THE second biggest movie market in the country, Kollywood, is finally feeling the pinch of the economic meltdown. An industry that churns out 150- odd movies every year, it hasn’t crossed 25 films in one quarter this year. For the same period last year, January-March 2008, 36 films hit the screens.
Small and medium budget films, which turned out to be the dark horses of last year when big projects failed, are finding lesser producers today.
While leading producers have been able to allocate never-seen-before budgets for projects involving the biggest stars, smaller films have been facing the brunt of the meltdown. And even as producers have decided to go on the slow mode until the situation gets better, those making smaller films today are relying more than ever before on marketing their movies.
While the film industry has traditionally hailed producers like Thanu (called Kalaipuli for his marketing skills) and Oscar Ravichandran, Sun Network’s entry into production has largely caused a spurt in marketing levels for films now.
“Thanks to Sun Pictures, we now realise the importance of marketing a film,” says Dhananjayan, Moser Baer Entertainment. “I’ll never rule out the importance of content to make a film run but creating a buzz about it from the start is something a production house should not miss out on,” he says, adding that Sun network’s campaign for its film, from Thenavattu to Perumal are a case study in this regard.
If budget cuts are being implemented in the production costs today, production houses are prepared to splurge on the marketing front. “Spending more on marketing and giving films a bigger perspective is the order of the day. It’s more imperative if the film does not have leading stars to its credit,budfget” explains producer SP Charan.
Kandein Kadhalai
CAST: Bharath, Tamannaah The film, a remake of Jab We Met, is a classic example of creating a hype for the film prior to its release. In fact, shooting for the film is being completed ahead of the original time, saving costs, while focus is on creating a buzz for it through publicity.
The production house has indulged in 360 degree marketing, with the policy of publishing something new about the film every month.
Despite being scheduled to hit screens only in August, the film has already generated hype and hopes on making it more aggressive a month before the release
Kunguma Poovum Konju Puravum
CAST: Ramakrishna, Dharshana For a film made with a budget of less than Rs 3.5 crores, marketing alone has cost as much as Rs 60 lakhs.
“When we’re competing against bigger actors, we need good pull value. And Capital Film Works has always believed in aggressively marketing films that do not have popular stars. With hoardings not permitted anymore, we have to be innovative in making our films visible, and spend more on it,” says the film’s producer SP Charan. The film features new comers completely and is being directed by Rajmohan, a debutant.
Mambattiyaan
CAST: Prashanth, Meera Jasmine Keeping the music director a surprise and thus creating a hype for the film is one of Mambattiyan’s most innovative tricks. A remake of a yesteryear blockbuster, famous for its songs even today, Prashanth’s Mambattiyan, he says, will be a trendsetter in terms of the music and the way it has been launched.
“We’ve not revealed who has composed the music, and we’ve decided something altogether new and exciting in the way we will launch the music,” says the actor. “But marketing does not imply simply putting more posters. It needs the right time: coming too early or entering too late can be dangerous,” he adds
Pasanga
CAST: Jeeva, Anbu, Manonmani, Kuttymani, Mangalam, Pakkada Marketing Pasanga, which is essentially a children’s film, with humour as its theme and an uncompromising crew that didn’t want to make commercial compromises in the story, can be a challenge. They originally created a buzz with a photoshoot that made the children replicate poses of our famous actors in the blockbusters. That is being made as a trailer currently, to make the film more reachable.
“Apart from that, we just thought we should give our children the hype that the big stars got," says Director Pandiraj.
sharadha@epmltd.com