When a big release is on the horizon, all those involved in the film want to pull out all stops to ensure that the movie gets the best possible release that it can. The big weekend release this week is of course the Shah Rukh Khan starrer Raees. So pre-release promos are currently at fever pitch! Tragically some promotions can turn dangerous. We look at what happened at a recent Raees promo and at previous movie promos that have been unique in their own way:
The movie is said to be based on the life of gangster Abdul Latif (though the filmmakers deny this). In a bid to promote the movie, the filmmakers decided on a unique way to garner publicity for the film.
Arguably the biggest star in India, SRK took the August Kranti Rajdhani train from Mumbai as part of the Raees by Rail campaign and predictably, people thronged the platforms to catch a glimpse of their star.
At Vadodra station in Gujarat, the huge crowds turned unruly and even started to run with the train as it left the platform. One person – a local politician called Fareed Khan say sources – is said to have died of breathlessness and two policemen in charge of controlling the crowd were injured as well.
A film that caught a lot of attention because of its promos was the South remake and Aamir Khan starrer Ghajini. In the film, Aamir was seen to sport a haircut which ushers in film theatres cloned!
Among the many things that the 3 Idiots team did to promote the film was to install these unique “bottom” stools at some of the theatres screening the film. People could capture their own 3 Idiots moments!
It has been done before and it was done for the movie Pink to great effect – the sending of an open letter to highlight the need of a positive change. The Bollywood patriarch Amitabh Bachchan penned an empowering letter to his granddaughters. Going viral quickly, the letter sent out a positive message and also drew attention to the film and its theme.
Playing a private detective in Bobby Jasoos, Vidya Balan donned several disguises in the film and even dressed up as a beggar to sit outside Hyderabad station.
Krrish 3 promotion
It may be normal for Hollywood films, but in India, this was unusual: movie merchandise sales accompanied the release of the movie Krrish 3 and was promoted by the film's lead actor Hrithik Roshan.
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