MERIT AND MARKETING
Maya is what ‘seems’ but ‘exists not’ and ‘marketing’ is the technique which creates this illusion. This marketing technique when applied to human world creates imbalances where ‘true merit’ suffers as proponents of ‘Maya’ wean away the ‘truth’.
Last month ‘Dabang’ made history by opening to a thunderous response and eclipsed the record set by ‘ The Three Idiots’ . Salman Khan the notorious Super Star was in the forefront of all News Channels resurrected after the debacle of his film ‘Veer’. There was one more person who created history last month; the wrestler Susheel Kumar won the world wrestling medal in his weight. He was the first Indian to do so and had won a bronze medal at the last Olympics. In a country where wrestling is a way of life and ‘Hanuman’ is worshipped and inspires the many youth in remote rural ‘Akharas’ this ‘Glory’ was truly representative of our merit as a Nation. But since marketing is the mode to make mediocrity thrive it was Salman the notorious Super Star who basked in the glory and applause while ‘Susheel’ searched for attention between the Sports minister Mr M. S. Gill and his Guru Satpal. Was not Susheel the true ‘Dabang’?
Marketing overshadows ‘merit’ and curbs the merits of merit to flower. It is a deception legalised by the ill usage of ‘ freedom of expression’ by the corporate institutions. This is visible in many areas--- politics ( rise of Rahul Gandhi), private sector ( creation of Dhiru Bhai Ambani as Karmyogi!),religion ( Osho cult and Sri Sri Ravi Shankar’s Art of Living) etc. It directs all noble ideas toward money making. It is materialism at its best and is representative of westernism where creation of ‘wealth’ is the prime purpose of existence.
Cinema utilizes the marketing methods to the fullest. Many meritorious films do not get the response they truly deserve from the public and many sub- standard films reach the winning post by way of marketing. The technology has helped to make many prints at reasonable cost and therefore movies are released in large number of cinema halls and the Multiplexes have multiple shows in the same complex so that the ‘harvest is reaped’ before the shortcomings are revealed.
A film like ‘Sholay’ has earned its place in history of Cinema on merit as not only as the film of the ‘Millenium’ but also the highest grosser film, but it took many months for it to achieve this feat as in those times the print cost was high and therefore films were released in few halls and made profits after long runs , Silver and Golden Jubilee was the norm of the day. People were carriers of information and not the paid TV channels, the audience was not enticed by the Blitzkrig of media. Other films such as ‘Mother India’, ‘Mughal-e-azam’, ‘Sangam’ and ‘Awaara’ were blockbusters on only merit. Nowdays, films break records on the promotion it gets even if the content is disappointing. The true test of a Great film is its longevity; it should be able to attract the next generation. Do films such as ‘Gazini’ or ‘Dabang’ posses that charm and value to merit attention of the next generation?
There is a distinct difference between ‘publicity’ and the ‘marketing’ of today though publicity may appear to be part of greater marketing. Publicity is a necessary part prior to the film being presented, audience are required to be informed, earlier it was done by way of posters, radio and trailers in Cinema halls and by loudspeakers and even drumbeats and remained within reasonable limits. In present times the ‘ marketing techniques’ are ingenious but deceptive as they hide the truth and weaknesses. All means at hand are exploited , the media is choked and even the news channel are roped in for support. After the wide criticism ‘Kabhi Alvida Na Kahna’ received for promoting adultery it requisitioned Prominent News channel for ‘Panel discussions’ in order to drum support for the film .It is evident from the profile and practice of the perpetrators of marketing that they are influenced only by the promotion of wealth and employ all means and guile to progress it. It is the wealth oriented culture which drives marketing to extreme limits. It is a cruel and cunning culture where ‘merit’ is set aside. Shri Amir Khan has perfected the Art of such marketing and despite his talent he remains so insecure that he applies all means to the fullest. We can be sure of the fact that he is no leader of the downtrodden but a crafty filmmaker with a corporate mind who offers service only for media consumption displaying sympathy for special children and toward Farmers’ cause.
Therefore there should be some norms which should be set by the filmmakers’ associations to restrict the monopoly of the corporate world who have entered the territory of Art and Culture to multiply their wealth . The number of days a film is permitted to promote similar to the code of conduct of ‘Election Commissioner’ should be laid down, also the number of prints and cinema halls be regulated. This will bring healthy competition , protect small and talented and moreover independent cinema makers and will see that that attention is on ‘script’ and not on the ‘shell’.
