“Om Puri is a huge name in UK!” - Ashish Bhatnagar 
By IndiaFM News Bureau, September 20, 2004 - 05:33 IST
If you thought that Bend it Like Beckham was a great film then iDream Productions deserves a pat. Be it Monsoon Wedding, Jajantaram Mamantaram, Mitr - My Friend, Agnivarsha or 16th December, iDream has always offered audiences a radical bouquet of films.
In an interview with IndiaFM, iDream CEO Ashish Bhatnagar discusses their latest offer to cinegoers - King of Bollywood. This Piyush Jha directed spoof on Bollywood stars the powerhouse performer Om Puri and British model, Sophie Dahl.
King of Bollywood is a satirical look at Bollywood. Can you share with us the rough plot?
The film is a parody, a spoofy look at the Indian film industry. It has Om Puri as Karan Kumar, a fading star who refuses to get over his past and insists on stretching his heydays into eternity.
Om Puri is an impressive name on the international movie map; this should definitely help a movie like yours.
Absolutely. Besides being a huge name in UK, he is fantastic talent. So much so that, while shooting, people seemed to recognize Mr.Puri better than even Sophie who is a local. We feel privileged that he agreed to the movie. After Chachi 420 and Bollywood Calling, it's in King of Bollywood that you will get to see Mr.Puri do some fabulous comedy.
How was the casting of Sophie Dahl decided on?
Well, the director Piyush Jha was scouting for a fresh face, and in Sophie he found the same. It only took another round of auditions in L.A for Piyush to zero it on Sophie for the female lead.
Every director worth his salt seems to be making crossover cinema. Ashish, can you explain us what exactly is a crossover film?
[Smiles] See, when a film with peculiar sensibilities successfully crosses over to a favorable response with people of a different cultural background, you can label it as a crossover film. Bend it Like Beckam and Monsoon Wedding are apt examples.
What is the TG for your movie?
80% metro-specific audience. Demographically, it's the 18-34-age bracket. We are also trying to tap into the non-metro audiences with the dubbed versions of the film. And in our case, the Hindi versions have done great business too.
How are you marketing the movie considering it is again a novel product?
Television and outdoor posters are going to be the mainstay. Also, we have shown our film to select publications that will help us create a better understanding of our film with the audiences.
But since a film like your lends itself to innovative mediums, what are you looking at?
Right. That's the reason we are doing a mobile gaming activity with Indiagames. Om Puri's role in the film could make an interesting character for the game while Sophie Dahl makes for great downloads. Besides, we have tied up with IndiaFM.com for Internet awareness.
Have you tied in with any brands to market the movie?
No. We are very sure on our script. And wouldn't welcome any brands that could hurt the script. Also since King of Bollywood didn't allow us the luxury of inviting a brand tie-up, we didn't go for it. But must admit, we have no issues of going in for a brand tie-up if it flows with the narrative.
Your take on Internet and the mobile promotions
If used interactively, I think both are great mediums. They can deliver efficiency and get the message across. Since there is great synergy between the mobile and the Internet audience, it makes sense for us to be present on these mediums.
Most movie marketing is pre-release centric and loses steam post release. How do you plan to steady the hype?
Ideally this should be the case, but most films enjoy a short shelf life, that's the reason you don't see much of post-release activity. Filmmakers traditionally limit it to two heavy bursts prior to the film release. Depending upon the response to our film, we will be refreshing the promos and trailers to retain the excitement.
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