Bollywood awakens to the power of the net

Media Release, November 19

MUMBAI

When IndiaFM premiered the trailor of Sanjay Gupta’s Kaante, back in 2002 (a month before it appeared on Television), no one realized at that time, that this would become such a popular trend. Once again, IndiaFM, Bollywood’s premiere portal has emerged as a pioneer of this practice.

This is already quite common in Hollywood. Case in point was Harry Potter and Golbet of Fire, the trailor of which was premiered on Moviefone.com, operated by AOL. IndiaFM has already premiered the trailors of many a Bollywood films, belonging to the most prestigious banners. Some of the recent trailors that were premiered on the site include Yash Raj Films’ Neal and Nikki starring Uday Chopra and Tanisha, and also G.S. Entertainment’s Ek Ajnabee starring Amitabh Bachchan and Arjun Rampal. According to Jaspreet Singh Walia of GS Entertainment who is co-producing Ek Ajnabee. "With the growing importance of overseas territories, premiering a trailor on IndiaFM has become a wonderful platform to tap NRI audience as well as reaching out to trade partners for distribution rights"

The current trailor being premiered on site is the Rohan Sippy directed Bluffmaster. Says Sippy, “I think premiering the trailor on the internet is great! It is a very effective way of reaching out to people.” Forthcoming movies, which will premiere their trailors on IndiaFM, include Sanjay Gupta’s Zinda. "Moviegoers are traditionally very familiar with IndiaFM”, says Gupta. He further states, “They have a loyal audience who come back each month, in the 50 to 60 million range. Getting the word out to the biggest audience on the web is the correct form of promotion. It’s a great two-way street. The internet allows us to run longer commercials which can show the feel of an entire movie instead of dealing with the time constraints of a conventional 30-second TV spot” It is not only movie trailors which are premiered on the site. The full length video of Kiss Me Baby from Garam Masala was put up on IndiaFM a week before it was released to television channels.

It is no secret that the internet is a dominant medium in today’s times. Suleman Mobhani, Co-founder and Director, IndiaFM, says, "Premiering a trailor on the Internet is basically a Broadband promotion. Broadband promotions are the synthesis of online advertising, online promotions, and television, with targeting capabilities. It attracts lots of eyeballs and produces more effective results than any other medium."

Promoting a movie on the Internet is certainly cost-effective. Those who have used the Internet to promote their films have seen the results. Bollywood can no longer shy away from the power that the net exudes. And IndiaFM continues to utilize this dynamic medium for the best results of its clients.