Filmmakers turn to internet to promote films

As with most things in life, the internet has become the new buzzword for film producers looking at an instant connect with their audiences. From releasing the poster or a trailer of a forthcoming film first online, to raising money for funding films, digital media is the most-sought after platform for filmmakers.

Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara (ZNMD) was the first to launch its trailer online even before it released in theatres or on television. Says producer Ritesh Sidhwani, who has also launched the forthcoming Talaash’s poster online first, “Our research showed that the impact of the digital and mobile medium is much stronger than we credit it for. So, we launched ZNMD trailer and Talaash poster on the digital platform. It is more in tandem with the convenience of the audiences rather than a pre-designated time slot.”

ZNMD set a trend and since then several films like Hate Story, Agent Vinod, Vicky Donor, Ishaqzaade, Teri Meri Kahani and, more recently, Cocktail have had their promos released first on the net. Says Habib Faisal, who directed Ishaqzaade, “If there’s a connection to the image, music and sound of the film, it goes viral, which is what happened with Ishaqzaade, something which we had not anticipated.”

Rajiv Dingra, CEO of a social media monitoring agency, explains, “Online audiences are very clued in to which film is releasing first, its first look, the promo, trailers, etc. We are a country of movie buffs with a 70 per cent online active audience, which is why a preview usually gets a very good response of around 5-7 lakh views.”

Filmmaker Kunal Kohli, whose Teri Meri Kahani is slated to release next month, hits the nail on the head when he says that besides the huge connecitivity — India has the third largest internet subscriber base — it is the cheapest way of promoting a film. Says Kohli, “When everything from shopping to banking is done online, why shouldn’t we use it to promote films, especially when it’s much cheaper?”

As Dingra points out, a producer can easily get one lakh views for his film initially, that too for just Rs 5-8 lakh, while on TV, he will have to cough out Rs 8-9 lakh for a spot of 30-40 seconds.” For instance, the Cocktail trailer apparently elicited 2.5 lakh views within a day of its launch online. Not only that, the audience feedback is a fair indicator of how the film will fare at the box office. According to Dingra, Vicky Donor got seven lakh views on YouTube, whereas Agent Vinod did not generate so many views.

“The views online clearly indicate the Friday-Saturday demand for a film and Sunday onwards, the content takes over,” he reckons.  

No wonder, for filmmakers, who are always looking at cutting costs and achieving instant connectivity, the digital media turns out to be the best bet.