Marketing and promotion is a huge tool in creating awareness for a film. A crore-plus budget is kept aside for the film and for the print publicity of the film
Marketing and promotion is a huge tool in creating awareness for a film. A crore-plus budget is kept aside for the film and for the print publicity of the film. Even big stars like Shah Rukh Khan and Aamir Khan take a month off to create awareness about their upcoming films. And small-budget films with a new director and unknown cast needs that much more help when it comes to drum up interest in their film.
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Poster of The Waiting Room |
Waiting Room, by debutant director Maneej Premnath releases this week but no one seems to be aware of that fact. How will the audiences go to the theatres when they don't even know about the film's existence? No one is aware the film is releasing. There has been no promo on TV or an advertisement in the papers.u00a0
Won't spend!The producer Sunil Doshi (Bheja Fry) doesn't seem to be interested in spending money to promote the film because all he wants to do is release it, then make money on the cable and satellite rights.
Also the film is just being released in two metrosu00a0-- Mumbai and Delhi that too with just 13 and 2 prints respectively. Maneej who has been trying to create some interest in his film with a little help from friends, says, "The most basic is to let the audience know there's a new film up for release on Friday but even that hasn't happened."u00a0
He explains why the producer has given up on the film even before its release, "I have been informed that there's no market for low-budget films. Medium budget films released in the past few weeks haven't recovered even half their publicity costs.
We have made Waiting Room in a budget less than 1 crore, which is quite an achievement in today's time. But the producers feel that they will recover the costs through satellite rights, so why promote it? Also we have a relatively new cast with unknown but talented actors. I have waited 8 years for my first film to come out, so it does hurt when you don't get the support you need."
The producer Sunil Doshi explains his strategy and says, "The current environment doesn't let us spend so much on advertising. We have to look at other avenues like DTH and Direct-to-DVD. However, the motive behind releasing a film like Waiting Room is that it gives good actors and director a chance to showcase their work to the fraternity."
| What it's about |
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Waiting Room is shot on a railway platform on the border of Kerala and Tamil Nadu and tells the story of different characters who come under one roof on a rainy night and find it difficult to communicate with each other.u00a0 "We put up an actual set of a waiting room on the platform. I think we are the first film to be entirely shot on a railway platform. It was an amazing experience and I hope the audience enjoys watching it." |
