Promos turn graphic

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From tiring promotional tours and press conferences to launching film-based merchandise and games, the Indian film fraternity has done everything to promote their films. The new strategy, however, seems to be offering a prequel

to the film with a graphic novel. It started with G.One: The Journey Continues based on Shahrukh Khan’s much talked about superhero flick Ra.One. Then came another graphic novel Zombie Talkies: Bloodfest In Bollywood as a prequel to Abhay Deol, Genelia D’Souza starrer Rock The Shaadi. And as reports suggest, yet another based on Don2 is in the offing.
The audience awaiting these films is liking the novelty of the filmi graphic novel. Prateek Gupta, a class 9 student, is still on the lookout for a copy of G.One... He says, “A novel based on a film seems like a good idea. I don’t know the content of the novel but if it’s interesting enough to pull readers, it will even compel them to go and watch the movie.”
However, not everyone thinks that such promotional strategies always work in favour of the film. Film producer and CEO of Brandsmith India, Rahul Mittra, asserts that no promotional strategy works if the content of a film is not good and engaging. “Of late I’ve realised that the audience watches a film with a lot of vengeance. They need to be engaged in the film throughout. A promotional strategy (of any kind) works only till the opening, the final fate of a film is decided through word of mouth,” he says and adds that the concept of a film and title play an important role in making it a success or failure.
Agrees avid film buff and law professional Ravi Shankar. He says that though he looks forward to every good new release, he can’t be fooled by gimmicks and promotional stunts. “I don’t go and watch a film on the first day of its release. I wait for the public verdict before going and watching a film in a theatre. If the reviews are not that good, I either wait for the film to be aired on cable or wait for the DVDs to be out,” he says.
Ravi adds that he was disappointed after watching Delhi Belly. He says, “The film didn’t match the entire hoopla surrounding it before its release. I’ve become more careful in choosing my films since then.”
But there are some who have reasons to be optimistic. Jatin Varma, founder, Comic Con India and Twenty Onwards Media that is publishing Zombie Talkies, says that such initiatives would become a platform to push the art of graphic novels. “We are delighted that we are receiving a tremendous response from the industry,” he says.