In modern-day film promotion, could anything be more vital than the first-look of a film, that goes on to set the tone for expectations from the audience? The poster needs to be intriguing, capture the essence of the film (and the hero, in most cases), while still not giving away too much... these were answers given by cine-buffs when asked of expectations.
But who are the brains entrusted with this high-pressure task? Many an outing has tanked at the box-office, thanks to zero brand recall or lukewarm social media response to first-look posters that passed by, without mutter.
DC catches up with the best creative designers in the industry to get an insight on the pressure they face, the issue of posters being leaked, and if due recognition is given.
Tuney John, who was lauded for his work in Iru Mugan, Premam, and Vinnaithaandi Varuvaaya says, “I’ve been in this industry for eight years, and the stakes only increase! Designing for stars like Rajinikanth, Ajith, and Vijay is simpler because ardent fans do the job of taking the poster to the next level. But the pressure is for small movies. Coming up with an extraordinary design and getting appreciated, — that’s real success.”
However, Vinci Raj, the man behind the now-iconic Kabali poster, considers this a responsibility rather than pressure. “The first glimpse is instrumental in bringing people to the theatre — it needs to be a fitting image of the hard work that has gone on in the background.”
But he believes that working as a team increases the chances of the design being leaked! “I work alone, so my job gets done once I send my work to the director and producer,” Vinci adds.
Gopi Prasanna, who conceptualised Mani Ratnam’s OK Kanmani and Kaatru Veliyidai’s posters, shares that it isn’t the designing though, that puts them under the radar — “It is when the producers change the release date or bring up last-minute changes to the credits — then everything goes haywire! Even a small change could cost us a lot of time.”
Coming up with innovative designs might be par for the course, but do they get recognised for their work? “No,” says Tuney John, adding, “The reception is very poor. Sometimes, producers and directors are not willing to try out fresh designs. They want to stick to stereotypical designs from the 80s and the 90s, which limits our creative thinking.”
Kumar, a creative designer with 32 years of experience, explains, “We do get recognised in the film circuit for our work. Having worked with Kamal Haasan sir from Guna to Sabaash Naidu, I’ve had the opportunity to try out many new things that the designers today use. We were the first design company to switch from Litho printing to offset printing. Also, we were instrumental in switching from manual design to computer design. We got appreciated for bringing in the change, but I don’t know how many fans know about that.”
Of late, these first-look glimpses have found their way on to the internet before the scheduled date — and Tuney reveals that his team’s e-mail even got hacked during the release of Puli! “We have to keep changing the password every week. A similar thing happened for Remo’s first look as well. We had planned a lavish launch exclusively for the first look, but it got leaked hours before the launch. With such a crazy fan following, it is really difficult to safeguard our designs.”
Kumar concludes by saying though, that the industry has evolved in these 30-odd years — “Designs were fixed then, and we could not make changes. With technological advancements, we can now even make last-minute alterations. The designs in the last couple of years have been realistic, and the new generation are doing a great job!”
