Two movies- Saawariya and Om Shanti Om are definately the two most awaited movies of the year. Both the movies are due to be released on 9th November. On one hand, Om Shanti Om stars the illustrious Shahrukh Khan, who has not given a below average movie for almost a decade now. Om Shanti Om is directed by Farah Khan and promises to be a crowd puller. Shahrukh’s new look and physique is gathering a lot of curiosity in the public. At the same time, Saarwaria is directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali. Sanjay Leela Bhansali has never failed to win laurels for his movies right from his movie, Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam.
This has made distributors go crazy over publicity. Sony Pictures, the company backing Saawaria is said to have allocated a budget of around 200 million Rupees for the publicity of the movie. Sony pictures has released as many as 750 trailers in India and about 800 more globally. This goes to show how aggressive the producers and distributors of the movies are. It must be noted that with the entry of Sony Pictures in India, the movie marketing field has become more competitive. The cost of publicity in Hollywood goes up to a whopping 30% as compared to 10% in Bollywood. It must be noted that both these movies are mega budget movies. Saawariya is said to have cost somewhere in the region of 400 million whereas Om Shanti Om is said to have cost around 350 million.
In the past, global publicity hasn’t worked well for Bollywood. Ta Ra Rum Pum, Jhoom Barabar Jhoom and Ram Gopal Verma’s Aag are few examples of wasted publicity. Will the entry of Sony Pictures and the high volumes of money involved, change the way of things or not? Only time will tell. After all, it’s the story that matters for any audience, not the amount of publicity involved.
Content and Image source: hindustan times
