The Ten Command-ments… or all that you wanted to know about publicity.
I have always been honest. I have screamed from the media rooftops that I am into publicity all the time. Actually whatever anyone related to films does, it is solely for publicity.
By its very nature, the word publicity means reaching out to the public. It is a means of drawing attention and curiosity, for good or bad, to one’s work.
Naturally, there is a distinction between direct and indirect publicity. Whatever the form may be, there is nothing like bad publicity. As long as you are in the public eye, and your film is in the news, your aim is achieved.
Some years ago, when a needless controversy had been sparked from my so-called terror tour to the Taj Mahal Hotel and I was severely criticised, a journalist rang me up to say, “Oh, you must be feeling so isolated now.” On the contrary, I had never ever felt so crowded before, my phone would not stop ringing. As in the case of most baseless controversies, this one also died a quick death.
Publicity in today’s times boils down to entertainment. Like the Baba Ramdev incident in New Delhi. Readers of newspapers and TV viewers could not get enough of the news that he had disguised himself as a woman to flee from the police.
So whoever it is, whether a Baba, a politician, a filmstar or a gangster, no one wants to be ignored. There is this endless desire to become famous and remain famous.
Going by my experience, I believe every filmmaker should follow these Ten Command-ments on setting out to hype his or her film which is just a few weeks away from release:
n Thou shalt not be afraid of splashing blood, bullets and babes in the ad campaigns even if your film is just a vegetarian thaali.
n Thou shalt shout out from the rooftops that it’s all about loving your family — so that you can drag in families into the theatre.
n Thou shalt rave about the costumes even though the audience comes only to see what’s inside those costumes.
n Thou shalt keep connecting your film to the latest headlines even if your subject has no head or line.
n Thou shalt travel to all the cities where your film will be released, or at least tell all concerned that you did that.
n Thou shalt lie through your teeth that your film is a clean entertainer since the audience doesn’t know what’s clean anymore anyway.
n Thou shalt state with conviction that this is the best film you have ever made even if you said exactly the same thing about each of your last five flops.
Thou shalt confuse the gullible public with advance trade figures so that your work seems like a hit even before it’s released.
Thou shall announce a sequel, even before the first one releases, so that people can be conned into believing in your confidence in the film.
Thou shalt tell everyone that Aamir Khan saw the film, at a special preview, and loved it.