When television first made its way into our lives, the film industry hardly saw it as an imminent threat, as the “idiot box” limited itself to news, information and very little entertainment. With the advancement of technology, and private channels, this smart box is the most popular. As cinema viewership faces the heat as the humble television draws audiences back to their living rooms, keeping the attention of the viewer has become a Herculean task. While the small screen is moving ahead with multiple streams of diverse genres, the film industry is facing its toughest challenge yet. The Internet revolution has also worsened the reach of the big screen. With very little option, the big screen is taking the small screen route to reach a larger audience in this new trend.
“The current audience has multiple choices when it comes to entertainment. Unlike in the past, wherein the audience had no choice but to wait for new films to release, or watch theatre companies stage new plays, it is far easier these days. A click of a button or just a swipe across a smart phone does the trick.
The percentage of audience going to theatres, finding time to watch new movies on a weekly basis has drastically decreased. A film maker has multiple challenges. Even if a good film is made overcoming diverse obstacles, making the audience visit the theatre is the biggest task of all. And, this is where TV comes to the rescue for us film makers,” says Prashanth, a film producer.
It’s strange, as TV which was once considered as the biggest challenge to films, is now lending a helping hand for the survival of the film industry. “The television is undoubtedly the best and most effective tool to reach a larger audience. Hence, most prominent film makers plan ahead with respect to film promotions through popular TV programmes,” adds Prashanth.
TV analyst Subramanya points out that with a larger number of promotional activities making their way into films, private TV channels are creating special programmes to facilitate such needs. “Popular Hindi programme Comedy Nights with Kapil is among the best examples. It’s being successfully repeated in Kannada as Maja Talkies on Colors TV. Recently, Khiladi Kutumbha on Zee Kannada invited the cast and crew of films scheduled for release, on weekdays. Even the stage of ongoing reality shows are made use of for such promotional aspects,” he says.
The trend to promote films through various popular programmes is mainly owing to the high TRPs of a particular programme. “Earlier, promotions were limited to newsprint ads and advertisement on TVs, special programmes and interviews on news channels. As a paid-promotion costs film makers dearly, getting themselves noticed through popular shows is far more cost effective and the result too is satisfactory,” explains film director Santhosh. However, experts feel that such promotions can be of use only if the content is good. So, it is still good content and pure entertainment which can sustain competition, many feel.
