It was 2:40 pm, Saturday, December 27th . I was just entering the Oberoi Mall to watch 'Ghajini' that hit the cinema halls on 25th December. I wasn't too sure if I would get the tickets for there were just 15 minutes left for the show. It was 2:45 pm by the time I reached the ticket counter. And lo! I found a ticket. Great ! I thought. It's pretty easy to find tickets for a movie like 'Ghajini' on a weekend these days.
Well then, the situation has changed buddy. PVR, Goregaon had 10 more shows of 'Ghajini' lined up. So there were adequate number of shows to quench the thirst of all the movie buffs. I am talking just of one PVR in Mumbai. There are many cinema halls in Mumbai and I guess all the multiplexes had more than 4-5 shows of 'Ghajini' . A movie buff like me would thus easily find a ticket. And that's exactly what the movie-makers want. Break even or may even make profits in the first 3 days. ( Remember that there might be more money coming from the release of the movie outside India.)
From the general gup-chup with my friends, I have understood that this funda of going hammer and tongs in the first 3 days started with 'Singh is King'. Market the movie big time, create the buzz and get the crowds into the cinema halls in the first 3 days. 'Ghajini' took movie-marketing to a different level altogether. There were lots of promos on the TV with the usually media-reclusive Aamir Khan embracing it like never before. There were 2-3 sites for the movie that created the hype about the story which Aamir Khan's own website sporting a total Ghajini look. There was a huge hoarding in PVR Goregaon and I believe that would be the case with other multiplexes as well. With the employees of the multiplexes sporting Ghajini hair style, Aamir Khan was leaving no stone unturned marketing his movie. 'Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi' wasn't marketed at this level but then it also swamped the cinema halls especially the multiplexes when it was released.
'Ghajini' reported made 170 crores in 10 days. Big bucks! This strategy also helps the movie industry effectively combat the movie piracy and that's good for them. My only worry as a movie buff is that the quality of movies might come down. While I heard gals raving about Aamir Khan's body, I am sure many of them would agree with the fact that the movie as a whole wasn't up to the usual Aamir Khan standards. In the times to come we are likely to see more movie marketing and may be even on a larger scale than what we saw for 'Ghajini'. For the movie makers this might well do the trick helping them to break even well before people understand anything about the movie. They might now be encouraged to spend more on marketing the movie rather than the movie itself. But as a movie buff, I would go home disappointed if the final product - 'the movie' isn't what the hype promised. Do the movie-makers care?
Well then, the situation has changed buddy. PVR, Goregaon had 10 more shows of 'Ghajini' lined up. So there were adequate number of shows to quench the thirst of all the movie buffs. I am talking just of one PVR in Mumbai. There are many cinema halls in Mumbai and I guess all the multiplexes had more than 4-5 shows of 'Ghajini' . A movie buff like me would thus easily find a ticket. And that's exactly what the movie-makers want. Break even or may even make profits in the first 3 days. ( Remember that there might be more money coming from the release of the movie outside India.)
From the general gup-chup with my friends, I have understood that this funda of going hammer and tongs in the first 3 days started with 'Singh is King'. Market the movie big time, create the buzz and get the crowds into the cinema halls in the first 3 days. 'Ghajini' took movie-marketing to a different level altogether. There were lots of promos on the TV with the usually media-reclusive Aamir Khan embracing it like never before. There were 2-3 sites for the movie that created the hype about the story which Aamir Khan's own website sporting a total Ghajini look. There was a huge hoarding in PVR Goregaon and I believe that would be the case with other multiplexes as well. With the employees of the multiplexes sporting Ghajini hair style, Aamir Khan was leaving no stone unturned marketing his movie. 'Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi' wasn't marketed at this level but then it also swamped the cinema halls especially the multiplexes when it was released.
'Ghajini' reported made 170 crores in 10 days. Big bucks! This strategy also helps the movie industry effectively combat the movie piracy and that's good for them. My only worry as a movie buff is that the quality of movies might come down. While I heard gals raving about Aamir Khan's body, I am sure many of them would agree with the fact that the movie as a whole wasn't up to the usual Aamir Khan standards. In the times to come we are likely to see more movie marketing and may be even on a larger scale than what we saw for 'Ghajini'. For the movie makers this might well do the trick helping them to break even well before people understand anything about the movie. They might now be encouraged to spend more on marketing the movie rather than the movie itself. But as a movie buff, I would go home disappointed if the final product - 'the movie' isn't what the hype promised. Do the movie-makers care?
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