Bollywood’s marketing strategy has evolved with time. This is evident with the way the makers are coming up with new ideas to grab eyeballs and sell tickets. For the longest time, it was all organic but in recent times, it has entered the ‘Sab ganda hai par dhanda hai’ route. Now, the makers are willing to go to any lengths to ensure that the tickets are sold by hook or by crook. Bollywood Hungama, in this two-part hard-hitting article, exposes the harmful models adopted by the industry that do more harm than good.
Frankly Speaking: How Bollywood’s scandalous practices & manipulative tactics are CORRUPTING the film industry and ruining Bollywood’s credibility – Part 2
5. Buying views
It is common to see makers claiming that the trailer of their upcoming film has garnered record views. In some cases, the claim is genuine; trailers of some films do catch attention and go viral. But for certain movies, that doesn’t happen and this is when makers resort to buying views. The video-sharing website works in such a manner that if the views are not encouraging, it won’t be featured on the home page or won’t come under the ‘Trending’ section for obvious reasons. Again, the rival fan clubs or skeptics can use this excuse to damage the film, resulting in this tactic.
Moreover, the producers use the ‘record breaking’ figures to show distributors how garam their movie is and thereby clinch deals at higher values. This trick is also used at times to get better digital release deals.
Trade analyst Amod Mehra revealed, “There was a singer whose videos used to touch 2-3 million views in a day. She was seen as the next big thing. Then she switched to a different music company and now suddenly, her views are not as much. If you remember, one artist allegedly paid Rs. 74 lakhs for 72 lakh views on his song.”
He added, “This manipulation usually happens in music videos and then trailers. Some have even manipulated subscriptions as the more subscribers you have, the more revenue you can earn from YouTube.”
6. Fake Rebate scam
This is a bubble waiting to burst. Certain foreign countries provide a cash rebate if a major chunk of the film is shot in their territory. Many producers follow the rules honestly. However, some of them started to misuse and started demanding higher rebates than what they were eligible for. Several times, the foreign country’s government got scammed. But now, it is said that they have realized how they are being looted and have stopped giving rebates to questionable producers. It’s too late as hundreds of crores have already been siphoned off.
A producer, on condition of anonymity, said, “Rebates help several filmmakers bring down their costs. But sadly, there are some who take advantage of it by not following it in its right spirit. At times, you might get lucky and get away with it but at times, you won’t be and it’ll only add to your woes.”
A producer who released his film this year applied for a rebate from an overseas country. However, the film commission of that country rejected the rebate after going through the submitted documents and labelled it a scam!
Amod Mehra revealed, “There’s a change in the law in the UK. Now, you have to be registered in the country and also, the films should be such that they promote the country. I know many filmmakers, some of whom made Marathi films, who are not getting the rebate (after the change in rules).” He stated that this led to a few producers setting up a base in the European country to get the gains.
Yet, it’s still not easy. Amod Mehra told us about a murder mystery, released a few years ago, that failed to get the rebate. Reason? The UK was passed off as India in the film. He stated, “The film commission out there now is very clear – you can’t shoot in their country and tell viewers that it’s some other place. They are not doing charity work. They have now shut the loopholes.”
7. Foreign junkets/gifts
Earlier, foreign junkets involved having a leisurely time with the celebrities, getting interviews from them etc. Now, the journalists are enrolled in the foreign trip in return for favourable stars.
A Bada movie that was released this year had taken media for one such junket and it was massively talked about. What added to the incessant trolling was the presence of two Samosa Critics on this trip. The rest were all credible names but the mere presence of those two ‘critics’ gave a very bad name not just to the junket but also to the foreign location.
Trade analyst Atul Mohan, who coined the word ‘Samosa Critics’ talked about the good old days of junkets, “Vinod Khanna took a huge contingent of the media to Dalhousie for three days for the shoot of his son Akshaye Khanna’s debut film, Himalay Putra (1997). Yash Chopra invited the media during the shoot of the Holi song of Darr (1993) in Lonavala. There are many such examples. It was done out of mutual love and respect for each other. There was no commercial transaction or medianet. The journalists would write about the happenings on the sets, interacting with the actors etc. It was a normal practice.”
He added, “Junkets are never wrong but you need to see who you are taking with you. Maybe, the producer didn’t even know them or their credentials.”
Girish Johar, producer and film business analyst agreed, “Junkets are a promotional tool used by the producers so that the word can spread through genuine journalists about what goes into the making of the film.” Talking about the recent fiasco, he opined, “The makers and PR company should have ascertained who are the reporters that are being invited rather than inviting any tom, dick and harry who is not aligned to any publication and who add no value.”
Film exhibitor and distributor Akshaye Rathi thundered, “For the longest time, the studios and producers have been bargaining with the exhibition sector over 1 or 2% of the revenue share. The exhibitors are your partners. They take your film to the audience and are investing in building and maintaining infrastructure. Yet, with these partners, you are willing to go to war, haggle and strike, all this for a minuscule share in revenues. On the other hand, you are spending lakhs of rupees on cartoons like these whose tweets and posts don’t just have a zero impact. But by now, they have lost so much credibility that when you see their names with 3 or 4 stars on a film poster, the audience has now become smart enough to realize that it’s a paid activity. It’s not just irrelevant but also damaging to the film’s prospects.”
