more creative yet far more expensive idea of "Promotion and Marketing".

The secret for a films success today is no more a good story or performances but great promotions!

The Mantra goes- "Make an average film but design and execute such a powerpacked Promotional campaign that the audience goes to see the film not just because they are keen to see it but because they are wondering what all the noise is about!"

**Please note I'm not against or for such a practise...however i can't help but be amused at a line of thought wherein a script is given less importance than a marketing strategy!

A case in recent times is the Amir Khan starer Ghajini which was somewhere inspired from Memento- a far superior screenplay and direction. The biggest USP of the script was the character who looses his memory every 15 minutes and thus writes down every single minute detail of his life so he can re-memorize his life after every 15 minutes. It was a great concept and Amir Khan's presence would definitely bring in the loyal fan base who patronise theaters as first time viewer audience.

All this apart after the first time viewers and fans contributed their share the film still was not such to have made a business of Rs.190 crores ($38.57 Million) worldwide at the end of its run, making it Bollywood's highest grossing movie of all time. It is also the first Bollywood film to cross Rs.100 crores domestically (Rs.172 crores approx.) and grossed Rs.18 crores overseas (except US & Canada).

However when the film is made on a budget of around Rs. 50 Crore with marketing expenses of about 14 Crore irrespective of its Box office success it certainly becomes a study for the Marketing and Promotions of films. Read on to know the execution...

The Look(Online & Offline):

Think Ghajini, Think Aamir khan’s new and conspicuous hair cut and all those tattoos. Huge and never thought of before efforts have been made to imprint his hairdo into audience’s mind.
Online Tactics:

a) Aamir’s blog carries a full screen sized picture as on the film posters.

b) Two of the three websites related to the film also have a big bare chested picture of his on their homepage to reaffirm the associations ( http://www.wallofsuspects.com/ and http://www.rememberghajini.com/ )

Offline Tactics:

1) First and Foremost Aamir Khan still has the same haircut.
2) Aamir and his producers tied up with leading multiplexes(PVR, BIG, Cinemax) across the country to give all the ushers, ticket-sellers the distinctive “Buzz-cut” that Aamir sports in the film.

3)Aamir personally gave the ‘buzz cut’ — the hairstyle the actor sports in Ghajini to his fans in Delhi

2) “Interactive promotion”-
wallofsuspects: A supporting viral website for the film aims to replicate a similar concept from the film. To checkout the wallofsuspects one needs to have a code which can be obtained by uploading your or your friends images. One can also provide their mobile number which can be used to intimate if they win some prize.
findghajini : Another viral website built around the film. It’s a viral gaming application where the users can play the role of Aamir’s character in the film and try to find Ghajini through the clues provided.
3D PC Games: 25th Dec will see the release of the film and also India’s first 3D PC Game built around a movie. This is the first time there will be a complete game built around a movie.

- The video for the making of this game.

3) Getting Media Involved(Online):

http://www.rememberghajini.com/media/is the place where media people can upload their pictures to which Aamir can add notes based on their previous interaction(s) with him. This repository will help him in remembering those media people more vividly and the those who register will in turn get information kit on Ghajini along with Aamir’s personal note about them.

A splurge of videos on the making of Aamir’s body for the film.

Van Heusen has launched a similarly-named collection for today’s umber-confident young men that is inspired by the movie.

Van Heusen to promote the new range also organized a fashion show in which models sported Khan’s clothing style from the film, but also his hairstyle.

Then there’s “Tata Indicom’s" outbound dialer service with Khan’s pre-recorded voice. In this a Tata Indicom service user will get a call in Khan’s voice, asking the caller whether he is Ghajini and will tell the caller that the film is releasing on 25 December. Tata Indicom plans to reach out to 10 million customers with these outbound dialer calls. Tata Indicom is also advertising on TV for mobile downloads of Ghajini songs.” - businessofcinema.com

Samsung will be launching special Ghajini edition of models L700 and M200 of its mobile phones of L700 and M200 models. These handsets will be pre-loaded with ringtones, pictures and songs from Ghajini. Ghajini is the first Indian film to release a handset as part of the film’s content.

Aamir has also tied-up with some leading sculptors who are creating replicas of Khan’s Ghajini look. These sculptures would be installed at various multiplexes in the country.

Irrespective of how the film fares it sure has some important lessons for all of us....

...and ofcourse one must remember that Ghajini was inspired by Memento...made in Tamil first and then remade in Hindi!!!!