New era's film promotion challenges

Promoting a film professionally and effectively is considered significant for commercial success. Debacle of Bollywood films in recent years is attributed to lack of effective promotion, among other factors. South Indian film industry has achieved an edge in promotion and publicity in the present culture of Pan India films and OTT era.

Sri Raghavendra Chitravani (SRC), headed by D G Venkatesh, has been a pioneer in Sandalwood in terms of publicity and promotions. Venkatesh's PR agency enjoys monopoly in the Kannada film industry by promoting over 85% films released annually.

Venkatesh, popularly known as Sudheendra Venkatesh, is the protégé of D V Sudheendra (DVS), a pioneer in public relations in Kannada cinema. Working as an assistant to his uncle Sudheendra in the SRC since the 1980s, Venkatesh mastered skills needed to handle public relations. He took the reins of SRC after the demise of DVS in 2006.

In the last 16 years, Venkatesh has handled promotion and publicity of over 1,800 films including runaway hits such as ‘Mungaru Male’, ‘Duniya’, ‘KGF’, ‘KGF 2’, ‘Moggina Manassu’, ‘Lucia’, ‘Godhi Banna Sadharana Maikattu’, ‘Rangitaranga’, ‘Kirik Party’, ‘Killing Veerappan’, ‘Pancharangi’, ‘Uppi 2’, ‘U Turn’, ‘777 Charlie’, ‘Gaalipata 2’ and others.

In an interview with Showtime, Venkatesh throws light on changing trends of promotion and publicity of films, and challenges for a PR agency.

How has the industry changed in terms of promotion and publicity in the last two decades?

From visits to media houses personally to shooting emails and WhatsApp messages, there has been a significant change in the last two decades. The culture of exclusive supplements for films is fading away after Covid-19. Film content is mostly published on daily bases in exclusive spaces. Emergence of electronic media and digital media have transformed activities of a PR agency as they demand diverse techniques. The promotion template needs to be designed well in advance focusing on the target audience. The content needs to be released on time and it needs to be diverse for all three platforms-print, electronic and digital.

Tell us about the growing importance of film promotion…

Promotion is crucial as it is an integral part of a film project. Promotion template needs revision and changes, always keeping the release of over 200 films in Sandalwood alone. Now many production companies are allocating a separate budget for the promotions. These days, promotion starts with the launch of a film's concept. It's extremely challenging as every phase of every film needs to be different and attractive to draw attention to improve box office performance. The more the promotion, the more the audience is the mantra now.

How far pre-release events, a growing trend now, help a film?

The pre-release event isn't a new idea but is done in a new way. It has replaced the old culture of audio launch in a style. Now, songs are directly released on YouTube, leading to new avenues for pre-release events. These events, featuring leading artistes, are held in various cities to woo the audiences.

What has been the impact of growing Pan India film culture on PR agencies?

Pan Indian films are a challenge for us. With films releasing in various languages, the PR agency has to coordinate with its counterparts in other languages. Events, including press conferences, are held in major cities of the country. The agency needs to handle everything from coordination to live telecast and itinerary of stars. We have successfully handled projects such as ‘NOTA’, ‘Dear Comrade’, ‘Baahubali 2’, ‘Sye Raa Narasimha Reddy’, ‘Raktha Charitra’, ‘Viswaroopam’, ‘Uttama Villian’, ‘Jawaan’ and other films. The content needs to be packaged and sent on time.

Something on PR agency's dealings with diverse media scenarios?

Despite a strong foothold in print and satellite media, we had to work hard for requirements of digital platforms. We are present in Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube. We have been constantly promoting many films through our social media network. We are the first in Sandalwood to make our presence in social media.