He continued, “It’s an open secret that they have become what they have not on merit. They don’t have the brains or the abilities to have such clout and impact. These are the fronts of the PR agencies through which they exploit the fears and insecurities of producers by offering useless services of good reviews or positive conversations on social media. If the producers are going to spend money on them, then God bless them. Beyond a point, I can’t even feel sorry for them for the state of affairs they are in. Their priorities are feeding these sorts of destructive monsters and making them bigger and more relevant for their insecurities. Had they spent the same amount of money on the ground with exhibitors, the impact would be so much more.”
He also said, “Maybe, there’s corruption in the ecosystem at the deepest level, where everyone has a vested interest. I don’t know what it really is but it’s definitely amusing, sad and stupid.”
Distributor and exhibitor Raj Bansal said along the same lines, “On one hand, the producers complain about the entourage of actors. But they are okay with such junkets. The makers and PR team should take only reputed journalists with credential backgrounds and who are working for known publications. What’s the use of taking these people? At the most, they’ll tweet.”
Amod Mehra noted that foreign junkets since the beginning have had a quid pro quo arrangement, “The directive given by the PRO is that since they are taking you abroad, you can’t write anything negative about the film.”
Gifting sometimes can also work instead of spending several lakhs on taking reports to foreign lands. An actor this year handed over expensive mobile phones to selected journalists to praise his movie. At times, these stars openly tell them, “The film is not great but make sure to praise my performance”. Amod Mehra said, “It’s an old practice and this trend started in the South.”
He continued, “Select journalists get huge Diwali presents from reputed producers. The message is clear through these gestures – I scratch your back and you scratch mine.” An industry insider, however, said that gifting during festivals is a norm and might not always be done for any favours.
8. Entourage and vanity vans
Earlier, an actor would arrive on a set with just a spot boy, manager and make-up person. Now, it is common to see several A-listers arriving with a huge entourage. Worse, the producer has to pay through his nose for their per-day charges.
Some actors are also not satisfied with just one vanity van. Recently, an actor, who was shooting for an ad for a financial institution, clearly mentioned in his contract that he would need 2 vanity vans and of course his vast team. The brand had to bear their cost. What enraged them was to see that a person was hired by the actor just to adjust the AC temperature in his vanity van! And guess how much did this AC guy charge per day? A whopping Rs. 1.50 lakhs!
Girish Johar explained, “A small entourage has always been there. But it became this big in the early 2010s when the film industry started booming. The producers wanted to pamper stars by providing them with each and every facility.”
Atul Mohan said, “Earlier, the driver would be paid a fixed amount of Rs. 500. An actor would also be accompanied by an assistant. He’d run around for the actor and get him tea, coffee, cigarettes, pan masala etc. Even his conveyance would be fixed and would be a nominal amount. It used not to pinch the producer when he’s making films worth crores. Then slowly, the producer also started paying for the petrol. Slowly, these overhead costs started increasing.”
Girish exulted, “The South industries have come with a diktat that the entourage cost will be born within the fees of the actor and not additionally. If something like this can happen here as well, then nothing like it.”
While entourage has been a recent phenomenon, crazy demands from actors have always been there. A noted producer said, on condition of anonymity, “Once we were shooting in Film City with an actress, known for her intense performances. She craved idli available in some food joint in 7 Bungalows. That’s like 12-13 km away!”
He also narrated, “Many years ago, we were in Filmistan and the shoot got over at around 11 pm. The actor, who was in a good mood, demanded that the whole unit should be treated with gulab jamun. And there were 150 people in the unit. We were wondering how we would get such a huge amount of the sweet that too so late in the night. These were the days when quick delivery apps were not in existence. At the most, we could have got 20 or 30 pieces of gulab jamun. But since the actor made the demand, we had no choice but to give in.”
He continued, “I sent 4 of my men to different parts of western suburbs, between Goregaon and Bandra. They went to all the sweet shops and restaurants they came across. Some places had 10 pieces while a few of them had lesser gulab jamuns. They started buying them. Finally, we were able to achieve the target of 150 gulab jamuns which were then handed over to the cast and crew.”
He also said, “I would say this is still fine. It doesn’t burn a hole in my pocket. An actor asking for his meal from Candies or Copper Chimney is also okay. At the most, it’ll cost me Rs. 2000 or Rs. 3000. But spending Rs. 1 lakh a day or more on his actor’s staff is unacceptable. But many of us give in as there are very few stars left. And these stars know that very well and exploit us without any shame.”
Atul Mohan rued, “The actors earn in crores. Can’t they afford to pay their staff from their own pockets for their services on the film? The actors anyway do pay them a fixed salary and still want the producers to bear their cost too. It is unjustified. The poor producer is already struggling to make a film. He has paid the actor as per his or her wishes. And on top of that, you ask for more.”
Conclusion
These tricks will continue and who knows, new strategies can also come into play in future. Ultimately, it all boils down to a lack of confidence in the product. It has been proven time and again that when a film is well-made and gets audiences’ love, then nothing can stop it from becoming a hit – neither the ‘Boycott’ movement nor threats by these ‘critics’. Sadly, our fraternity members are themselves not sure of their own film and resort to such tactics. An industry insider rightly pointed out, “When stars don’t sell, they buy stars!”
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