Bollywood - the utopian world which makes existence for many of us tolerable is back at it. Movie-making is the art of storytelling or is it? Today its not just story telling its also about marketing the final product ; about making sure that the story fulfils some inherent needs for the viewers or may be even generating such needs.
Product/brand placement has been a part of many a movie in the recent past in bollywood including Taal , Parineeta and Koi Mil Gaya and in some cases the brands seemed more misplaced , then there were the leadership lessons from Bhuvan of Lagaan fame and now its Krish and its marketing strategies that are being developed into case studies by some premiere management institutes(across the world). But I have a few concerns.
* Krish is not targeting the world at large - its routing it through kids. Children , the most susceptible of all audiences were a part of the core followers of Koi Mil Gaya and now Krish ,the sequel. It has been the case with most superhero stories but more so with Krish. Fairy tale and super hero stories are a part of growing up so am all for it.
* My concern is the extent of commercialisation that one can involve with the same. First brand placements and the merchandise , corporate tie ups an promotions. I am all for it but am against it being targeted to kids.
* Kids are in the process of defining reality and its tough for them. There have been many an instances of kids emulating superheroes and ending up injured. This is not the first time these concerns have been raised but there hasn't been much down about this copy cat drama in which kids imitate super heroes.
* My biggest concern is where to draw the line. Movie get marketed and then become a platform for marketing so are we already in the phase of branded entertainment. Its scary thought because you will never know whether there is a commercial message implicit in everything under cover of enetertainment. This is the vicious cycle that movies and marketing are getting into.
* More so is the audience smart enough to overcome their naivete and understand the way marketers are reaching out to them in the non traditional formats.
After all if Krish is being developed into a case study by the most renowned management institute there is something that is working for them - even if its reaching out to families through children. Business may be a child's play sooner than you expect - the only fear that here children will be the objects of the game.
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