Team Bombay Velvet is having a “small little party” in Goa. Instead of doing the usual city-to-city visits ahead of the movie’s release, they have congregated along with film journalists from four cities for a celebration.
Filmmaker Karan Johar, who acts in the film, says they’ve set a new trend in the industry.
“This feels like it’s done in Hollywood,” said Johar, adding: “This will set a precedent for film promotion [in Bollywood] and it will be trend-setting. As a film producer, I’m definitely going to do this often.”
It was quite a jamboree with about 100 people assembled at a south Goa resort. Journalists, both from print and TV, from Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata and Ahmedabad landed in the capital city of Panaji on Monday, joining the film’s team — actors Ranbir Kapoor, Anushka Sharma, Johar, Vivaan Shah, Satyadeep Misra and Siddhartha Basu; director Anurag Kashyap; producers Vikramaditya Motwane and Vikas Bahl; composer Amit Trivedi, writers Vasan Bala and S.Thanikachalam; and officials of Fox Star Studios, which has co-produced and is distributing the film.
Breaking away from his superstar image, Kapoor looked casual and relaxed as he sat on the floor to chat with a mixed group of journalists.
“This was my idea,” he said, referring to the party to celebrate the hard work that has gone behind the period drama, which encapsulates the era of 1950s and 1960s.
“We felt that if we get everyone together, it’s going to be a nice change. Besides, when we travel from one city to another, we barely get five minutes with each person...but this way, everyone gets to explore the movie in a better way,” said the actor.
As a bonus, those in attendance were also given a sneak peek at seven minutes of the movie, which is due to hit UAE cinemas on May 14.
From the look of it, the film seems like a gripping drama that will take viewers to a bygone era — courtesy of the detailed costume, makeup, set design and, of course, the jazz.
Talking of jazz — a live experience of the Hindi jazz developed by Trivedi is also included as part of the promotion plan.
A source said the effort was to “make the media happy”.
But like the filmmakers themselves say, “content is king”, one has to wait and watch if Bombay Velvet — which according to Fox Star Studios CEO Vijay Singh, is “the kind of cinema we need to start making because the audience is changing” — is truly in sync with the taste of the evolving Indian film audience.
