Posts tagged pr machinery

I’m like a blank slate-Ranveer Singh

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2 years ago
by Fenil Seta in

Debutant Ranveer Singh is a star in the making. Seema Sinha meets the confident performer

TIMES NEWS NETWORK (TIMES LIFE; February 20, 2011)

MEET Ranveer Singh, the star in making, with floppy hair falling on his forehead, the casual college boy looks. The debutant, who made inroads into Bollywood’s big banner Yash raj with his very first film — Band Baaja Baaraat, has emerged winner with the box-office success and several awards already in his kitty. Bollywood’s top honchos Shah Rukh Khan and Karan Johar have predicted him as the next superstar!

However, his striking resemblance to rising star Ranbir Kapoor is purely incidental, he maintains. “It’s just our names that are similar. I’m an experimental actor and want to carve my own niche,” he says.

Ranveer had celluloid dreams from the time he finished high school. He says, “It all seemed so farfetched then. Given my non-filmi background, I felt like an outsider, who didn’t stand a chance. It was like wanting to belong to an elite, exclusive club.”

The next best thing was to take up copywriting, says Ranveer, who grew up on a steady diet of television. “As a kid, I was fat. When children were playing outside, I spent my time in front of the television, enjoying commercials and wondering how they were made. I was good at writing jingles and one-liners. I interned at O&M, but my love for cinema never died,” he reminisces.

His dream was fulfilled when the casting director at More >

Here’s why Dabangg is ‘tracking quite well’

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2 years ago
by Fenil Seta in

Presenting the trend of film ‘tracking’, the tool that analyses which film the audience is more inclined to watch

Lekha Menon (MUMBAI MIRROR; August 23, 2010)

Ever wondered why Salman Khan’s Wanted was a blockbuster while Main Aurr Mrs Khanna, released a few weeks later, starring the same actor was a dud? Or why Yashraj’s New York clicked but a similar-themed Kurbaan flopped despite heavy promotion?

While it’s still impossible to foretell the fate of a film or its opening weekend numbers (the biggest aspect that makes or breaks a movie these days), one tool helps a filmmaker gauge if he’s on the right path to box-office success – organised tracking.

What is Tracking

A common feature in Hollywood, tracking has now come to Bollywood too. This is basically a statistical and scientific technique which tracks the buzz about a film and predicts if it will translate into footfall.

Twelve-16 weeks before a film is released, the PR machinery gets into action. Tracking analyses whether this buzz – promos, songs, posters, media coverage etc – is actually clicking with the audience. Is the movie-goer impressed enough with the campaign to spend his money on a ticket?

And in a day and age when the marketing budget of a film ranges from Rs 4 crore to Rs 12 crore, such insight can change the fortune of a film. Also, this technique tests the creative materials – trailers and film posters – before it goes for public consumption. “The data thus provides a More >

I won’t play Laxman to SRK-Ranbir Kapoor

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3 years ago
by Fenil Seta in

Aren’t these the exact words Ranbir Kapoor uttered when he diplomatically turned down a Shah Rukh Khan project?

MEENA IYER Times News Network (BOMBAY TIMES; May 12, 2010)

Karan Johar’s lie-o-meter — the one the filmmaker uses on his television show to beep out actors who lie with a straight face — is a terrific invention. Today, it is something all scribes must carry. Why? ‘Coz stars lie and they do so without blinking an eyelid.

Take the latest lie, for example. Ranbir Kapoor was offered a film with Shah Rukh Khan by Karan. Says who? Ranbir’s dad — Rishi Kapoor. Who confirms this story? Many people from the same group. Will any of them go on record? No. But does that mean that the story is incorrect? Certainly not.

What Ranbir said to Karan went something like this, “Listen Karan, I’m still a newbie. SRK is a huge star. I admire him. He is a phenomenon. But I don’t wish to do a two-hero movie with SRK as yet. As it is, I’m not doing twohero films currently. Later, perhaps, not now… I don’t want to play a Laxman to SRK’s Ram, blah.. blah…’’

This story appears in a nice dignified way. The source is kept confidential. All parties’ interests are protected. And then what happens? Ranbir denies it. He talks of wanting to work with SRK (who he admires). Of course, he does. But can we bring that lie-o-meter on? Someone is telling a lie. Which Kapoor is it? Junior or senior? Why would a paper dream up a story on just Ranbir and SRK? And More >

Where’s the money honey?

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3 years ago
by Fenil Seta in
Top Bollywood actresses hike up their market prices every time they hiccup!

MEENA IYER Times News Network (BOMBAY TIMES; March 20, 2010)

The over-imaginative PR machinery of actresses uses one weapon at regular intervals. Every time they feel that they need to get their heroine’s stock up, they brainwash journalists into believing that X actress has been paid an X amount. So you’re sipping your cuppa one morning and you almost fall off your couch, when you read that Priyanka Chopra got paid Rs 6 crore for Pyaar Impossible, or Kangna Ranaut will be paid Rs 5 crore for a film with a minister’s son, and Kareena Kapoor got paid Rs 10 crore for Golmaal 3 (later brought down to Rs 7 crore), while Katrina Kaif is offered Rs 7 crore by Abbas-Mustan for The Italian Job. When this round of blitzkrieg is done, you’ll have a final rumour on how Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, who is actually still in demand, is being offered a sum that totals the price of the current lot of divas.

“Circulating rumours on prices is the easiest thing,” says trade consultant Amod Mehra. “The truth is often very far away from the actuality. And, the market right now is certainly not ready to pay the heroines the prices they or their kith often claim.” Mehra explains that the reason for this is simple logic. You don’t have to be Einstein to know that Bollywood heroines still don’t sell a film. Therefore, any producer who pays a heroine a price, has to pay a price for it! More >

I let my performance do the talking-Gauhar Khan

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3 years ago
by Fenil Seta in

By SHAHEEN PARKAR (Mid-Day; December 18, 2009)

Why Gauhar Khan is opening up way after Rocket Singh’s release

All this while, Gauhar Khan preferred to remain mum about Rocket Singh and the buzz about her so-called ‘cold war’ with Shazahn Padamsee who also features in the film.

“I was under contract with Yash Raj not to speak till the film releases. I wanted to respect it even though others may not have,” says the model-turned-actress. “I did not want to have any bad vibes around nor upset anyone. I only wanted my performance to do the talking which I am glad it did.”

At a private screening she received compliments from Yash Chopra as well as her co-star Ranbir Kapoor’s parents Rishi and Neetu Singh. “They telling me that I had done well in the film was huge for me. I was so jittery but the response has been overwhelming.”

She states that after the screening, she went up to Shazahn and wished her luck for her first film. “I don’t even know Shazahn and we didn’t share screen space. Nor were there any film-related events that we would be together. So I really don’t know where all this crept up? Guess this is what happens when there is a PR machinery at work.”

At the moment, it’s only acting for her. “The fashion world and ramp is out for me now. I only want to concentrate on movies.”

She was picked up for Rocket Singh during her television outing Jhalak Dikkhla Jaa. Most viewers would remember her as an extremely emotional contestant who cried often. “But that’s how I am, even More >

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