New Delhi: They chat, tweet and share pictures, but behind the social networking of Bollywood celebrities lies a lot of business. Filmmakers and actors are taking to websites like Facebook and Twitter to take the pulse of viewers and involve them in projects.
From directors Prakash Jha, Mahesh Bhatt and Shirish Kunder to even megastar Amitabh Bachchan – all have tried to use the social networking medium to take suggestions for titles, posters and marketing plans from viewers.
Onir went a step ahead by inviting crowds to fund his project “I Am”.
“The interaction with the audience through social networking mediums has helped, but to get them involved even deeper, I think it is a wonderful vehicle to tell people…’I made this film for you. Now can you guide me where I am going wrong before I actually put it out in theatres’. I think it is quite masterly to involve the people…it’s democratically correct!” Amitabh told IANS.
Much before the release of his recent film “Bbuddah…Hoga Tera Baap”, the 68-year-old took to his blog bigb.bigadda.com to seek help from his “extended family” to market the movie and put his fans in touch with co-producers Viacom 18 Motion Pictures to facilitate their ideas.
When Prakash Jha and Mahesh Bhatt were in a dilemma while choosing the posters for their respective films “Aarakshan” and “Murder 2”, they resorted to networking sites to take the final word from viewers.
“There was a disagreement between me and Mohit Suri on the main poster of the film. We thought the best way out is to show all the posters to the people of the country and let them select one. Mohit and I’ll blindly go ahead with the people’s opinion,” said Bhatt, adding: “At the end of the day, posters are for the people; so let them tell us which the best poster of the lot is.” (IANS)
